by Jane Austen
29. The pianoforte was the most popular instrument for young ladies, and the harp was next. A family of three daughters might have one play the harp in order to create more variety of sound when they all played; furnishing music for the home was one of the principal justifications for teaching young ladies music. Mary does not mention drawing, the other principal form of female accomplishment: she may be less inclined to think of it, since she plays music rather than draws, or she may focus on music because another important reason for teaching young women to play was that it helped them attract a potential mate, and Mary is concerned about that possibility with regard to Edmund.
An interior of the time with a pianoforte and a harp.
[From Max von Boehn, Modes & Manners of the Nineteenth Century, Vol. I (London, 1909), p. 67]
30. Mary’s wording satirizes the general polite urge to find some way to praise young ladies, regardless of the circumstances. Many ladies were given singing lessons, for the same reasons as they were taught to play instruments.
31. doubtful: uncertain.
32. She will be in London.
33. pretty: nice, proper.
34. Mary has earlier articulated her sense of a “duty” to pursue their interest, especially by seeking an advantageous marriage. She also assumes that a marriage to Edmund would be materially advantageous for the Miss Owens, something she does not believe for herself. She has a good foundation for this assumption, since children of clergy were unlikely to receive ample inheritances, as Mary herself has, because income from a clerical position cannot be passed on to children.
35. Daughters of clergymen might be more likely to marry clergy themselves, but it was by no means a universal practice: the heroine of Northanger Abbey does that, though her husband’s being a clergyman does not factor overtly into her decision. Jane Austen’s mother was the daughter of a clergyman and married one; however, Jane and her sister both became engaged to men in other lines.
36. She hopes she does not err in her belief that Edmund will not marry, since she does not wish him to wed Mary, the only present candidate. She also hopes she does not err by acknowledging her doubt, because she might be presuming more knowledge of Edmund than she has a right to claim or because it might give Mary a false impression of the situation, which Fanny in truth cannot really know.
37. turned: changed.
VOLUME II, CHAPTER XII
1. A sweep was a curved drive for carriages that leads to a house.
2. views: intentions.
3. She is mainly lucky in Mary’s eyes because she has attracted a husband as rich and high-ranking as Henry despite her poverty and undistinguished family origin. She probably also considers Fanny lucky due to Henry’s personal qualifications.
4. She knows Edmund is a true friend to Fanny, and she may believe Sir Thomas is also.
5. The quotation is from a song by the eighteenth-century poet William Whitehead entitled “The Je ne scai Quoi, A Song.” It occurs at the end of the first stanza:
Yes, I’m in love, I feel it now
And Caelia has undone me;
And yet I’ll swear I can’t tell how
The pleasing plague stole on me.
6. In introducing Admiral Crawford, the narrator stated that he and his wife agreed in nothing other than affection for Henry and Mary, and even there they each had a different exclusive favorite. Hence he was likely unhappy in his own marriage and now dislikes the institution. He could still excuse a man’s marrying if he needed the money it would bring, but that would not be the case with a wealthy young man.
7. His experience with his wife presumably soured him, or reinforced misogynistic tendencies he already had. Also, living now with a mistress, and perhaps having had others, he could have been further confirmed in his prejudices by dealing with women who were far from morally pure and who may have been thoroughly mercenary in their motives (his reported character does not suggest he is someone who would inspire real affection in a mistress).
8. embody: express, give form to.
9. Naval men were known for coarse and profane language, and Admiral Crawford’s private life and amorous experiences would have naturally coarsened his ideas and language further.
10. His business, which concerned William rather than Fanny, will be revealed in the next chapter.
11. understanding: mind, intelligence.
12. Meaning her outer behavior perfectly expresses her fine inner character.
13. Extended philosophical discussion and analysis of moral principles were common in writings of the time; a work Fanny was earlier described as reading, Johnson’s The Idler, was a prime example. Jane Austen’s own work, both in her explicit authorial reflections and in the moral themes embodied in her stories, shows the influence of such writings. Such philosophical discussions were seen as valuable aids to help people understand true moral principles and thereby appreciate others’ goodness as well as improve their own moral character.
14. He would be thinking particularly of his ability to rely on her sexual integrity—not simply that she would not cheat on him but also that she would never behave in a way that could give rise to suspicion or scandalous rumors. Coming from a background of fashionable London society, where sexual infidelity, and gossip about it, were more common than among the country gentry, he would naturally be inclined to worry about that.
15. The idea of the close connection of moral principles and religion, and the need for religion as a basis of morality, was a basic belief of the time, seen at various points in Jane Austen’s writings.
16. Henry, even as he expresses regret for his bad behavior, reveals a laxness in his moral attitude by arguing that making a woman fall in love with you when you have no intention of returning the affection is not wicked if the victim is an ordinary woman without the special virtue of someone like Fanny.
17. Owners of grand estates sometimes let them (rented them to a tenant). The principal family in Persuasion does that, and in Pride and Prejudice the hero arrives in the neighborhood of the heroine because his best friend has rented a grand house there.
18. “Lodge” was often used as part of the name of a grand house. Jane Austen may mean the name to relate to Stanwyck, a village in northeast Northamptonshire that is around fifteen miles from the likely location of Mansfield. But it is not clear whether she, who had never traveled to this part of England, had ever heard of the village, which had fewer than five hundred people at the time, and Henry would probably wish to be closer than fifteen miles to Mansfield.
19. Not all leases were for this duration. Henry’s declaration expresses his enthusiasm about the impending marriage and his adoption of a completely new course in life.
20. confusion: embarrassment, perturbation.
21. purposed: determined, resolved.
22. Henry already spends part of his time in London, and undoubtedly appreciates its many opportunities for diversions; he also probably has companions he would wish to continue seeing. Having a house in London, and spending at least part of the year there, was standard for people wealthy enough to afford it (and only a small minority of the population could do that while also living part of the year elsewhere). An important attraction that could never be found in a rural area was the presence of so many people of their own high social level. Neither Henry nor Mary has apparently thought about whether Fanny would like or fit in with the fashionable London social whirl.
23. His foolish opinions are, at least in part, his disdain for marriage and women. His love of a good dinner above all other pleasures could be a natural attitude for a wealthy man, especially one without active employment, to develop as he aged, one reason for Mary to fear Henry’s following in Admiral Crawford’s path.
24. This is Henry’s principal criterion for a good father. It is notable that he defends his uncle after having earlier admitted his irrational prejudice regarding women and his thorough indelicacy of language.
25. This gives a further sense of the misery of the
ir aunt and uncle’s marriage, this time from the perspective of the wife. A wife could suffer far more from a miserable marriage due to the extremely dependent legal position of married women at the time.
26. Mary envisions the probability of Henry’s love fading, though she also believes that his natural generosity and courtesy ensure that he would continue to treat his wife decently. Mary’s statement thus combines a worldly skepticism about the possibility and need for continued love in a marriage with a genuine concern for Fanny’s welfare.
27. This again shows Henry’s almost extravagant enthusiasm. He also showed great enthusiasm about the play before moving on to new interests, though in that case he was stopped by external events.
28. work: needlework.
29. Her hair is pinned up, for grown women almost never let their hair down except in bed, but one strand is falling loose. Curls were popular in women’s hairstyles then; for an example, see this page. In fact, the principal surviving portrait of Jane Austen shows her in curls.
30. They have been walking during this conversation.
31. This turns out to be a complete error regarding Maria.
32. coxcomb: fop; conceited, foolish man.
33. His belief in the ephemeral nature of most women’s romantic feelings is one reason for his willingness to engage in flirtations, though he probably also developed this belief at least in part as a way to justify his behavior. It is also the reason for his mistaken estimate of Maria’s feelings.
34. to: compared to.
VOLUME II, CHAPTER XIII
1. They probably eat breakfast at ten, which was a standard time for wealthy people. When William and Henry left together, their breakfast, which finished at nine-thirty, was followed by a second breakfast for the others (see this page). Hence it is probably between ten-thirty and eleven now, which would be considered too early for normal visiting. The common routine was for people to stay indoors early in the day, and only venture out later to go on visits or engage in other activities.
2. The standard response would be for her to sit down again and greet the visitor, but doing that and then afterward getting up again and proceeding to the door is too much effort for her.
3. Bowing is a more formal gesture than normal for this situation; Henry probably bows because it allows him to make a polite gesture of greeting without delaying Lady Bertram’s departure, as a verbal greeting would.
4. to hand: into my possession.
5. This is the secretary of the First Lord of the Admiralty, whom William earlier identified as the person he would most like to be connected to for the sake of obtaining a promotion. It is possible that the secretary handled the matter himself, even though the letter below speaks of the effort of “his Lordship.”
6. This shows how Admiral Crawford procured William’s promotion. He contacted a friend who possessed influence, because of personal or family connections or because of his own prominence and importance, and this friend asked a favor of either the First Lord or the secretary. Jane Austen was very familiar with these matters from the advancement of her naval brothers through Austen family connections. Her oldest brother James’s father-in-law, General Mathew, had a niece married to Admiral Gambier, who was a member of the Admiralty Board, the governing body of the navy headed by the First Lord. This connection allowed Jane Austen’s father to apply to Admiral Gambier, which led to a written reply quoted by Austen in a letter to her sister. Gambier wrote, regarding Charles Austen, “I have mentioned to the Board of Admiralty his wish to be in a Frigate, and when a proper opportunity offers & it is judged that he has taken his Turn in a small Ship, I hope he will be removed,” and, regarding Francis Austen, “I am glad I can give you the assurance that his promotion is likely to take place very soon, as Lord Spencer [the First Lord] has been so good as to say he would include him in an arrangement in that quarter” (Dec. 24, 1798). A few days later she writes that General Mathew has sent a “very friendly” letter “transcribing one from Admiral Gambier to the General” that reveals that Frank has been promoted and Charles transferred to a frigate (Dec. 28, 1798).
7. The navy had many “Sirs,” especially at the highest level. Some had received a knighthood or baronetcy for meritorious service; others were sons of baronets.
8. The wording of the two preceding clauses, with their “very great happiness of attending” and “opportunity of proving his regard for,” repeats or paraphrases the kind of phrases used in such formal letters.
9. A sloop was the smallest of the three main types of navy vessels; the other two were a frigate (see the picture on this page) and, largest of all, a ship of the line, or man-of-war. A sloop’s main functions were to patrol the coasts, to protect commercial vessels, and to attack enemy commercial ships. Because of its small size the Thrush has only two lieutenants, the commissioned officers who assist the captain; William is now the lower ranking of the two. “H. M.,” in the ship’s official name (which would be used in a formal announcement), stands for “His Majesty’s.”
10. made out: accomplished, achieved.
11. This is more official phraseology, for the promotion of an obscure person like William Price would hardly be “spreading general joy,” especially among “a wide circle of great [i.e., important or high-ranking] people.”
12. Jane Austen consistently expresses great joy in letters relating the success and promotion of her naval brothers. In the first letter mentioned above, quoting the admiral’s promise of assistance, she immediately adds, “There!—I may now finish my letter, & go & hang myself, for I can neither write nor do anything which will not appear insipid to you after this.” In the second, a short one sent solely to announce the news (contrary to her usual practice of writing only long letters), she starts by writing, “Frank is made,” and, after giving the details, adds that as soon as her sister has “cried a little for Joy,” she can learn the good news about Charles.
13. The friend who was not absent, but was engaged and thus could not act immediately, was presumably the Sir Charles mentioned earlier. Admiral Crawford’s having two friends potentially able to offer assistance indicates his prominence and good connections.
14. This is ten days after he left Mansfield with William (on a Friday); see chronology.
15. He would have seen William only on the evening they arrived in London, for William had to leave for Portsmouth the next day.
16. Hill Street has already been mentioned as the fashionable London address of Admiral Crawford.
17. A man would normally not engage in such physical contact with a woman unless she was related or married to him. In this case he is inspired by his hope that they will shortly become engaged, which will permit further liberties. Moreover, taking her hand to guide her is not as intimate as holding hands.
18. placed to the account of: credited to.
19. gallantry: amorous intrigue, flirtation.
20. stand: remain.
21. He is completely confident she will accept him, a confidence that has some basis in his wealth and social position, which would make most women in Fanny’s social and economic situation happy to say yes. Henry has also consistently experienced great success with women of higher rank than Fanny. In Pride and Prejudice the hero makes his first proposal to the heroine with misplaced confidence, based on his knowledge of his high status and wealth.
22. Her first impulse is to regard his proposal as an insult, since she cannot believe he was serious.
23. The “great staircase” is a large central staircase, a common feature of homes like this. The space at its head, or top, is on the same level as the east room, the room Fanny uses during the day.
24. Mary Crawford, unlike Henry, has not been invited for dinner. Sir Thomas presumably has invited Henry only so that, with fewer others present, he will be able to focus more on Fanny.
25. Women could call each other by their first names if they were related or close friends. Mary has already been leaning toward use of the first name, though not
sure if her intimacy with Fanny is great enough to justify it. But once Fanny has become engaged to her brother, as Mary believes is in the process of happening, she no longer needs to hesitate. She is actually being presumptuous in already saying “Fanny,” for as the later part of her note indicates, Henry has not reported any definite affirmative from Fanny.
26. Since the afternoon is the period just after dinner (see this page, note 21), Henry and Fanny will be together then.
27. expressions: declarations, statements.
28. Lady Bertram, as the mistress of the house, rises to signal to the other ladies that it is time to leave the gentlemen in the dining room.
29. fit up: furnish.
30. Both midshipmen and officers were required to provide their own furnishings. But midshipmen shared a berth and slept in a hammock, while each officer had his own cabin in which he would install a regular bed and other furniture. This could represent a considerable expenditure for a new officer.
31. in the way of: in a likely position for.
32. “Her mite” alludes to a famous gospel story, told in Mark and Luke, about a poor widow who contributes “two mites” (in the King James translation, then in universal use in England) to the temple in Jerusalem, and is praised by Jesus for giving more than others, because “all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.” Mrs. Norris’s citation of it represents a supreme irony, for, in complete contrast to the woman in the story, she is a widow with ample wealth who contributes almost nothing to others.
33. Ten pounds is a generous sum for William. As a lieutenant he will earn just under eight and a half pounds per month, and he earned less as a midshipman.
34. Mrs. Norris has clearly given less, even though she called her gift considerable while Lady Bertram speaks of “only” ten pounds. In his A Memoir of Jane Austen, her nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh states that his aunt, when asked for more information about her characters than is furnished in the novels, stated that Mrs. Norris gave William one pound.
