Jane Austen For Dummies (69 page)
Read Jane Austen For Dummies Online
Authors: Joan Elizabeth Klingel Ray
If you want to give out awards for characters who are easily deceived or used as tools for someone else's power, you would have to look no further than Emma Woodhouse. Although she's certainly “Handsome, clever, and rich,” she lets her clever side slip and allows herself to be deceived by Frank Churchill.
Frank, who's anything but frank, leads Emma into having sexually suspicious thoughts about Jane Fairfax (not fair facts about Jane!) and making unflattering remarks about her, suggesting that Jane is feeling “all the dangerous pleasure of knowing herself beloved by the husband [Mr. Dixon] of her friend” (E 2:8). Emma attributes Jane's failing to accompany her friends to Ireland (where the Dixons live) and suddenly receiving a beautiful pianoforte as an anonymous gift to her imagined Jane-Dixon affair. When Emma learns of the Frank/Jane engagement, she complains to Mrs. Weston about their coming “âamong us with professions of openness and simplicity. . . . Here we have been . . . completely duped'” (E 3:10). But Emma has been the biggest dupe of all, allowing herself to think that Frank was in love with her and that Jane was in some type of relationship with her friend's husband. Too clever for her own good, Emma, as she herself complains, has been duped by Frank and Jane. But mostly, she has been duped by her romantic imaginings (E 3:10).
Hands down, the honor of most memorable talker goes to Miss Bates, from
Emma,
who says quite openly, “âI am a talker, you know; I am rather a talker'” (E 3:5). The good-hearted Miss Bates talks incessantly, moving from one topic to another without stopping to catch her breath, and never letting anyone get a word in edgewise! Thus, she enters, talking, the Crown Inn Ball, and seeing Frank Churchill says:
“Oh! Mr. Frank Churchill, I must tell you my mother's spectacles have never been in fault since; the rivet never came out again. My mother always talks of your good nature. Does not she, Jane?âDo not we talk of Mr. Frank Churchill” Ah! Here's Miss WoodhouseâDear Miss Woodhouse, how do you do â Very well I thank you, quite well. This is meeting quite in fairyland!” (E 3:2)
This speech consists of 65 lines of her talking solo!
Elizabeth Bennet's Aunt and Uncle Gardiner from
Pride and Prejudice
aren't only Austen's most memorable couple, but also they're her most elegant. Through the Gardiners, Austen shows that a man (Mr. Gardiner) can live in London within sight of his warehouses â a fact the Bingley sisters laugh about as a sign of his presumed lack of gentility â and still be an utter gentleman. His wife is a perfect match for him: She's a true lady. Thus, when Elizabeth and the Gardiners visit Pemberley and are surprised by the unexpected appearance of the estate's owner, Darcy, Elizabeth is proud when the couple talks so politely and intelligently with Darcy that he “takes them for people of fashion” (PP 3:1). They are at ease with the rich Darcy: courteous without flattering him and sensible in their conversation without showing off.
Writing at the beginning of the 19th century, Austen created a number of characters who displayed abnormal personality disorders nearly two centuries before they were identified as such.
Mansfield Park
's Aunt Norris and Lady Catherine of
Pride and Prejudice
are controllers. Lucy Steele of
Sense and Sensibility
is passive aggressive toward Elinor Dashwood. And in the same novel with Lucy, the charming John Willoughby is a sociopath. But with all of these characters vying for the prize of most abnormal, it's John Willoughby who takes the cake.
Sociopaths are superficially charming and amiable. They tend to engage in casual sex and feel no guilt for any wrong they've done. Rather, they feel themselves to be victims. Now look at Willoughby:
He's attractive and charming; the Dashwood women think he's marvelous.
He impregnated Eliza Williams and promptly forgot her.
He admits to first paying attention to Marianne simply for the fun of it.
He feels that Mrs. Smith (his rich relative) has disinherited him simply because she's a prude and wants him to accept Eliza and their child as his wife and child. He complains of Mrs. Smith's victimizing him.
He blames his wealthy wife, the former Miss Grey, for making him write the callous break-up letter to Marianne.
With Willoughby's unprincipled and dishonorable behavior, he could be placed in the cad category, but he has crossed too many lines with the Eliza pregnancy and abandonment. Cad would be too generous of a term.
Ten Best Austen-Related Books (Besides This One!)
In This Chapter
Looking at other books for background on Austen
Finding some fun facts about Austen
O
f course, I expect you to read all of Austen's fiction, but beyond this book, you can find even more information on Jane Austen and her world that can enhance your experience reading Austen time and again. In this chapter, I list the best publications to continue your knowledge of Jane Austen. I include six biographical works, two that discuss Austen's world, one just for fun, and one about the making of the 1995 miniseries
Pride and Prejudice.
(The last has pictures of Colin Firth in it!) You can get all of the books and resources through the Internet by using search engines or popular book Web sites, or at your local bookstores.
In the following sections you will notice one name popping up repeatedly: Deirdre Le Faye. Le Faye is the most knowledgeable individual today about Austen's life, works, and letters. Formerly employed for many years at the British Library, Le Faye started in 1970 to research all things Austen in archives all over England. She is thorough, accurate, and detail-oriented, yet she also sees the big picture of Austen's life. For those reasons, you'll find her name with biographical books, letters, a quizbook, and even a cookbook â all, of course, related to Jane Austen!
Jane Austen's nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh, wrote
A Memoir of Jane Austen,
published in England in 1870 and as a revised edition in 1871. Known in the family as Edward, he knew his Aunt Jane very well. While Jane Austen, her sister and mother, and their friend Martha Lloyd lived in the cottage at Chawton (1809â1817), Edward lived in the nearby Steventon rectory (Jane Austen was born and raised there), where his father, Jane's eldest brother James, was the rector. Edward was 10 1/2 when his Austen aunts and grandmother, as well as his Aunt Martha (Edward's mom's sister) moved to Chawton. He spent many a happy day with them, and as he grew up, his Aunt Jane advised him on writing his own novel. In a letter to her old friend, Alethea Bigg, Austen conveyed her affection for him, saying that she and her sister “have just had a few days' visit from Edward. . . . He grows still, & still improves in appearance, at least in the estimation of his aunts, who love him better & better as they see the sweet temper & warm affections of the Boy confirmed in the young Man” (Letter January 24, 1817). Six months after his Aunt Jane wrote this letter, Edward served as a pall-bearer for her funeral. At the request of friends and acquaintances who admired his aunt's novels, he wrote the
Memoir,
the first full-scale biography of Jane Austen, with the help of his sisters, Anna and Caroline, and letters by Jane Austen provided by various family members. In the second edition (1871), he placed in print for the first time his aunt's early, unpublished works
Lady Susan
and
The Watsons,
along with sections of her final fragment
Sanditon,
and the chapters of
Persuasion
that she had originally written before changing them for the published novel. The
Memoir
is the virtual starting point and basic resource for all biographical work about Jane Austen. Consisting of 11 chapters, the
Memoir
follows Jane Austen from birth to death, providing personal anecdotes about her and her family and details about the writing and publication of her novels. This book triggered a new interest in Austen's works when it was published. Out of print for a long time, the
Memoir
was edited by Kathryn Sutherland and published in 2002 in paperback format as
A Memoir of Jane Austen: And Other Family Recollections
(Oxford World's Classics). This handy paperback edition also includes other resources. Each of the other works is a small pamphlet in and itself:
“Biographical Notice of the Author,” by Henry Austen (1818), which originally appeared, unsigned (without a byline) in the four-volume
Northanger Abbey
and
Persuasion
set. Henry Austen's brief biography of his sister, written shortly after her death, was the first published account of Jane Austen. This work is nowadays frequently reprinted in even paperback editions of
Persuasion
, Austen's last completed novel.
“Memoir of Miss Austen,” by Henry Austen (1833). In 1832, Henry Austen expanded the “Biographical Notice” and retitled it “A Memoir of Miss Austen” when Bentley's Standard Novels Series requested a biographical piece about his sister for their re-publication of Jane Austen's novels in 1833. Bentley's Standard Novels Series reprinted popular novels in nice, hardbound editions and sold them at prices that families could afford, thus enabling them to add novels to their home book collection.
“Recollections of Aunt Jane,” by Anna Austen Lefroy (1864). Anna Austen Lefroy was James Edward Austen-Leigh's half-sister: Anna's father was Jane Austen's eldest brother James, whose first wife died when Anna was only two. In 1864, she wrote the “Recollections” for Edward to assist with his
Memoir.
Though only consisting of a few pages, Anna's work contains some charming reminiscing about her aunt, including Jane Austen's being a favorite of the local children as a teller of stories. Anna married Ben Lefroy, the youngest child of Jane Austen's adult friend, Madam Lefroy, mentioned in Chapter 3.
“My Aunt Jane Austen,” by Caroline Austen (1867). Caroline Austen was the younger sister of James Edward Austen-Leigh. Though just 4 years old when her Austen aunts and grandmother, along with Martha Lloyd (also Caroline's aunt, as Martha's sister Mary was Caroline's mother), moved to their cottage in Chawton in 1809, she spent a lot of time with them. As a grown woman, Caroline frequently visited her Aunt Cassandra (Jane Austen's sister). From “My Aunt Jane Austen,” Austenites learned many details of the Austen ladies' routines at Chawton cottage. In 1951, the British Jane Austen Society printed Caroline's work as a small paperback book; they reprinted it in 1991.
Jane Austen's Letters
(Oxford University Press) is now available as a paperback book, edited by Deirdre Le Faye. Le Faye's edition of Austen's
Letters
is called the 3rd or New Edition because R. W. Chapman's ground-breaking editions of Austen's letters are the first (published in 1932) and second (published in 1952) editions. Le Faye's edition is now the definitive edition of Austen's known remaining letters, which are the closest we can ever come to hearing her speak in her own voice. The edition is comprised of 161 letters written by Jane Austen, mostly to her sister, Cassandra, but also to her publisher for
Emma,
John Murray; nieces Anna, Caroline, and Fanny; her brother Francis (Frank), and others. Running from January 1796, when Jane Austen was 20, to May 1817, shortly before her death at age 41, the letters range in subject matter from attending dances and gossiping about neighbors to articulating ideas about writing fiction. Austen's letters are an invaluable resource. The edition concludes with three letters by Cassandra, informing friends and family of Jane Austen's death. Le Faye's “Biographical” and “Topological” Indexes are worth their weight in gold: the alphabetical “Biographical Index” provides mini-biographies, with birth and death dates, of all the persons mentioned in Austen's letters, while the “Topographical Index” is an alphabetical listing of the places mentioned in the letters with facts about those places.
Other than
Memoir,
among the best books about Austen and her family are
A Chronology of Jane Austen and Her Family, 1700â2000
(Cambridge University Press):
This book by Deirdre Le Faye presents three decades of Le Faye's research regarding Jane Austen's ancestors, immediate family, and the novelist, herself, in over 10,000 entries. The book was published in February 2006, and so at the time of this writing, it is available only in hardback.
Jane Austen: A Family Record
(Cambridge University Press):
William Austen-Leigh was James Edward Austen-Leigh's (JEAL, the
Memoir
writer) youngest son and the uncle of Richard Austen-Leigh, who was JEAL's grandson. The uncle and nephew collaborated to publish in 1913
Jane Austen: Her Life and Letters, A Family Record
, which included letters and information gleaned by the family since the 1871 publication of the
Memoir
. R. A. Austen-Leigh's descendants, the Impey family, inherited his copy of the 1913 book, the pages covered with many handwritten notes and the book, itself, overloaded with numerous papers about Jane Austen. The Impeys concluded that their Uncle Richard was planning an updated edition of the book he wrote with his Uncle William. So the Impey family contacted Deirdre Le Faye to carry out the revised edition, which was published by The British Library in 1989. It is now available, with further revision by Deirdre Le Faye, in paperback. The book is what the title says: a family record or history of Jane Austen and her family.
Jane Austen's “Outlandish Cousin:” The Life and Letters of Eliza de Feuillide
(The British Library):
Jane Austen For Dummies
discusses Eliza, but if you want the full scoop on this spirited young woman who certainly influenced her young writing cousin, this book is the place to go. Deidre Le Faye is the editor.
Portrait of Jane Austen
(Farrar, Straus, and Giroux):
This book by David Cecil is a detailed reconstruction of Austen's life supplemented by numerous pictures from various archives.