*PARALLELS I didn't get to explore in the kind of depth that I would have liked with the parallels but a couple more interesting things:

1. The narrator says of John Dashwood that " he was not an ill-disposed young man, unless to be rather cold-hearted, and rather selfish is to be ill disposed:" and Elinor thinks about Willoughby in these terms: "Extravagance and vanity had made him cold-hearted and selfish." [Bold Mine]
2. "Lucy's calculating approach to life and her prohibited love affair with Edward caricature Elinor's, and the passionate love that nearly destroys Marianne is elaborately parodied by the story or the two Elizas that Colonel Brandon tells. The details of that story--a callous parent committed to primogeniture, brothers at odds with one one another, two women's lives irrecoverably lost--echo the novel's plots and its themes of selfishness and greed." (Cambridge Companion) I haven't had much chance to digest this very much but I thought I'd share it. It's was something to think about.

*THE GROOMS In my estimation the Colonel and Edward are both honorable and good men though I think the Col. is a far superior character. Edward's flaws and errors are fairly obvious. The Colonel has two things that I can think of offhand that might be considered as flaws. The first is that he has allowed the past events with Eliza to impact his life for too long a time. It has ruined what was apparently a naturally lively nature and kept certain feelings on hold for years. He is very eligible and if he had been open to the notion of someday meeting someone there is a good chance that he would have met a woman worthy of him long before now. It is something he didn't seem to even want to consider. Until Marianne comes on the scene and jolts him out of his disallusionment with her similarities to Eliza he seemed 'happy' to live with the status quo. The other thing is--well, I want to say he should have informed the Dashwoods of Willoughby's character after the duel though I'm having a hard time convincing myself of this entirely. I realize he loved Marianne so much he wanted to see her happy. But after Willoughby's dispicable behavior has been so well detailed, I can't see that he would have been doing her any favors. It would have been kind of like letting her walk into a lion's den. Then I wondered how he would go about it such a thing. It would seem that the proper way to handle it would be to inform a male member of the family who would then relay the information to the ladies who could then determine their actions. Ok, I then realized that the only two male members were John Dashwood and Sir John. The Colonel would be imparting private/delicate information relating to himself as well. He didn't know JD (and if he did...) and though Sir John was a good friend, he lacked decorum. So I could see how he'd be reluctant and sympathize with the position in which he found himself. Still... Hmmmm, a tough call, indeed.