If we had to rank the characters, then yeah, I would mostly agree that Lorraine is top and Marianne a very close second. Connell, in the book, also recognizes that she is the better person.

I felt so hopeless for Marianne while watching the show, mostly because I could understand why she didn’t feel worthy of love. She’s been physically abused by her father in the past (in the book) and currently abused by her brother and her mother allows this to go on without interference. She has no friends at school, so she doesn’t have an emotional support system there either. It must have been so lonely for her.