by Jane Austen
[List of Illustrations]
VOLUME I, CHAPTER XIII
1. This was a common breakfast time. It resulted from the generally late hours of wealthy people then (poor people rose and ate much earlier) and their habit of late evening suppers, which would make them less hungry when they awoke.
2. The letters would have come from the village post office and would now be brought in by the servant. Sir John earlier offered to take the Dashwoods’ letters to and from the post (this page), so he or a servant of his would presumably go there each day for the Middletons’ own mail as well.
3. direction: address (as written on the outside of the letter).
4. A rare interjection, and a reasonably lengthy one, by Lady Middleton. It naturally results from a perceived fault in decorum by someone at her house, the only subject, along with her children, that rouses any interest in her.
5. Avignon is a city in southern France. A number of people from Britain had settled there in the eighteenth century. Many wealthy Britons went to live or take extended vacations in Italy or southern France, in part because of the health benefits of a warmer climate. That Mrs. Jennings asks about the condition of Colonel Brandon’s sister suggests that is her reason for living there. At the same time, it would be an odd place for someone from Britain to live at this particular juncture, when a long-standing war between Britain and France had cut off most travel between the countries. It is possible she had been trapped in France, as many British citizens were after the outbreak of war. It is also possible the allusion to it is a legacy of Jane Austen’s initial draft of the novel, titled Elinor and Marianne, in 1795, when the war had only recently begun and might still be considered a fleeting event.
6. town: London.
7. hand: handwriting (of a specific person).
8. Madam: a very formal designation for a casual conversation—Colonel Brandon will shortly use the more informal “ma’am.” This may reflect Lady Middleton’s usual formality, or her wish, by speaking in this manner, to force her mother to realize the breach of etiquette she is committing through her persistent inquisitiveness.
9. colouring: blushing.
10. As the mistress of the house, and thus his hostess while he has been staying there, Lady Middleton is the correct person to whom to address his apology for needing to leave so suddenly and unexpectedly.
11. The housekeeper was the highest-ranking female servant, and frequently the servant in charge of running the household. This would be especially likely when the owner was away. She was also the one who usually showed visitors around the house.
A country house with elaborate grounds around it, such as Whitwell is described as having.
[From Geoffrey Holme, ed., Early English Water-colour Drawings (London, 1919), Plate V]
[List of Illustrations]
12. guineas: coins worth a pound and a shilling. Fifty guineas would be a considerable sum to wager. Willoughby’s use of such an expression and his selection of such a sizable figure suggest he may be someone who gambles regularly, perhaps for high stakes. Gambling was a common pursuit of those in fashionable London society, especially young men, and what is later revealed about Willoughby makes him a likely candidate for this.
13. Willoughby has already indicated his dislike of Colonel Brandon. His censorious speculation, which conflicts with everything so far seen about Colonel Brandon’s character, will become particularly ironic when Colonel Brandon discloses the real reason for his departure.
14. Thus Willoughby normally rises very late. He later says he associated with those wealthier than himself, and the wealthy generally kept late hours.
15. Colonel Brandon has brought horses with him on his visit to Sir John, whether for transportation or for recreation; it was not unusual for gentlemen to own more than one. One of the horses being announced may be for a servant who will accompany him, or it may be that he will simply take one or more horses with him without a rider. If more than one is saddled he could improve his speed by switching horses during the journey.
16. Sir John is surprised at the idea of his going on horseback because it is much slower for long distances—and the journey from Devonshire to London is a very long one—due to a horse’s need for frequent rest and refreshment.
17. Honiton: a town in eastern Devonshire, approximately fifteen miles east by northeast from Exeter. This means it is on the route to London. Barton is “within four miles northward of Exeter” (this page): his going directly to Honiton, rather than first to Exeter, suggests Barton may be northeast of Exeter.
18. Traveling post is the means that all characters in Jane Austen use to travel long distances. By this time an elaborate network had been established in England along all the main roads, with places approximately every ten miles at which a traveler could stop and change horses. This meant that over each stage of a journey the horses could go at maximum speed, after which they could rest and get food and water while a fresh set traveled the next stage. Travelers could use their own carriages or hire a carriage at one of the stopping points—the latter is what Colonel Brandon will do at Honiton, while his own horses will be conveyed home by his servant or someone he hires for the purpose. These stopping points were usually inns in towns, so travelers could also procure food and drink, or spend the night.
19. Many who could afford it went to London during the winter to escape the lack of activities in the country and to enjoy the very active social and cultural life of the capital at that time.
20. A natural child is one fathered out of wedlock and hence one that is a man’s child by nature, but not legally. The reason Mrs. Jennings lowers her voice and speaks of not shocking the young ladies is that such a subject would be considered completely inappropriate for polite conversation (see also next note), while it was especially inappropriate to discuss anything relating to sex before young ladies. This stemmed partly from a belief in ladies’ natural delicacy and partly from a fear that imparting knowledge or raising curiosity about sex among unmarried young women might encourage an interest in the subject that could jeopardize their chastity. For this reason they were sometimes barred from reading racier books until they were married.
It is odd for Mrs. Jennings to tell the secret to Elinor after having worried about the ears of young ladies, for Elinor is only nineteen. It may be that Mrs. Jennings cannot keep herself from telling someone and selects Elinor because she is nearby and is her frequent confidante (see this page). It also may be that Elinor’s great maturity has made Mrs. Jennings forget her exact age.
21. In the first published edition of the novel the following paragraph followed: “Lady Middleton’s delicacy was shocked; and in order to banish so improper a subject as the mention of a natural daughter, she actually took the trouble of saying something herself about the weather.” Jane Austen presumably decided the passage was unnecessary.
22. park: the large grounds surrounding a prominent country house.
23. Young men were known for driving their carriages fast, and it would be natural for someone as ardent and energetic as Willoughby to drive that way, especially with the possible further motive of thrilling and impressing Marianne.
24. The downs would be open hilly areas; the lanes were in lower places between or next to the downs.
25. This would fit with Mrs. Jennings’s apparent enjoyment in talking to Elinor. She would be able to seat herself thus because at this time etiquette did not demand alternating men and women at dinners, even formal dinner parties.
26. It would not be good manners to lean behind two other people and talk to someone else.
27. Morning then meant the entire period until dinner, which usually occurred around four or five.
28. A curricle was an open carriage for two people pulled by two horses. It differed from the other main open carriage, a gig, which was pulled by one horse. The extra horse made curricles both faster and more expensive to maintain, and this made them more fashionable and prestigious. (For a picture.) It is na
tural that Willoughby, who is soon described as living beyond his means, should care more about speed and fashion than expense.
29. Impudence: shamelessness.
30. Mrs. Jennings means that once Willoughby and Marianne marry, they will be living at this house—Allenham, where Willoughby is now staying and which he is due to inherit—and will be able to furnish it anew and have visitors like Mrs. Jennings. Their having gone to the house together strongly encourages her to expect an imminent marriage (see note 46).
31. The owner of Allenham was earlier described as “an elderly lady … too infirm to mix with the world”; that is probably why Mrs. Jennings’s last visit was six years ago, when the owner was presumably in better health.
32. The groom would be taking care of Willoughby’s horses; Mrs. Jennings’s “own woman” would be her servant. Servant gossip was a common means for information to spread, since servants from different houses would frequently talk to one another, as well as to other working people. Usually the servants would spread news on their own initiative, and employers would then hear of it later. Mrs. Jennings is unique in Austen’s novels in deploying a servant to make inquiries.
33. The women have left the dining room together and gone to the drawing room. This was standard procedure. The men would normally drink more and talk about topics considered of mostly masculine interest, such as politics, or ones forbidden to discuss before ladies. At some point, the men would rejoin the women.
34. Willoughby’s curricle seats only two comfortably.
35. It would be wrong to go while Mrs. Smith was there because, given her infirmity, it might disturb or inconvenience her. It would be improper to go with only Willoughby because unmarried men and women should not have extensive intimate contact. Even riding alone together in a carriage would be frowned upon: after the heroine of Northanger Abbey has ridden in an open carriage with a man, accompanied by her brother and another lady in another carriage, her guardian counsels her to avoid such excursions in the future. Going all over a house together would be worse, both for the extensive contact away from others’ eyes and for their probably going into bedrooms together.
36. sensible: conscious, aware.
37. Marianne proclaims a succinct version of the Moral Sense, the idea that human beings possess a natural or instinctive sense of goodness that can serve as the foundation of morality. This idea played an important role in eighteenth-century philosophy, espoused in varying forms by many leading thinkers, and was adopted by Romantic writers and proponents of sensibility. Many writers also criticized it, arguing that people’s instincts are often not benevolent and that personal feelings are an unreliable guide for morality. Jane Austen is among such critics, as she presents numerous cases in which personal feelings, even among good characters, can lead people astray, and consistently affirms the validity and necessity of objective moral principles, irrespective of feeling. Marianne’s own story probably constitutes the author’s strongest demonstration of this conviction.
38. impertinent: presumptuous, overly familiar.
39. Most country houses had at least some rooms with furniture from much earlier periods, for furniture was expensive and older pieces would be handed down through many generations. At the same time, furniture styles continually changed: during the eighteenth century they had steadily become more lightweight and delicate, qualities identified more than once in Jane Austen as superior in elegance.
40. This would give it more light, an important consideration with the limited means of artificial illumination then available.
41. bowling-green: a smooth lawn for playing bowls. Jane Austen twice visited a cousin who had a bowling green that was said to be one of the best in England.
42. hanging wood: wood on a steep slope. The name derived from the tendency of the trees in them to hang down. They were a popular feature of landscaping then.
43. A church was standard in an English village, and its steeple usually made it by far the most prominent feature, especially when seen from a distance.
44. Bold hills were highly praised by advocates of picturesque ideas (for more on these ideas, see this page).
45. Two hundred pounds was a substantial sum, and Willoughby’s discussion of that with Marianne, and her repeating it now, show a rather cavalier attitude toward money. But if he did inherit Allenham and move in, he would certainly be able to afford this, based on everything indicated about the wealth of the estate.
46. This means she must have seen every room in the house, a sign of the duration of the visit. Such a tour, and Marianne’s enthusiastic discussion of all the new arrangements that could be made in the house, would normally be clear indicators of an impending marriage. This is why Mrs. Jennings expressed her expectation of visiting the couple. Household arrangements were central tasks of a wife, and decorating and furnishing would be a natural focus of any new bride (who would also wish to complete such tasks before any children arrived). In showing Marianne the house in this manner, and talking of new furniture, Willoughby is giving her a clear indication of his intentions, while Marianne’s words to Elinor convey a confident expectation along the same lines.
VOLUME I, CHAPTER XVI
1. This represents a very good income, but not an enormous one as landed estates went. In the society depicted by Jane Austen everyone has a clear idea of others’ income, and most have no hesitation about discussing these sums openly.
2. involved: entangled. Many landowners fell into serious debt: Persuasion centers around a family that is forced to rent its house and move elsewhere because of crippling debts. Later Colonel Brandon will explain that in his father’s time his family’s estate was greatly burdened with debt, and his elder brother, who inherited it, was an irresponsible person. Delaford, the village where the estate and Colonel Brandon’s home are located, is later described as being in Dorsetshire, the county directly east of Devonshire (see map).
3. Miss Williams is the natural daughter Mrs. Jennings mentioned earlier. Her explicit mention of Miss Williams occurred after Colonel Brandon left, but earlier, when Mrs. Jennings said, “I hope she is well,” Colonel Brandon blushed, and she replied, “Oh! you know who I mean” (this page).
4. Meaning cleared any debts or mortgages on the estate.
5. peculiarly: particularly.
6. independent: independent financially.
7. His carriage and his horses—and a later conversation suggests he also has horses for hunting—would by themselves represent a considerable expense. He is also spoken of as traveling to various places. All this is why, though a single man, he cannot live within an income that is greater than that of Mrs. Dashwood and her children.
8. People in Jane Austen’s novels sometimes speak of poverty, but what they always mean is an income insufficient for the genteel ranks of society, not a lack of basic necessities.
9. Their conduct represents a reversal of their usual position. They, especially Marianne, have lauded the virtue of sincerity, against the social rules that counsel disguising one’s true feelings when politeness requires it. But when it comes to engagements, society’s rules dictate openness—public proclamation validates an engagement and gives it practical force—and Marianne and Willoughby seem to be practicing secrecy.
10. She does not inquire to avoid embarrassing or discomforting her sister if no engagement actually exists. Were Elinor sure of the engagement, she would naturally inquire: in Pride and Prejudice a similarly close pair of sisters tell each other immediately of their engagements, in part for the great mutual pleasure of talking at length about them.
11. The park is Barton Park, the Middletons’ home. The necessity for even an apparently engaged couple to participate fully in general activities demonstrates the extent of prevailing social obligations.
12. Willoughby is probably engaging in a measure of deliberate, and generally understood, exaggeration. But his words over the course of the conversation suggest he is mostly serious, and if so he is showing, amidst his
expressions of affection toward the family, a preference for his own feelings—which, notably, he commenced the conversation by referring to—above the good of the Dashwoods.
13. Calling him simply “Willoughby,” with no “Mr.,” signals a significant step toward intimacy on her part. She may already be considering him a member of the family. Elinor, perhaps following her mother’s lead, will use the same designation after this.
14. Mrs. Dashwood, while never willing to give up planned improvements because of the substantial practical barrier of insufficient funds, immediately makes a complete renunciation when someone adduces sentimental reasons for doing so.
15. make up: balance, put in order.
16. The darkness of stairs, often related to their narrowness, was a common issue in houses then. Limited artificial lighting meant staircases were frequently dark, and this would make them difficult to use, especially for women in long dresses.
17. This means that the kitchen fireplace, which would be large and frequently burning very hot for cooking, emitted smoke into the room. This was another common problem. Better designs of fireplaces and chimneys had appeared to curb smokiness—one of the most significant, a Rumford, is mentioned in Northanger Abbey—but simpler dwellings frequently lacked them.
18. He means the circumstance of Marianne’s joining him in his new house as his wife. The implication would be clearly understood by all, though since it is not an explicit declaration, it is not, strictly speaking, an actual avowal of engagement.
19. Parlours were small sitting rooms, and Mrs. Dashwood’s plans included building a larger drawing room and turning the existing parlour into an anteroom of the new drawing room (see this page). For a picture of a contemporary drawing room, see the following page.
20. They may visit Lady Middleton regularly as part of neighborly kindness, or this may be in return for a specific visit of hers.
21. Morning meant most of the day then, so four o’clock would be the earliest he could come.
