does rule over John Dashwood, but I've long wondered if their marriage was her choice or her mother's. Her response to Edward's interest in Elinor is to inform Mrs. Dashwood that he is expected by their mother to marry very well--in a way that increased the fortune & prominence of their family. Perhaps she was pressured to do the same in marrying the Dashwood fortune. This doesn't make me loathe her any less, as her personality appears suited to a marriage of aggrandizement, but had she been more romantic her choice would have been as limited as Edward's.