Ranking Jane Austen's Bad Boys from Worst to Best

My ranking of Jane Austen's bad boys (or 'dashing rakes', as she no doubt would have called them) from worst to best.
(contains spoilers for Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey)
#JaneAustenJuly
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[@michaelodonnell824]

I can't believe that you didn't include Mr Elliott from Persuasion. He impoverished his friend; succeeded in marrying a Rich woman he didn't love; only went after Anne to keep an eye on her father AND seduced Mrs Grey to keep her away from Sir Walter. Maybe not a "Bad Boy" but definitely a Villain!

[@elliebrooke2246]

“For every Mr Darcy there’s a Mr Arsey” 😂😂 GOLD

[@SpinstersLibrary]

You know it's true :P

[@kukkizkrafts6116]

You might have forgotten that Mr. Crawford runs off with Mrs. Rushworth (Maria). So it was not just he likes the attention of young ladies.

[@genresandjournals]

This was amazing. My new favorite quote, “Remember ladies: for every Mr. Darcy, there is a Mr. Arsey”. Jane Fairfax does deserve better. Gah. We do all know a John Thorpe. Too true.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Why can't every guy be a Tilney :(

[@rooo358]

Concerning Wickham: "He's a shameless liar and stirrer of shit." I snorted so loudly at this! I think that should be the globally acknowledged description of him in all academic circles!

[@vesnak.5450]

"We all know John Thorpe" TRUE 😀 Great video, Claudia!

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Thank you!

[@katiejlumsden]

I LOVE THIS. Though interestingly, Willoughby and Crawford are my two favourite rakes - they're both so interesting! John Thorpe is pretty hilarious though.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

They're all pretty entertaining though morally abhorrent :)

[@AngelikaRenee]

This is a video I never knew I needed!! So great!

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Thank you :D

[@RaineyDayReads]

I love this! I’m reading Sense and Sensibility right now and I can ALMOST feel bad for Willoughby sometimes. You can tell he really likes Marianne and they probably are well-suited for each other... but that whole getting someone else pregnant thing and leaving her... kinda ruins any sympathy one may have for him.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Yeah, same. Willoughby is a really interesting character though, more like a real person than most of the other rakes.

[@misscarolinasousa]

"for every Mr Darcy there's a Mr Arsy" is my new fav sentence

[@MsJubjubbird]

Henry Crawford made a bet he could get Fanny to marry him. Then he convinced Mariah to leave Mr Rushworth after they are married and run away with him- while the partakes in this, it ruins her and poses a threat to the reputation of her family. So he should be high up. Wickham also went for Mary King and her money to add to his list of sins. Captain Tinley and Mr Elliot should also have a mention. While Mr Thorpe basically tried to sabotage Catherine's relationship by lying- while also teaming up with his sister to get their hands on the Morland fortune. Mr Elton wasn't batting out of his league with Augusta though. She had money but no breeding. He was a well respected gentleman. They gave each other what they wanted.

[@thefolkofthetwill667]

What about Captain Tilney? I thought he'd be somewhere at the top.

[@einahsirro1488]

Thorpe is so realistic that I can barely endure the scenes he's in, because I was a Catherine when I was young: wide-eyed and pretty dumb, and got imposed upon by this sort on a regular basis until I learned how to escape them. He has no charm at all. In fact, I think all Jane Austen's main male characters can pretty much be sorted by Charmers and Bores, Victims and Heroes. Bores: John Thorpe, Mr. Elton, Mr. Collins, Tom Bertram, Mr Rushworth, Capt Benwick (the only Bore who isn't Bad) Charmers: Willoughby, Wickham, Henry Crawford, Mr. Elliot, Frank Churchill, Henry Tilney (the only Charmer who isn't Bad) Victims: Edward Ferrars, Edmund Bertram, Col Brandon, Mr Bingley Heroes: Mr Darcy, Mr Knightly, Capt Wentworth

[@Eloraurora]

I really like this method of sorting through Austen's male characters! Although I might argue that there are a few more benevolent bores among the older, married men.

[@myrnaanderson8140]

A very well-thought-out list, and an intriguing video. I would rank Henry Crawford, for whom "the temptation of immediate pleasure was too strong for a mind unused to make any sacrifice to right," much higher. He deliberately connives to seduce Fanny (at least emotionally), and he actually does seduce the married Maria "entangled by his own vanity, with as little excuse of love as possible, and without the smallest inconstancy of mind towards her cousin." Henry Crawford has "feeling, genuine feeling," (as he once describes Fanny), but no conscience. He has never learned to heed that "better guide" in himself, and he doesn't seem to understand, until it is too late, that his willful, manipulative actions hurt other people. And I would rank John Willoughby even higher than Henry Crawford. He seduces, impregnates and abandons one young woman and callously breaks another's heart. Frank Churchill, by contrast, is immature and imprudent, but he's not mean spirited or immoral. Anyway, I'm sure there are a million opinions on this. Jane Austen is always good fun.

[@katieflaxbeard1019]

🤣👏👏👏👏👏 loved this! love you!! I know you didn’t do Persuasion or else Mr. Elliot would have to have his spot on this list.

[@meghanthestorygirl4581]

This video was AMAZING! I wish I'd thought of it myself! I absolutely love what you said about John Thorpe. I'd also add Mr Elliot to this list. Such a bad boy. And yes, women do deserve better. Preach!

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Luckily, almost all of Austen's women get away from the bad boys!

[@meghanthestorygirl4581]

Yes, thank goodness!

[@WildeBookGarden]

YES I have been arguing for ages that Willoughby is the biggest asshole in Austen!! Henry Crawford is the definition of a problematic fave for me because he's the only Austen bad boy I find believably charming so I appreciate him as a character much more than the other scumbags! haha also your PSA at the end was PERFECTION

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Thank you :D Henry Crawford is definitely less of a scumbag than the others, and a well-written character (even though I didn't like Mansfield Park at all)

[@LB-gz3ke]

My first response is always Wickham because he did seduce two young girls and basically ruined Lydia without a care. But then when reminded that Willoughby left a young girl pregnant.... I think my perception of the characters are a bit muddled by the screen versions of P&P and S&S. Willoughby in the Emma Thompson version is so handsome and romanticized. Where Wickham in 1995 P&P is not. We see more of the bad side of Wickham in the books and the movies. And we see his victims. When I just lay out factually what each one did, I would say Willoughby is worse.

[@kathybolton2240]

This was excellent, Claudia!

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Thank you :)

[@davidbrasher3595]

I feel sorry for Frank Churchill. He was not allowed to marry the one he loved, and had to keep the relationship secret. He was dominated and henpecked by his mother. He did get too much into the roleplaying of pretending not to be in love with Jane, but unlike some of the villains on this list, he did not try to seduce any woman or marry them just for money.

[@loisthiessen5611]

I love your presentation!

[@tillysshelf]

I love it, most amusing! But I think I would pretty much reverse this list. Thorpe is very recognisable, true, but he is pretty much a rude, insensitive liar. Willoughby is a clever man who does know what he is doing and preys on vulnerable young women - he is also the only one of these guys to get into a duel which should get him some bad boy points. And Henry Crawford gets involved in adultery which is pretty bad for the time. I would have included Captain Tilney and definitely Mr Elliot as well.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

I very much listed them in order of my personal preference rather than levels of evilness (where actually I think Wickham would be right at the top, followed by Willoughby), but I agree, Willoughby is a horrible person.

[@tillysshelf]

@@SpinstersLibrary What wickham and Willoughby have in common is that they exploit everywhere they go and have the ability to seem like good guys, where Thorpe, Collins etc don't have that level of intelligence to be that manipulative. That does make them better characters to me though.

[@LuminousLibro]

This video is perfection!!!

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Thank you ❤

[@Nyledam89]

I'm in the middle of Sense and Sensibility like you and I don't remember the ending, so I will have to put watching this off for another week in case of spoilers. :D

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Yes, definitely finish the book first!

[@theemily1962]

Great video. Agreed with your choice of villains, but your mustache belongs in an Agatha Christie novel on Mr Poirot.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Haha, drawing on facial hair is definitely not a talent of mine :P

[@Nyledam89]

There was even another woman Wickham bestowed his attention on. I don't remember her name but she also had a fortune... I finished Sense and Sensibility early and immediately went back to your video. Really enjoyed this. ☺

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Thank you! I hope you enjoyed Sense and Sensibility!

[@nathanalbright]

Miss King, she of the famous freckles.

[@texasred2702]

Odious Miss King. When we read this in high school, we thought it meant she had b.o.

[@Ailorn]

I hate Willoughby and think he got off too easy. He completely ruined one poor girl's life and it's glossed over because he "learned his lesson" but he didn't. He didn't really repent, he just got to confess for his own satisfaction to Elinor, and got to live a comfortable life with a little sentimental regret with an awful wife. Wickham gets to mooch off the Darcy's via Lydia even at the epilogue. The dude-bro in Northanger Abby was bad but not as detrimental as the other two. I think Frank Churchill was bad and Jane deserved better, but he did do right eventually and followed through for her..

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Willoughby is a really horrible person, not just the way he treated Marianne but so many other people in his life.

[@FranciscanGypsy]

@@SpinstersLibrary yeah, he was really nasty about everyone around him, particularly Colonel Brandon. He acted like he was above his company (except the Dashwoods) and he brought out the worst in Marianne. Not a person I would want to spend any time around, even if you take out the whole seducing-a-teenager-and-impregnating-her thing.

[@8Lovelee]

Awesome!

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Thank you!

[@tortoisedreams6369]

Fortunately, having read all I could fully enjoy the manifold virtues of this video: the fun, the acting, the humor (you've dispelled the myth that Germans don't have a sense of humor). I don't know who you found to read the quotes but he was quite an attractive & dashing character. I'd put the W's, Wicked Wickham & Weak-kneed Willoughby, at the top (bottom) of my list, but I always had a fondness for Henry Crawford (I think Austen did too -- she had a brother named Henry) tho Mary C. was the true star. More seriously, partially it was the desperate possibility of the economic disaster of spinsterhood (e.g., Charlotte Lucas) in those days, that kept these men in the running. Yes, too true: even in Austen's time the only things "bad boys" produce are single mothers.

[@tillysshelf]

I think there's an opening here for a list of Austen's unbearable young women as well - Mary Crawford, Lucy Steele, Caroline Bingley - Austen could be quite catty sometimes!

[@tortoisedreams6369]

Too true! I bet Claudia is a step ahead of us. Such a list could be *much* more controversial, as Mary Crawford is one of my faves & the much-loved Fanny Price is one who ... I could like more.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Aw, thank you so much! Yeah, Willoughby is one of the best written "villains" in her works, maybe because he is so believable that he hits a nerve where out and out villains like Wickham do not.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Um... I MAY have a list titled "Ranking Jane Austen's Bad Girls" on my phone :P

[@nazifaradi6741]

I really liked when you read from the books

[@bellathereader1328]

Thank you, Claudia. That was hilarious!! All are bad boys but in my mind, George Wickham is the worst!

[@SpinstersLibrary]

He's certainly one of the most greedy and selfish ones!

[@josmith5992]

Brilliant Claudia! I’m glad Willoughby is at the bottom, I do feel he actually cared for Marianne but that could be because of the gorgeous, brooding Greg Wise in the movie version 😍 and I now have to reread Northanger Abbey to experience the joys of John Thorpe!

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Willoughby is a really well written and divisive character. John Thorpe is just hilarious :D

[@LB-gz3ke]

I agree about the Greg Wise interpretation. He garners more sympathy for Willoughby than he really deserves. A less appealing, less skillful actor would possibly make you wonder why Marianne fell so hard for him.

[@Slgreenbean]

What about Persuasion’s William Elliot? He may not have been after anyone’s money, but that’s because he married his first wife for hers. He snubbed the Elliots, wants to marry Anne but make Mrs. Clay his mistress, and ruined Mrs. Smith and her husband. He at least deserves a dishonorable mention.

[@myreadinglife8816]

This is recency bias but Willoughby is my pick for worst bad boy (just read Sense and Sensibility). What a jerk he was! Really entertaining video!

[@SpinstersLibrary]

He really was! Poor Marianne

[@BlatantlyBookish]

This video is everything I needed right now! "He is the guy who charms the crinoline off your mother and all of your sisters too." I can't stop laughing. I kind of like Henry Crawford and think he could be a more nuanced character than we give him credit for. Sure, he starts out as a terrible person, just trying to make Fanny fall in love with him for sport, but then he actually falls for her. It's definitely a classic rom-com trope, but unlike countless movies, she never ends up with him. It could simply be my dislike of Edmund, but a part of me wants Fanny to end up with Henry Crawford. I don't know if Mr. Elton is a rake persay, though he certainly was interpreted as such in Clueless. He is definitely not a pleasant character. I'm no Frank Churchill fan, but there is an alternate interpretation where he has an understanding that Emma has no interest in marriage and therefore feels that it's fun and acceptable to flirt with her. Clueless does a beautiful interpretation of this by casting Frank Churchill as gay. He's off the market, fun for Emma to spend time with, and he assumes she has an understanding that he has no interest in dating her. Though Clueless redeems him as a character by not having a Jane Fairfax for him to torment. Apologies for all the Clueless references. My interpretations of Emma are highly informed by the movie. John Thorpe is awful. I'm excited to read about him again in the second half of the month. Great PSA at the end btw! ♥

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Thank you for this wonderful comment! I've only seen Clueless once so can't remember much about it, but from your description the adaptation of Churchill sounds very interesting and well done for the 20th century. Haha, I know how much you like Mansfield Park (and you know how I don't) but I agree that Henry Crawford is nowhere near as far on the villain scale as the others.

[@FranciscanGypsy]

A part of me was kind of rooting for Fanny to get Henry to change too, even though the other part of me acknowledged that such change would probably not be lasting once Henry got what he wanted from her. Fanny deserves better than the blah Edmund (even though she genuinely loves him and will probably be happy with him), but she definitely deserves better than to have Henry get bored of her and break her heart... as probably would happen. Henry has just never learned to say "no" to himself. My favorite parts of the book probably were the ones where he was courting her, though. I guess because Fanny is at her strongest then... maybe also because it was the first time that anyone showed any sustained interest in Fanny as a woman (Edmund always treated her like a little girl he needed to instruct).

[@izabelbrekilien9658]

I laughed so much !!!!

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@gracetaylor7351]

Yes you forgot mr Elliot for persusion .

[@SpinstersLibrary]

He was a deliberate omission because I genuinely don't remember much about his character

[@MsJubjubbird]

​@@SpinstersLibrary he wanted to marry Anne because he was so in debt and he wanted to be a Baron. So he kissed up to the family after years of fighting. Anne would have had a good dowry, despite her family being reckless with money.

[@EDDIELANE]

I kinda hate that guy who keeps getting in the girls way in Northanger Abbey, and trapping her into going on carriage rides with him. Also, it was him that told on her to the guys dad. Oh I should have waited to wirte this past Wickham. Lol

[@sarahel19]

Brilliant video Claudia, thank you. I don't think Franck Churchill is a real baddy, because although he does hurt Jane Fairfax and drives her to almost break from him, his cruelty isn't intentional, and he ends up marrying the girl he has loved all along. Willoughby would definitely be higher up on my list as a true villain: I mean seducing a teenager and then abandoning her is unforgivable, not to mention what he inflicts on Marianne. His going to explain his conduct to Elinor and to seek forgiveness does not redeem him for me.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

I always read Frank as somewhat enjoying the chaos and confusion and pitting the two women against each other. Deep down he loves Jane, but that doesn't stop him from messing with her. You're right about Willoughby, he is more evil than I gave him credit for!

[@bebly9797]

I prefer henry crawford to edmund bertram. Always. To me true villains in MP are the bertrams. The crawfords are just human.

[@lettersfromkinraddie]

Whilouby is my number 1

[@naomisbookshelf]

This was great! I just finished Northanger Abbey last week and I agree. John Thorpe is awful!

[@SpinstersLibrary]

He is the worst/the best :D

[@mcrbus94]

For every Mr Darcy there's a Mr Arsy 😂 Willoughby is such an annoying character because it's almost like he can't commit to being a bad guy. I'm surprised Wickham was only at number 3, I think he'd top most people's list! John Thorpe is quite annoying but I still think Wickham would beat him for my list. I had to skip around this video to avoid the spoilers haha. Great video :)

[@SpinstersLibrary]

I found Thorpe much more entertaining which is why he's my number 1, but you're right, Willoughby is so annoying because he can't even commit to being truly evil

[@katwernery6505]

Mr. Crawford ran off with a married woman and you forgot Mr. Elliot! Overwise, interesting list. Not how I would’ve ranked them, but this isn’t my video so who cares .

[@KevTheImpaler]

Henry Crawford was the worst. He enjoyed breaking girls' hearts. He had an adulterous affair with Maria Bertram, who was divorced by her husband as a result. She was banished to a cottage with only her horrid aunt for company and her reputation ruined. I am not sure Mr Elton deserves to be on the list. Emma led him on, although unwittingly.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Henry Crawford wouldn't have had the chance if Maria hadn't been so open to his seduction though.

[@colmone5592]

The title of one of your videos 'Escaping into the Past' is on my computer screen as I type. For me that sums up Jane Austen. I am more concerned that in this video your lovely hair looks very dry and unmanageable. Please take more time to look after yourself. I think you should find a partner to care for you. (Not me, I am very old). Enjoy your life to the full while you are young. It is far less easy when you are old.

[@robynfelin7037]

colm one what?

[@SpinstersLibrary]

With all due respect (which, honestly, isn't much), you don't seem to know much about hair care or my love life... so here is some well-meaning advice to you. On future comments on KZbin videos, try not to comment on: - the creator's hair or look in general - their love life Instead, you could try commenting on: - the content of the video Good luck!