Selfless or clueless

This piece explores whether Leah and Rachel were ever in the know as to which one of them was Yaakov's intended bride

Chazal say that Rachel knew that Yaakov had made up with her father to work toward marrying her, and that at the last moment, refusing to allow her sister to be shamed, selflessly provided Leah with the signs Yaakov had given her to stave off precisely this scenario, ascribing to Rachel eternal merit for that amazing act of kindness and self sacrifice.

However, the story, plainly read, doesn't seem to indicate that the women were clued in regarding their marital arrangement. 

All nuptial talk occurs exclusively between Yaakov and Lavan with no word that the sisters were informed about the initial plan. 

In the morning, when Yaakov realizes he's been duped, he doesn't confront Leah but rather her father Lavan. 

In the world of peshat there doesn't seem to be any reason to assume that anyone other than the men were in the know, with Yaakov conducting marital negotiations with their father, who was responsible for arranging their marriages. 

This does away with Rachel's tremendously merciful act toward her sister (and betrayal of Yaakov in the process), with the sisters none the wiser to their fathers machinations, innocently assuming that Leah, as the older of the two, was to be married off first. 

In light of the foregoing it makes good sense that Leah felt herself the less cherished of the two, as so far as she knew she was Yaakov's rightful wife, setting the stage for her being granted children owing to God seeing her pain and their names reflecting her sense of inferiority and prayer for more love from her husband.

This too sheds light on how Leah could accuse Rachel of wanting to take her flowers in addition to having almost already taken her husband—which in Chazal's account seems inexplicable as Leah knew full well that if anything it was the reverse with her having taken Rachel's husband—as neither of them were wise to what was going on behind the scenes, and as far as Leah was concerned, Rachel had usurped her rightful husband. 

That exclamation of Leah's apparently also indicates that Yaakov hadn't spilled the beans about Lavan's chicanery, even years later, presumably out of concern for Leah's feelings. 

When Yaakov takes Lavan to task he doesn't mention his having tricked him with Leah as it was being conducted publicly in front of all and would have resulted in Leah being shamed but rather he obliquely references that he worked for fourteen years for his two daughters. 

Talk about consideration for another person! What sensitivity! 

In this telling Rachel may be out but Yaakov is very much in.