A red rose in a glass bottle beside a small pale bird and fallen petals.

Original artwork, not a still

Northanger Abbey  ·  1818

Jane Austen

No man is offended by another man’s admiration of the woman he loves, it is the woman only who can make it a torment.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The passage distinguishes another man's admiration from the woman's response to it. In the speaker's view, the admirer alone does not cause torment; the loved woman can. The statement locates jealousy in the relationship itself, rather than simply in the presence of outside attention.

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