S&S will always have a special place in my heart as it is the story that first turned me on to Jane Austen. I watched the film adaptation and then was curious enough to read the book and then was intrigued enough to move on to all the Austen novels.

S&S is often characterized as the "darkest" of Austen's novels. And I think that's because of the callous, cruel, materialistic, selfish, manipulative, malicious behaviour displayed by so many of the characters. It seems like these wonderful Dashwood girls so full of warmth and intelligence and promise are thrown into a den of lions with the death of their father.

And although the girls make out okay in the end, they pay dearly throughout their journey. And as you point out, the flawed characters also appear to make out okay. They don't get their "just desserts". Instead, as in real life, they go on in their affluent and glamourous lives.

But I refuse to think of it as a primarily "dark" novel. I look at it as a story of a wonderful relationship between two sisters. These two sisters are as opposite in termperment as two could be. But they are devoted to and supportive of each other. And in the end I think JA was wise enough to know that one can't measure the success and happiness of one's life by measuring it up against someone else's. Yes, the bad apples are not getting their due punishment but who cares? These two sisters are thriving and happy in their own right.