Marianne began now to perceive that the desperation which had seized her at sixteen and a half, of ever seeing a man who could satisfy her ideas of perfection, had been rash and unjustifiable. Willoughby was all that her fancy had delineated in that unhappy hour and in every brighter period, as capable of attaching her; and his behaviour declared his wishes to be in that respect as earnest, as his abilities were strong.
Willoughby regards himself as independent of societal notions but ironically he's molded himself to perfectly resemble an archetype of the perfect young man, suitor, hero, beau.
Marianne, in her early despair about finding such a man, was beginning to understand already that what she had in mind was an archetype, as distinct from a person she might actually meet.
