Doing Wrong

At one point in the book Marianne tells Elinor that if she were doing anything wrong, she would know it. Do people usually know when they are doing something wrong? Do you think Austen thinks so? Do you think Marianne did anything wrong?

I think that most people know when they are doing wrong most of the time. There are those who have never been taught right or wrong although I think that most of us do have an inner compass about these things even if we have never been taught. But, you also have to take into account that one person's "wrong" may not be the same to someone else. To Marianne, for example, running around with Willoughby willy nilly wasn't wrong but to Elinor it was. I think that Marianne could look back on it and acknowledge that it wasn't appropriate in that time and place but not really "wrong".
-Annegirl

I think most of us know when we are doing wrong or inappropriate things. Marianne was not doing "wrong" but the wild, carefree actions with Willoughby were not considered appropriate actions for a young woman of those days to run wildly with a young man. The definite wrong actions were done by Willoughby, Fanny, and the Ferrars.
-Bookworm