by Jane Austen
27. He could not transfer his despondence to her.
28. drawing-table: table whose top leaf could be tilted up to allow one to draw easily on it. It was often called a writing table, for the same feature would also allow people to write more easily on it. For an example, see picture.
29. This, like so many incidents, shows both the good and bad of Marianne, her rigid and often unrealistic principles along with her genuine affection and benevolence. At the same time, her self-congratulation on her magnanimity is ironic, since Elinor is the one who will show magnanimity in doing everything she can to help her sister despite the latter’s grave errors.
30. This shows there is no necessity to engage in contemplation for Marianne’s more extreme actions.
31. Employments that could preclude conversation would be Marianne’s music, Elinor’s drawing, the reading all seem to enjoy, and the studying Margaret would still be young enough to pursue.
A drawing or writing table, with a tilted top to make those tasks easier; this one has a game board that can slide out.
[From The Repository of arts, literature, fashions, manufactures, &c, Vol. XI (1814), p. 115]
[List of Illustrations]
32. The turf, or grass, of the green court in front of their house.
33. casement: casement window. Such windows, which open in or out using hinges, were the traditional type of window in England. During the eighteenth century they had been largely superseded by sash windows, which open up and down. This cottage was earlier described as fairly new, but because cottages were very traditional structures, there was a natural tendency to include older types of windows.
34. are come: have come.
35. The instrument is her piano. As mentioned earlier, the Middletons keep theirs not only closed but locked, thanks to the dangers posed by their children and the fact that Lady Middleton no longer plays (see this page, and note 20). Thus he concludes that one that is open must have been just abandoned. In fact, Marianne, like the others, had earlier left Elinor alone.
36. hallooing: shouting in order to attract attention.
37. As the only resident of the house now present, she must play the hostess and greet those who are actually entering, in preference to someone speaking to her from outside the window.
38. Lady Middleton, unlike her husband and mother, has waited to come into the house before speaking, which would be proper etiquette.
39. In all these respects she is much more like her mother than Lady Middleton is.
40. fashion: elegance.
41. self-consequence: self-importance.
42. apartments: rooms.
43. Men are consistently shown in Jane Austen to be the more avid newspaper readers, probably because only men could vote or participate in politics. Mr. Palmer is soon described as running for Parliament, so he would have particular reason to read newspapers, though he may be turning to one now to avoid talking. Since he is visiting people he has never met before, his reading the newspaper the whole time, and never speaking to them, is a clear breach of good manners.
44. Of all the characters in the novel given much speaking time, the Palmers play the least significant role in the plot. They exist almost purely for comic relief, and in that respect also stand out somewhat in this novel, which is, with the possible exception of Persuasion, the least comical of Jane Austen’s novels.
45. wit: the quality of being cleverly amusing.
46. Stopping in London would add substantially to their trip. The direct trip from the Palmers’ residence in Somersetshire to Barton is later described as a “long day’s journey” (this page), while the trip from Barton to London is more than two days (this page), and from London to the Palmers’ residence more than one (see note 12); for a further sense of the extremity of the detour, see maps and this page. Thus such a trip would be rather reckless of Mr. Palmer, considering both the pains of travel and Mrs. Palmer’s pregnancy (see next two notes), and would suggest more than simple rudeness in his treatment of his wife. It is possible, however, that they were in London, where they have a house, for a much longer period before traveling to Barton. Mrs. Palmer shortly explains that their trip here was “quite a sudden thing” that she did not know about until just before they left, which does not seem compatible with London’s being a mere stopover on a trip from their Somersetshire home to Barton. Mrs. Jennings may have exaggerated the continuous nature of their journey, and thus its hardships, in order to have a good excuse to introduce the topic of pregnancy into the conversation.
47. Travel could be very hard on people, for the condition of carriages and roads produced bumpy rides. A journey of more than two days by Jane Austen and her mother left the latter “a good deal indisposed” and in need of rest and medicine (Oct. 27, 1798).
48. This means she is expecting a baby in February (it is now early November: see chronology, this page). When a woman gave birth, she began her confinement, or lying-in. During this period, which usually lasted a month or a little more, she was kept indoors and inactive, with a nurse to attend her if possible, to minimize the risks to her and the baby. Initially the mother would remain in bed, often shielded from strong light, and then, in gradual stages, she would be allowed to receive more visitors and move about.
49. Lady Middleton intervenes, which for her is an exertion, because pregnancy was in no way an acceptable topic of polite conversation. This is also why Mrs. Jennings makes a pretense of speaking lower to Elinor and first nodding toward her daughter to indicate her meaning.
50. monstrous: extremely. This was a popular slang term of the time. It is used only by unpolished characters like Sir John, Mrs. Jennings, and Mrs. Palmer.
51. Her reaction is similar to the affected taste for music Lady Middleton displayed earlier, though Mrs. Palmer’s behavior seems less the result of a wish to display her socially approved good taste than the result of her general inclination to praise everything and everyone, regardless of whether she knows anything about the objects of her praise.
52. His bow is a more formal gesture than most people would make on such an occasion.
53. Standard etiquette called for alternating dinner invitations. The Dashwoods’ small dwelling and limited resources, as well as their lack of the Middleton family’s avidity for social intercourse, probably keep them from inviting the Middletons too frequently, and Mrs. Dashwood, whose desire for independence has already been mentioned (this page), does not wish to accept more hospitality than she is extending. Since her daughters are not the ones offering hospitality as mistress of the house, such considerations matter less for them.
54. An invitation for the day would include dinner; since people were often occupied at home during the early part of the day, they would probably arrive midday or later, and dinner usually occurred around four or five o’clock.
55. Lacking a carriage they would have to walk, and on dirt roads and in long skirts. Hence rain would prevent them from going.
56. family party: gathering of only the family.
57. Elinor, while not necessarily liking the Middletons’ officious invitations any more than Marianne, is able, unlike her sister, to appreciate the kind intentions behind them.
58. The change she means presumably comes from their recent romantic disappointments: Willoughby’s mysterious departure and the uncertain affections Edward displayed during his visit. She may hope to provoke Marianne to reveal more of her situation with Willoughby.
VOLUME I, CHAPTER XX
1. town: London.
2. Hanover-square: a square, built in the early eighteenth century, in Mayfair, the wealthiest and most fashionable section of London at the time. (For more, see note 23, and map.) A London house in such an area, along with his country house, would indicate a fair amount of wealth on Mr. Palmer’s part, for London houses cost a lot to buy and maintain.
3. Single women in London would need to be chaperoned, especially to any social events. Mrs. Palmer, though probably not much older than Elinor,
could perform that function because she is married.
4. Winter was the season when wealthy people from the country flocked to London.
5. disgusting: distasteful.
Hanover Square in London, the residence of the Palmers.
[From E. Beresford Chancellor, The XVIIIth Century in London (New York, 1921), p. 251]
[List of Illustrations]
6. Billiard tables had become increasingly fashionable in this period, and many country houses had billiard rooms. The title house in Mansfield Park does, as did that of Jane Austen’s wealthy brother Edward. In a letter from a visit there she declares, “It draws all the gentlemen to it whenever they are within, especially after dinner, so that my Br Fanny & I have the Library to ourselves in delightful quiet” (Oct. 14, 1813). Sir John’s lack of a billiard room may result from his own love of outdoor sports, combined with his interest in being with as much company as possible when indoors. Mr. Palmer’s surprise may also reflect his own possibly wealthier background (see note 2 above), for the grander the house the more likely such specialized rooms were. Later, when at his own home, he devotes much of his time to billiards (this page).
7. stupid: tiresome.
8. sly: secretive.
9. This would be a tremendous difference. If the local roads were of reasonable quality, one might cover ten miles in two hours, making occasional visits for the day feasible. Thirty miles would rule that out.
10. As the mistress of the house, Lady Middleton would be the one to issue invitations.
11. Married couples often used such formal designations when speaking to each other.
12. As already mentioned, standard etiquette dictated alternating invitations.
13. ill-bred: lacking in manners.
14. His wife’s justifiable criticism of his rudeness stands in ironic contrast to his own criticism of Mrs. Jennings’s lack of manners. In his behavior Mr. Palmer shows a curious combination of formal correctness, as seen in his bowing both when leaving the Dashwoods and when they arrived here, and indifference to any idea of acting affably toward others.
15. the whip hand of: the advantage over.
16. Divorce was impossible to attain at this time, except under very unusual circumstances, so they are stuck with each other until one dies.
17. Mr. Bennet of Pride and Prejudice represents another intelligent man who has married a pretty but silly woman, and who after marriage disdains his wife and takes refuge in silence and sarcasm (Mr. Bennet has the advantage of being more amusing and less openly rude and contemptuous toward others). The wording of this passage suggests it to be a phenomenon the author witnessed frequently. At the same time, in Northanger Abbey she underlines the point made here, that a truly sensible man would not be significantly altered by a bad marital choice, for in it Mr. Allen shows consistent good humor and politeness even though he has a wife at least as vacuous as Mrs. Palmer.
18. canvassing against: campaigning for.
19. Mr. Palmer is running for election to the House of Commons, the larger and more important of the two houses of Parliament (the other was the House of Lords, which at this time still had genuine power). In England, which comprised the majority of the United Kingdom and which dominated Parliament, members were elected either as representatives of entire counties or, more frequently, as representatives of specific boroughs, which differed greatly in size and in qualifications for voting. Mr. Palmer is almost certainly campaigning for a borough seat, because campaigns for county seats were so expensive that they were mostly the province of the high aristocracy. Campaigns for boroughs could also cost a lot, a cost that usually included offering various types of hospitality to voters. This is why so many people now come to dine with the Palmers. For a contemporary picture of a debate in the House of Commons, see this page.
20. keep her countenance: maintain a straight face.
21. M.P.: Member of Parliament. A member would have this placed after his name in formal designations.
22. One privilege of members of Parliament and other important government officials was to frank letters, which meant signing them and getting them sent free of charge. Since postage was expensive—one reason being that the government used the postal service as a source of revenue—the privilege was frequently abused, with friends of the member often using his frank. In a letter Jane Austen, while visiting her brother, mentions a visitor who is a member of Parliament and writes, “If I can, I will get a frank from him & write to you all the sooner” (Oct. 11, 1813). Mr. Palmer’s stated refusal to frank for his wife would be very unusual. He may have simply said that to annoy her, or he may happen to be extremely punctilious about obeying the rules, which forbade anyone except the member or official himself from using the frank.
23. The ladies have withdrawn after dinner, leaving the men in the dining room (the term “drawing room” derives from “withdrawing”).
24. character: reputation.
25. Weymouth is a seaside town in Dorsetshire, a county east of Devonshire and southeast of Somersetshire, that had developed into a popular resort in the eighteenth century (see map). Two characters in Emma meet and become engaged when both are on vacation there. Bathing, or swimming, in the sea had become very popular, both for health and recreation, and many towns along the English coast, especially the southern coast, grew and prospered from the influx of visitors. Jane Austen’s last, uncompleted novel, Sanditon, satirizes aspects of this popularity, though she herself took several trips to resorts along the sea and enjoyed them.
26. country: county. For the location of Somersetshire, see map.
27. At this time Britain was dominated by the Tories, who had been, along with the Whigs, one of the two major political camps since the seventeenth century. The principal issues dividing the country during this period were the war with Napoleonic France, which had lasted almost twenty years by this point, and increased political and legal rights for Catholics: the Tories, in contrast to the Whigs, favored vigorous prosecution of the former and opposed the latter, and these positions were supported by both the monarch and the majority of the public. Neither group, however, had a well-developed party organization (that would not happen until a little later in the century) and both were split into various factions. Thus other labels besides Tory and Whig were often used. Moreover, disgust with both groups, which were particularly fragmented and disputatious during these years, caused many people to speak simply of the party in power and the opposition, without dignifying either with a party label. The Tories derived much of their support from the country gentry, the class including most of the characters in this novel, while the Whigs were heavily based in the smaller but higher-ranking aristocracy. It would make more sense for Willoughby to belong to the Whigs than Mr. Palmer, since the former has strong connections in London, where the aristocracy was centered. One cannot be certain, however, that Mrs. Palmer’s information about Willoughby is correct, since so much of what she says is inaccurate, including her statements about both the location and the character of Willoughby’s home.
28. Bond-street: a main street in the Mayfair section of London where Mrs. Palmer has a house. It was one of the principal shopping venues in London at the time, so it would be a logical place for her to meet Colonel Brandon. Later in the novel, when various characters are in London, several chance encounters occur in Bond Street.
29. dull: sad.
30. own: acknowledge, confess.
The House of Commons.
[From Fiona St. Aubyn, Ackermann’s Illustrated London; illustrations by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson (Ware, 1985), p. 37]
[List of Illustrations]
31. Her husband, who has seen it, just called it a vile spot.
32. This is extremely unlikely. Mrs. Jennings is not snobbish at all and consistently shows a great fondness for Colonel Brandon, so it is hard to imagine her rejecting him as a husband for her daughter. Moreover, even if Colonel Brandon is less wealthy than Mr. Palmer, he still has a fine fortune an
d his rank as a colonel gives him added social prestige.
33. Most girls from wealthy families went to school for a while, though this varied greatly from family to family. There were no educational requirements by law at the time and no generally agreed upon curriculum, especially in the case of girls, whose schooling was considered less important than boys’. Jane Austen had little formal schooling, though her family placed a great value on education and reading and encouraged her literary interests.
VOLUME I, CHAPTER XXI
1. simply: foolishly.
2. abilities: mental abilities or endowments.
3. Since Barton is only four miles from Exeter it would be easy for them to go there for the day, or even part of the day.
4. discovering: revealing, disclosing.
5. It is likely that those they are staying with at Exeter are of lower social rank. Provincial towns contained local commercial elites and professionals, but usually not many who were truly genteel, for the latter generally resided in the country, or in London or a few other popular resort towns such as Bath.
6. The distinction between gentility and elegance is often found in Jane Austen. The first means membership in the genteel class and the possession of its basic manners, bearing, dress, and speech (it could also refer to higher moral standards associated with that class, but it is doubtful if that is uppermost in Lady Middleton’s mind). The second is something above simple gentility, for it means having a special grace and refinement that only some, even of the highest social ranks, possess.
7. That is, not to care whether they are of high rank or background.
8. philosophy: philosophical acceptance.
9. furniture: furnishings. The term often had a wider meaning then, and in this case it means the Miss Steeles are praising all aspects of the house’s interior.
10. Fulsome praise of young ladies is a common practice in Jane Austen’s novels. In Northanger Abbey a foolish young woman is particularly fond of labeling others the “sweetest creatures,” including two girls she met only earlier that day and another about whom she admits, after singing her praises, “there is something amazingly insipid about her.”
