Jane Austen: the World of Her Novels (Abrams; 2002)
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U.S.A. $29.95 CANADA S47.95 Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion - all present delicately crafted contemporary observations of life in early nineteenth-century England. In Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels, renowned Austen scholar Deirdre Le Faye brings this world to life, imparting an understanding that enormously enriches our appreciation of the work of this best-loved of English novelists. Le Faye begins with a meticulously researched overview of the period, from foreign affairs, fashion, and social ranks to transportation, candle etiquette, and sanitation practices. She goes on to consider each novel individually, explaining in detail its action, its setting, the reaction of public and critics, and Austen's own feelings about the book. The witty and pertinent illustrations, many never published before, allow the reader to visualize not only Austen and her surroundings, but also the people and places that appear in these beloved novels. Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels is essential reading for students of literature and social history and for all Jane Austen enthusiasts who want to gain a new insight into her work. 100 illustrations, including 80plates in full color DEIRDRE LE FAYE has spent the last twenty-five years researching the life and times of Jane Austen and her family. In 1989 she wrote the definitive factual biography Jane Austen: A Family Record for the British Library. She has also written The Jane Austen Cookbook (with co-author Maggie Black) and the shorter illustrated biography Jane Austen in the British Library Writers' Lives series. In 1995 she published a completely new edition of Jane Austen s Letters. Le Faye has also contributed numerous articles to literary journals. She lives in Somerset, England. ON THE JACKET: The Cloak-room, Clifton Assembly Rooms, c. 1817-18, by Rolinda Sharpies (Bridgeman Art Library/Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery) FRONTFLAP: Pen and ink sketch, c. 1805, by John Harden (MS 8867 11 6A, Trustees of the National Library of Scotland) BACKFLAP: Early nineteenth-century watercolor of Chawton Cottage (Private Collection), and the house as it is today (Tim Clinch © Frances Lincoln Limited) HARRY N. ABRAMS, INC. 100 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK, N.Y. 10011 H WWW.ABRA.MSBOOKS.COM PRINTED IN SINGAPORE JANE AUSTEN The World of Her Novels JANE AUSTEN The World of Her Novels DEIRDRE LE F A YE HARRY N. ABRAMS, INC., PUBLISHERS First published in 2002 by Frances Lincoln HALF-TITLE PAGE The first Limited, London edition of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion., on a small walnut table Library of Congress Control Number: said to have been used by Jane to 2002107464 support her writing desk, at Jane ISBN 0-8109-3285-7 Austen's House, Chawton, Hampshire. Copyright © 2002 Frances Lincoln Limited Text copyright © 2002 Deirdre Le Faye FRONTISPIECE The dining room at Jane Austen's House. The table Illustrations copyright as listed on page 320 is laid with pieces from the Austen family's Wedgwood dinner service. Published in 2002 by Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, New York TITLE PAGE An engraved version All rights reserved. No part of the contents of the watercolour sketch of this book may be reproduced without the of Jane Austen made by her sister, written permission of the publisher. Cassandra, and now in the National Portrait Gallery, London. This Printed and bound in Singapore engraving was made to illustrate 109 8 76 5 4 3 2 1 James-Edward Austen-Leigh's Memoir of Jane Austen (1870). ABIflMS Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 100 Fifth Avenue • The map of England and Wales New York, N.Y 10011 www.abramsbooks.com and all the maps of the counties used throughout the book are taken Abrams is a subsidiary of from The English Atlas, by Laurie IAMARTLNIÈRE & Whittle, 1807. GROUPE CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 6 PART 1: THE WORLD OF JANE AUSTEN 8 Jane Austen and Her Family 8 England and The World 40 A Sense of Place 126 PART 2: THE NOVELS 148 Sense and Sensibility 154 Pride and Prejudice 178 Northanger Abbey 204 The Watsons 222 Mansfield Park 228 Emma 262 Persuasion 278 Sanditon 298 Epilogue 308 FURTHER READING 311 THE NOVELS: DATES AND MAIN CHARACTERS 313 INDEX 316 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 320 INTRODUCTION In 1816, when Jane Austen had finished revising her early manuscript of Susan (now known to us as Northanger Abbey) and was intending to try for a second time to get it published, she felt it necessary to add a foreword, or 'Advertisement' to her text: This little work was finished in the year 1803, and intended for immediate publication. It was disposed of to a bookseller, it was even advertised, and why the business proceeded no farther, the author has never been able to learn. That any bookseller should think it worth while to purchase what he did not think it worth while to publish seems extraordinary. But with this, neither the author nor the public have any other concern than as some observation is necessary upon those parts of the work which thirteen years have made comparatively obsolete. The public are entreated to bear in mind that thirteen years have passed since it was finished, many more since it was begun, and that during that period, places, manners, books, and opinions have undergone considerable changes. If Jane Austen was afraid that her book might seem outdated after a lapse of thirteen years since its completion, she would be utterly amazed to learn that her works are still enjoyed two hundred years after she first wrote them. This enduring popularity is a tribute not only to her skill as an author, but also to the accuracy of her plots in identifying the basic and unchanging truths of human nature. To meet one's ideal marriage partner is still the hope of every young man and woman, even in the twenty-first century, and family background and economic factors still help or hinder the achievement of this hope. But the places, manners, books and opinions with which she was familiar have changed not merely considerably, but beyond the scope of her wildest imaginings. Society is always changing, but as the river of time flows inexorably onwards the changes happen so gradually and silently that we do not take note of them. 6 INTRODUCTION It is only when we look at old photographs, or when television programmes re run newsreels of fifty years ago, that we realize just how much our lifestyle has changed even within living memory; and once memory is no longer alive, we have to turn to history books to read about that familiar and yet strangely different country which is the past. The object of this book, then, is to provide for the modern reader an outline of Jane Austen's own world — her biography and background — and to fit into this historical framework specific and often long-forgotten details of the late Georgian and Regency social scene. Because all her novels were published close together, between 1811 and 1818, and because modern film and television productions usually portray the characters as dressed in the fashions of those few years, it is easy to think of Jane herself as being a product purely of the Regency. In fact her all-too-short life spanned the change from one century to another, and she grew to womanhood and formed her opinions in the context of Georgian society. Her first three novels were all composed in the 1790s, and it is only the later three which can be considered to be truly of the Regency period. As it happens, the reign of George III, from 1760 to 1820, including the years of the Regency, encompasses the whole length of time from the marriage of Jane's parents in 1764 to the posthumous publication of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion in 1818. That reign, therefore, is taken here as setting the boundaries of her life and times. It is intended that these details of social history, together with the illustrations that accompany them, will serve to throw light on Jane Austen's second world, that of the novels she wrote and the lives of the characters she created, and so make for deeper understanding and even greater enjoyment of her works. One of Jane Austen's very earliest readers wrote of Emma: 'I like it better than any. Every character is thoroughly kept up. Miss Bates is incomparable, but I was nearly killed with those precious treasures! They are unique, & really with more fun than I can express. I am at Highbury all day, & I can't help feeling I have just got into a new set of acquaintance.' It is hoped that the following chapters will help present-day readers to feel that, like Alice, they can step through the looking glass and on the other side find themselves in the England of two centuries ago, ready to become personally acquainted with the Bennets, Bertrams, Knightleys and Elliots. 7 THE WORLD OF JANE AUSTEN JANE AUSTEN AND HER FAMILY •>> <<• Jane was born on the cold frosty night of Saturday 16 December 1775, in Steventon, Hampshire; and the next morning, while Mr Austen was in his study writing to his sister-in-law Mrs Walter in Kent with the news of this latest addition to his family — 'We have now another girl, a present plaything for her sister Cassy and a future companion. She is to be Jenny, and seems to me as if she would be as like Henry, as Cassy is to Neddy' — the other children were no doubt brought to their mother's bedside for a first sight of their new sister.