] BTW, I wonder what S&S would look like as written by one of the Bronte sisters. Though I definitely lean towards JA's version myself, I suspect that the Brontes would make it clear that the readers' sympathies ought to be with Marianne, just as JA makes it clear that our sympathies should be with Elinor!

At this point some might say 'Marianne can only improve'... However, I'm not sure about the Brontes; Charlotte's Jane Eyre 'the small,plain girl' had no family, and unlike Marianne she was not a member of local society. No wonder Jane had to continually use her intelligence and education to survive! Unlikely Charlotte Bronte would have her Jane indulging so openly in emotional outbursts. Somehow I think she would lean to Elinor and I think the under-rated Anne Bronte might as well...But Emily was different from her sisters and somehow I can see her empathizing more with Marianne. Cathy Earnshaw may have had a stronger charecter than Marianne but didn't she go running around the moors and calling 'Heathcliff'?Well, feel free to disagree.