by Jane Austen
A satire of people falling on the ground in front of the Royal Crescent, due to its steepness.
[From Joseph Grego, Rowlandson the Caricaturist, Vol. I (London, 1880), p. 348]
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10. This whole episode constitutes a moral test for Catherine, of the sort that heroines in Austen’s novels consistently undergo. Previously she acted badly by breaking her engagement with the Tilneys, and has suffered for it. Now she is faced with a second, even stronger temptation to do so, and her refusal to succumb marks an advance in her moral evolution.
11. Brock Street connects the Royal Crescent to the central area of Bath; for its position, and Catherine’s route to Milsom Street, see this map.
A crowded outdoor gathering, such as Catherine is now experiencing.
[From Max von Boehn, Modes & Manners of the Nineteenth Century, Vol. I (London, 1909), p. 81]
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12. In the original edition, this line was joined to the preceding line, with no quotation marks or paragraph break separating them. However, Thorpe is clearly identified as the speaker of this line and Morland of the previous one. A missing paragraph break, such as occurs elsewhere in the original edition, is a much more likely printer’s error than printing the wrong name; furthermore, this correction makes more sense within the context of the scene.
13. The crowd on the Crescent is a testament to its popularity.
14. Milsom Street is where the Tilneys live; the top is the northern end, which is closest to the Crescent.
15. the outset: having set out or departed.
16. The normal “ceremony,” i.e., custom, when visiting a home was to ask the servant to see someone residing there, and to wait at the door while he went to ascertain that person’s availability. Even if the servant knew the visitor, and knew he or she was welcome, the caller was supposed to wait for the servant to formally announce and present the new arrival to the residents.
17. The drawing room was the living room of affluent homes, where people would gather for conversation or other daily activities.
18. irritation: excitement, agitation.
19. Catherine’s words indicate that, as agitated as she is, she is fully aware of how much she has breached the normal protocol of visiting.
20. scruple: hesitation.
21. Thorpe had related to Catherine the General’s high opinion of her.
22. apartment: room. The term, which will be used often in this novel, always has this meaning.
23. While being announced, a visitor was supposed to wait outside the drawing room until the servant opened the door.
24. William is the footman; this is indicated by the General’s use of a first name, which was the practice with lower servants. Butlers, the highest-ranking male servants, could also answer the door, but like other upper servants they would be called by their last names. The Tilneys’ butler is mentioned later, but he has not accompanied them to Bath: most servants would stay behind when a genteel family traveled, both because the house still needed care and because there would be only limited room if the family would be guests at a different home or, as here, would be staying in smaller lodgings. Footmen were among those who sometimes did travel, and when the Tilneys leave Bath, a number of servants will accompany them.
25. Fifteen minutes was the prescribed time for an introductory visit, which is what this is for Catherine and General Tilney. A visitor was supposed to rise to leave at that point, though the host could ask her to prolong it.
26. It will later be revealed why the General has a particular respect for the claims of the Allens (see this page).
27. elasticity: buoyancy, energy.
28. Ladies and gentlemen, especially ladies, were often educated in the best ways of walking or other motions, and would be praised for moving with elegance. These arts, complete with books of instruction, frequently occupied a substantial portion of the education in fancy boarding schools for girls. Catherine has enjoyed no such education, which, combined with her youthful and sometimes awkward enthusiasm, means that she would not display the refined polish and grace that was held up for the highest praise. Hence the General has chosen elasticity as the most praiseworthy quality in her movements.
29. The General also displays this sort of elaborate courtesy on other occasions, a mark of the formal manners generally found among the wealthy, though not always to this extent. But his decorum coexists with less agreeable conduct in certain contexts, such as his angry remonstrance to his servant. His particular solicitude toward Catherine, which he will continue to exhibit, also marks a change from his rudeness when she last called at their lodgings.
30. took occasion: took advantage of the opportunity.
31. Mr. Allen was not present, when Catherine set out on her earlier carriage ride with John Thorpe, to notice the impropriety and object. If he heard about it later, he may have decided not to bother raising the issue until now.
32. The light colors and delicate fabrics of fashionable gowns would make them especially vulnerable to being dirtied or damaged by a trip in an open carriage.
33. should: shall.
34. sprigged muslin: a type of muslin gown; see note 11.
35. Mrs. Allen’s answer reveals her complete inadequacy as a chaperone, and Catherine indicates her awareness of that in her next statement.
36. insensible: unaware.
An older man.
[From Arthur B. Chamberlain, John Constable (London, 1909), p. 66]
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37. Catherine’s worries show both her general moral conscientiousness and her high regard for the Tilneys’ good opinion; she never expresses similar concerns over how the Thorpes may judge her.
A portrait of a woman.
[From Malcolm Salaman, Old English Colour Prints (New York, 1909), Plate IX]
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VOLUME I, CHAPTER XIV
1. event: outcome.
2. measures: plans, course of action.
3. Easily keeping an appointment is unnatural from the perspective of many novels, in which strange or unexpected mishaps regularly occur to thwart the romantic prospects of the heroine and hero.
4. noble: imposing, impressive (especially regarding its dimensions).
5. hanging coppice: copse or woods on the side of a hill. Pierce Egan’s 1819 guidebook Walks Through Bath speaks of “the picturesque appearance of the hanging woods of Beechen Cliff.”
6. Beechen Cliff is immediately south of Bath. It is a very steep hill (though not strictly speaking a cliff), which is why they walk around it to attain the summit. Beechen Cliff was a highly visible landmark because of Bath’s development, which extended in the city along hills to the north, where the views faced south. The top of Beechen Cliff offers spectacular views of its own—see this illustration.
7. Beechen Cliff is next to the River Avon, and one logical route from Catherine’s lodgings on Pulteney Street would be along the river (see this map).
8. His surprise results from the rarity of foreign travel. It was beyond the means of all but the most wealthy, and for ten years before the time of this novel’s completion, in 1803, travel to most of the European continent was virtually impossible because of the ongoing war between Britain and France.
9. Emily, the heroine of The Mysteries of Udolpho, is from Gascony, in southern France, and early in the novel she and her father undertake a lengthy journey through the nearby Pyrenees Mountains. During their journey they venture through magnificent mountain scenery, which the narrator describes at great length and with great enthusiasm.
10. Catherine is expressing a common stereotype. Women were considered to be the main consumers of novels—regarded as inferior reading—and men the consumers of nonfiction genres such as history, religion, or classics, which were held in higher esteem. Records from libraries and reading societies do show a stronger female preference for fiction and a male preference for nonfiction, but they also show many
men reading novels.
11. Reading aloud was a common practice of the time. Jane Austen speaks of it in her letters, including of occasions when her own works were read aloud.
12. Eleanor Tilney, as the sole woman of her family, functions as mistress of the household, which would entail managing servants, paying bills, and attending to visitors. This could include answering notes that, unlike personal letters, needed an immediate response.
13. A hermitage is the dwelling of a hermit or monk. During the eighteenth century the same interest in the Middle Ages that spurred the rise of the Gothic novel, along with a related interest in natural-seeming landscapes, created a fashion for mock hermitages on the grounds of estates. These were small cottages or huts, built to look rustic and primitive; the striving for verisimilitude could even lead to hiring someone to live there as a hermit, or to installing a wax figure of a hermit. The cottages would also be placed in remote or wooded locations. This would make the walk leading to one likely to be secluded, which may have attracted Henry to it as a venue for reading. He and his sister were already presumably outside at the time of this incident, either sitting or walking; landscaped grounds on large estates normally offered ample opportunities for both.
14. establish: confirm, fix.
15. Henry is mocking Catherine’s use of “amazingly” as a synonym for “exceedingly” (a feature of Isabella Thorpe’s speech, from whom Catherine may have picked up the habit). Other characters in Austen’s novels who use the word tend to be excitable and, more often than not, of limited intelligence. More generally, Henry’s scrupulousness regarding language forms a polar contrast with Isabella’s undiscriminating approach to it, a contrast that speaks to their overall characters and that is important for Catherine because they are the two principal influences on her over the course of the novel.
16. Novels in this period were frequently named after their heroines, with “Julia” and “Louisa” both appearing in the titles of several. Novels favored names considered fancy or unusual for their heroines: examples include the three novels earlier cited by Jane Austen, Belinda, Cecilia, and Camilla. Names ending in an “a,” often with a foreign derivation, had become popular in England; “Julia” and “Louisa,” which Jane Austen herself uses as character names, both first came into use there in the eighteenth century and were still not very common. Austen originally planned to name this novel after her heroine, though in choosing a highly traditional English name she deliberately set her apart from other heroines.
17. Valancourt is the hero of Udolpho. After he and Emily fall in love with each other, they are separated when her aunt, who has become her guardian after the death of her father, marries the Italian Montoni and moves to that country with Emily; Valancourt, meanwhile, goes with his military unit to Paris, even farther from Italy than his original home in southern France. The lovers remain far apart during most of the novel.
18. Henry is around twenty-five (see this page), making him eight years older than Catherine; men, the only ones to attend universities at this time, usually began higher education at eighteen. A sampler was a piece of needlework done by girls in order to learn sewing and embroidery, which were fundamental parts of female education at all levels of society. Sometimes the final product was a picture, one proud parents might hang on a wall and even frame. In many cases the contents of samplers were themselves instructive, thereby allowing them to serve dual educational purposes. Girls might create a design that included the letters of the alphabet, numbers, or countries (to learn geography); or the sampler might highlight a short phrase, often a line from a noted poem, a biblical verse, or a moralistic homily.
19. Books at the time were usually sold unbound, with the purchaser then paying separately to have them bound; in a letter Jane Austen explains that a certain package of books fit comfortably in her bookcase since “the Binding has compressed them most conveniently” (Oct. 27, 1798). Bindings could vary greatly in quality and style, depending on the means and preferences of their possessors.
Two samplers of the time. The first has an alphabet, a religious and moral message, the name and birth date of its creator, and a picture; the second has multiple alphabets, numbers, and a more elaborate picture.
[From Candace Wheeler, The Development of Embroidery in America (New York, 1921), p. 56]
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20. She has mentioned two of the era’s most noted authorities on language. Samuel Johnson, a leading literary figure of eighteenth-century England, was famous especially for his 1755 Dictionary of the English Language, which quickly established itself as the preeminent reference book for the language. Part of its distinction lay in the copiousness and care with which Johnson listed words’ various meanings, and his practice of illustrating definitions with examples from noted literary works. Hugh Blair was a Scottish theologian and professor of rhetoric; his popular multivolume book of sermons is cited by a character in Mansfield Park as the best source for a sensible preacher. He also published, in 1783, Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, which discusses different types of language, the history of language, and the principles that make for good communication. Blair was an important figure in a general movement in the second half of the eighteenth century that attempted to improve English, one that helped produce a flood of new grammar and usage guides. These writers and books often focused on making sure words were employed correctly, with the goal of promoting clarity of meaning. Blair had a particular interest in precision of speech and in attending to fine distinctions in meaning, which would make him congenial to Henry Tilney.
21. “Nice” has long been a widely used word in English, but for many centuries it lacked its current meanings and instead referred to people or things that were, as Henry explains, fastidious, delicate, dainty, refined, or precise (a meaning still preserved in the expression “a nice distinction”). This is why he applied it above to a neatly bound book, and why Eleanor replies below that he is “more nice [i.e., exacting, hard to please] than wise.” In the late eighteenth century, however, even as these meanings remained in common currency, “nice” began to be used as a general synonym for “good,” as Catherine uses it in praising Udolpho. Henry, in line with principles of current writers on language, objects to this as a sloppy corruption of a word that used to have a more precise meaning. Of course, his objection has proved to be unavailing, as the older meanings of “nice” have faded in favor of Catherine’s meaning (the other principal meaning today, “nice” as a synonym for “kind,” emerged in the late nineteenth century). Henry could have derived his knowledge of the history of the word from Johnson’s Dictionary, in which examples of usage include quotations from writers going back to the sixteenth century.
22. Poetry was widely read at the time, and poetic works sometimes outsold novels. One reason was the popularity of reading aloud, for which poetry was particularly suited. Many books of plays were also published, with an additional impetus to that being the practice of putting on amateur theatrical productions at home, which plays a prominent role in Mansfield Park.
23. Travel writing was a major genre during this period. It was stimulated by the increasing number of Europeans venturing around the world as explorers, missionaries, traders, colonizers, warriors, or simply tourists. Britain, thanks to its emergence as the principal naval, commercial, and colonial power in the world, produced a notable share of these travelers. At the same time, demand for travel accounts was ensured by the continued inability of the great majority of people, due to the hardships and dangers and great expense of foreign travel, to learn about the rest of the world in any other manner.
24. chief: greater part.
25. History, another leading genre, primarily emphasized political and military history, with a focus on dramatic events and the actions of heroic figures. Many histories included hypothetical speeches by characters, as well as relations of what these characters must have been thinking and planning.
26. The historians of Austen’s e
ra did make extensive use of written records and documents, often including footnotes throughout the text to indicate the sources for their assertions.
27. David Hume was the most prominent philosopher of eighteenth-century Britain and the author of a lengthy history of England. William Robertson was the author of a history of Scotland as well as histories of India, the Americas, and Emperor Charles V. All were widely sold.
28. Caractacus was a tribal leader who fought against the invasion of Britain by Romans in the first century. Agricola was the Roman general primarily responsible for the successful Roman conquest of the island at that time. Alfred the Great, the only British king to be called regularly by this epithet, lived in the ninth century and played a critical role in establishing the first unified kingdom of England.
29. friends: friends and relatives. At this time “friend” could apply to both.
30. great: large. No judgment on the quality of the books is meant: “great” as a synonym for “extremely good” had not yet emerged at this time, except in the context of notable historical figures like the just-mentioned King Alfred.
31. Many histories, including those of Hume and Robertson, consisted of multiple volumes.
32. In many families, especially those not wealthy enough to afford a governess, the mother would take charge of the education of young children. As they grew older the mother might continue, perhaps with the help of the father for the boys, or the children might be sent to school.
33. This suggests that they both draw. Drawing was a much less common pastime for gentlemen than for ladies, though some men did learn. Henry earlier spoke of the equality of the sexes in the ability to draw landscapes (this page). Men who studied drawing were especially apt to produce landscapes, the type of picture under discussion here.
34. These ideas, unfamiliar to Catherine, are those of the influential picturesque movement of the time (see note 38). According to the writer who popularized it more than anyone, William Gilpin, the best views of a natural scene, when trying to form a picture, were partway up a hill rather than at the summit, and on misty rather than bright days.
