] In the same way that Elinor chided her earlier in the book that she would have been far more interested in a man's illnesses if only he had a "flushed cheek, hollow eye, and quick pulse of a (violent)fever" and that she nourished her grief at Willoughby's departure by not sleeping, refusing to eat, crying, playing their favourite songs, staring at the music--it's as though Marianne makes sure to do everything in her power to make any bad situation worse.

I am with you on this one. In this day in age, this type of person irritates me to no end. Wallowing in there own self-pity. Taking the pain to the extreme. As if there is no more reason to live.

I fully understand her heartbreak, and truly feel for her. However, It seems to me that she is begging for attention and wants everyone to think, " Oh poor Marianne no one in the entire world has ever been hurt the way she has".

It has been said before that if she had not made the relationship so public (and she was warned many times) she could have avoided the embarrassment. She brought all of this on herself.

In addition, to make it more irritating when W left the first time he did not end the relationship, he surely did not tell her that he was never coming back. For all she knew he was just going away for a while.