Line, I too am always troubled by Col. Brandon's falling for a 17-year-old, and my opinions of him and S&S in general suffer for it. No matter how much Marianne has matured in the course of the novel, she is still very inexperienced. (And besides, CB fell for her even before she had matured!)

I think such an unequal amount of life experience and maturity would lead to a very unequal marriage. And an unequal marriage doesn't seem to me a recipe for happiness: when inevitable disagreements arise, the older partner likely won't respect the 17-year-old's views. So I'm not convinced that S&S's happy ending for these two is realistic. And I have trouble caring for a man who wants that kind of marriage. It would be nice to be able to put aside my 21st-century views, but I can't in this case.