#captain tilney

How amazingly fast had the events unfolded that were to decide her future, now she came to think on it. It was certainly very unpleasant, to be called upon to make up one's mind so quickly and so suddenly. Had John not pressed her so she certainly would not have been in such a hurry.

One eldest son was not like the other, that was certain. And what was the clergy to the military? What was there, after all, to look forward to as the wife of a mere clergyman? Some living or other, some parsonage house. An officer's wife need never fix upon one place to furnish all her contentment and pleasure. She would follow her husband's regiment, forever finding herself in a new situation, surrounded by fresh admirers and new delights.

Poor Tilney, he was so very miserable at the thought of having to rejoin his regiment so soon. How earnestly had he deplored it when they had met the previous morning. She had just happened to catch his eye and of course he would come and speak to her.

A momentary sparkle lit up her eyes. Imagine his feelings if she were to write to him. His surprise, his delight. She would never do such a thing, not for the world; but if she should, what might it not spur him into? It would be as charming a note as he ever received. How might she begin?

To Capt. Frederick Tilney

His name would look very well in her hand. No doubt he would think so, he was amazingly impertinent; but she would take him down in an instant.

If I had thought for one moment that the receipt of this note would cause you alarm, I would not have taken up my pen for the world. But men such as yourselves feel neither alarm nor anxiety, whatever you may profess, so I need not hesitate to set certain matters to rights.

Yes, that would do very well. That would humble him.

You need not fear, dear Sir, that I shall refuse to dance with you at the Lower Rooms to-night, as you did yesterday when we met in the Crescent; but you must take care. I have no positive engagement for the first two dances yet and were you to ask me, the person whom you so often begged me not to name to you would certainly take offense.

It would not do, of course. She would not put such a thing to paper. There was no telling how people might misconstrue mere lively chat; Morland was forever questioning her every word. And it was difficult to know whose true friends were nowadays.

But then, if Captain Tilney did ask her for the two first that evening… He certainly ought not, but if he did—

After all, James is no richer now than he was when they first got engaged. In fact, by now Isabella would probably be well aware that it's not stinginess on Mr. Morland's side but simply a fact any wife of James would have to deal with. (Though, ~700-800£ p.a., eventually, plus whatever a suitable wife would bring into the marriage, is far from nothing)

And neither is James any closer to actually coming into this fortune. In fact, as far as James's situation is concerned, in the almost two weeks between their initial break-up and Isabella's attempt to mend the relationship, nothing has changed about James at all.

So he is still very much the man Isabella doesn't want. And yet she still wants him back?

She, who is still young, only 21, beautiful and lively? She who is quite attractive and considers herself to be even more so? We mustn't forget that Isabella regularly considers herself more sought after than she is, more desirable. And from the way she views men, she is definitely convinced that beauty trumps wealth, so her lack of personal fortune is no hindrance to her.

Would this woman settle for a man so far beneath her own expectations, who can give her nothing of what she wants? Would she shackle herself to the lesser option when even someone less deluded than herself would admit that there's still plenty of time and opportunity for her to aim for someone better?

Now it is possible that she'd want James back as a back-up plan. Someone to string along while she looks for a better option, who'd at least save her from spinsterhood. Except, one, we have seen that James isn't entirely blind and now that he has been burnt once, he won't be as trusting again. Fool me once, etc. So while he might, perhaps, maybe could be convinced to take her back... He wouldn't accept her previous behaviour again. He knows better now, his letter shows that he has learnt a lesson. And Isabella cannot really afford to risk another break-up. She got off lightly this time because they parted by "mutual consent". So they both met, talked it over and decided that it wouldn't work out. It's what Edward Ferrars offered to Lucy after having been disinherited. And as she refused, their engagement continued. Engagements were quite binding, for both sides, and parting by anything but mutual consent would be devastating to one party's reputation.

If James ditched her for flirting around (which, I dare say, could be done considering that there'd be enough witnesses willing to testify) she'd likely not find another man. If James refused to back out of the engagement she wouldn't make it out of it unscathed. This time, there would be consequenes and unless she secured herself a true Robert Ferrars type of man (something she might be able to, but there aren't that many of those around either) it would likely ruin her chances.

It is a back-up plan, yes. But one that comes with huge risks and uncertainties, and for what? Also, not only is it a pretty stupid plan, as far as back-ups go, it would require quite some foresight as well as the mindset to think it possible she might remain a spinster otherwise. I, at least, never got the impression that Isabella is quite realistic enough about her prospects and certainly not pessimistic enough to consider a back-up plan necessary. But of course, it is one possible explanation.

Another one is that she realised she actually loves James. That he has a good heart and would make for a kind, loving husband. That he is a better man than she deserves and that she has been a fool to throw him away like that. I mean... it is not impossible. To believe it one would have to be a very generous person (more generous even than Catherine, who firmly believes Isabella to be heartless by the end of that affair), but technically, that could be the case. So yeah, in my opinion highly unlikely, but not impossible.

And then there is the explanation I personally tend to go with, because it requires neither much cunning and strategic planning, nor does it imply a humble modesty and sense of realism Isabella simply hasn't exhibited so far.

It could very well be that Isabella is running out of time and she knows it. Yes, she's 21, she's not running out of time in that regard. But if she did something very, very foolish, if she miscalculated all the risks, if she thought a man both more smitten with her and more honourable than he proved himself to be... Why yes, then James is the best option she has.

And I mean, I can absolutely see Isabella as the type of person to try and bind a man to herself through scandalous means. Compromise trope this, compromise trope that, if there is one Austen character who would think that shit works it's Isabella. I mean, in a way, she and Thorpe tried something similar with Catherine, getting her into a „he said/she said“ situation that was neither here nor there, but would have given them leverage to bully her into agreeing to an engagement because she clearly encouraged John and clearly got everyone's hopes up, surely she cannot mean to prove herself so very fickle. Surely she cannot mean to treat poor John so ill

So it's not too far off to assume that Isabella would believe that it's absolutely possible to bind a man to herself by appealing to his honour. Yes, men are fickly and incurable flirts, she says so herself and I do think she does believe it to a degree, but no true gentleman would ruin a good girl and then leave her. Except, of course, that gentlemen did that often enough, though whenever possible people would try to hush it up, and Isabella is not in a position to trust in a gentleman's honour. Her father was a lawyer, so he wasn't a proper gentleman. And thus she's no gentleman's daughter, not really. She has no fortune, her family has no influence and her brother is blustering fool. Who would protect her? Who would stand up for her sake? She is, in a way, more vulnerable than Lydia Bennet, and only slightly above Eliza Williams. Isabella might not be aware of it (and her behaviour throughout the first half of the novel implies she isn't) but she's an easy mark. Ruining her is dishonourable still, but far less than say ruining a Maria Rushworth... And even there the woman suffers the brunt of the consequences.

Frederick had barely anything to lose (if anything at all) and if Isabella thought having sex with him would guarantee her Northanger Abbey? Yes I can absolutely see it happening. And if it did happen, and he then dropped her like a hot potato, which he absolutely did, we know that for a fact, then she doesn't have the time to look for a better option.

In that case her gameplan would be to get James back and get him into bed with her. I can totally see her going very far and dragging him along by claiming that it's okay because of course it is, she means to stay with him forever, she has learned from her mistakes, she will never again care for anyone else, is this not the ultimate proof of her devotion? etc. We know how she can be. So, get James back asap, fuck him, and if she turns out to be pregnant, well, she can claim it to be his. Added bonus: It'll hasten the marriage along because the Morlands are the kinds of honourable people who would support the young couple by all means and as it's clearly James's mistake (yeah...of course), it's only right they do everything in their power to make up for it.

Is it ideal? No. But it's still a lot better than the worst case scenario, of finding out three to four months later that she is, in fact, carrying Tilney's child for sure and by then there'll be no way to foist that on someone else. And James is the only man with whom one could pull that off. Because he only needs to take her back, which is a lot faster than finding a new man and getting him to propose to her.

Is it a good plan? Hell no, but she's a Thorpe and when do they ever come up with actually good plans? And unlike the back-up theory, this one requires no foresight whatsoever. On the contrary, a distinct lack of it makes it necessary, which, to me, feels a lot more like Isabella because that girl wants to think of herself as this scheming genius, but in actuality, she barely manages to plan further than next day's dinner. Her scheming throughout the novel is haphazard and halfbaked, sometimes it seems she doesn't even remember which direction she wants to push Catherine.

Isabella Thorpe, to me, is the kind of woman who would take that gamble, who would completely misjudge the situation and her own position. Because throughout the novel Isabella has been shown time and time again to overestimate herself, her judgment and her own abilities.

So my preferred answer to the question: Why does Isabella want James back? is... Because she fucked (up).