by Jane Austen
44. direction: address.
45. This still means Willoughby himself took no trouble to learn of her fate or location. Even now he asks nothing about Eliza’s current state, though he knows that Elinor’s acquaintance with Colonel Brandon means she might have some information, nor does he ask about his own child, though he must suspect the possibility of a child and may even have been told of it by Colonel Brandon when he challenged Willoughby to a duel.
46. taxed: accused, charged.
47. This means specifically her ignorance of other cases of such behavior, which might make Willoughby’s deed seem less unusual or shocking. One meaning of “the world” was wealthy and fashionable society, and Willoughby, who has lived among rich friends, may be suggesting that someone conversant with this milieu would not be so censorious.
48. After Willoughby met Marianne he spent most of his time with her and her family (this page), at the expense of Mrs. Smith. His neglect of her indicates both his selfishness, since she was his relative and his hostess, and his imprudence, since he was expecting to inherit her money.
49. His absolute dismissal of the possibility of marrying her could result from the importance of female chastity, which would make him reluctant to marry an unchaste woman even if he was the cause of her fall, from his wish to find a wife with a large fortune, from Eliza’s social position, from lack of affection, or from some combination of these. Her illegitimate birth would taint her by itself, as would her lack of family and fortune, since Colonel Brandon was not in a position to give her a substantial amount; most people placed great importance on such considerations when choosing a mate, and Willoughby’s association with the wealthy may have made him especially prone to such judgments.
50. By “dismissed from her favor” he means disinherited.
51. As with other characters in the novel he defines poverty according to the standards of his class. The six to seven hundred pounds a year from his estate at Combe Magna, which Mrs. Smith could not take away, would by itself give him a higher income than the great majority of the population at the time.
52. expensive society: the society or company of those who spent lavishly.
53. magnanimity: fortitude; in other words, his ability to endure her misery without weakening his resolution of leaving her.
54. country: county.
55. Honiton, a town in eastern Devonshire, was already mentioned as the first important stop when journeying east from Barton (this page); see also map.
56. He speaks almost solely of what he suffered and makes no attempt to imagine what Marianne was certainly suffering during this same time.
57. tediously: slowly, in a wearisome fashion. Traveling with his own horses would be much less expensive, but it would also be much slower, since the horses would have to stop frequently to eat, drink, and rest; the reason for normally changing horses approximately every ten miles on long journeys was that each new set of horses would be well rested and fed and ready to gallop at maximum speed. Willoughby presumably chose this means of travel because his rupture with Mrs. Smith made him worry about his finances. He says he was confident of marrying a rich woman, but may have hesitated to rely on that until he saw her in London.
58. “Not to be expressed” was a common way of describing feelings that were overwhelming.
59. Thunderbolts and daggers were clichéd metaphors used frequently in conventional fiction of the time. Marianne scorned all jargon or hackneyed language (this page and this page), a sentiment in keeping with the Romantic emphasis on originality. It also corresponds to some of Jane Austen’s attitudes: in a letter to a niece on her draft of a novel, she wishes her niece would not have a character “plunge into a vortex of Dissipation. I do not object to the Thing, but I cannot bear the expression;—it is such thorough novel slang—and so old, that I dare say Adam met with it in the first novel he opened” (Sept. 28, 1814).
60. Marianne had ardently expressed her strong opinions to Willoughby, and obviously succeeded in imparting them to him, someone who had probably not thought much about many of these matters before.
61. Avowing such passionate and high regard for another woman is disrespectful to his current wife.
62. Meaning he left his visiting card with his name on it; this occurred on this page.
63. falling in with you: coming upon you by chance, meeting you.
64. Elinor and Marianne were repeatedly described riding in Mrs. Jennings’s carriage in London. They could have easily caught a glimpse of Willoughby through the carriage windows.
65. Bond Street was a main shopping street where Elinor and Marianne, as well as other characters, went on various errands. Marianne in fact watched out particularly for Willoughby when on the street (this page).
66. artless: guileless, sincere.
67. Willoughby was shown experiencing acute discomfort in this scene (this page), which made Elinor reflect immediately afterward that he seemed conscious of his bad behavior—as he now confirms.
68. speaking: expressive, eloquent.
69. In the same sentence he compares Marianne to an angel and his wife to a devil. In describing the latter he cannot even finish the thought, since it would mean using language one should not employ when speaking of one’s wife. The hyperbole of his language, even when recounting an incident of several months earlier, shows his strong feelings, though it also calls his character into question, for in Austen’s novels the use of exaggerated expression generally indicates some flaw, whether insincerity or a weak intellect or excessive indulgence of emotion.
70. The Ellisons were Miss Grey’s guardians, with whom she would have been staying until her marriage, since social conventions would forbid a single young woman to lodge on her own.
71. Marianne sent her letter very early in the morning, and the fast and frequent deliveries of the London two-penny post meant it could have arrived at Willoughby’s lodgings before breakfast, which was often at nine or ten o’clock for the wealthy, and then been carried to the Ellisons’ by a servant.
72. Other ladies in Jane Austen use elegant paper. As for the handwriting, men’s and women’s handwriting were generally spoken of as different, partly because women were taught a special ladies’ hand that was particularly graceful and ornamental.
73. impudence: shamelessness.
74. The words indicate his callousness toward the woman who would become his wife.
75. Prevailing ideas of femininity emphasized tenderness and delicacy, in particular a sensitivity to others and propriety, as being natural to women and important virtues for them to cultivate and possess.
76. Willoughby’s servile copying is in keeping with much of his behavior, in which bad actions frequently result more from weakness and an inclination to follow the path of least resistance than from active villainy or malice. This is true of other characters in Jane Austen, including several who are of a similar type as Willoughby, that is, a charming and agreeable young man who attracts a heroine before proving untrustworthy to some degree. Other examples are Wickham of Pride and Prejudice, Henry Crawford of Mansfield Park, and Frank Churchill of Emma.
77. character: reputation, standing.
78. pocket-book: small book kept in a pocket where items could be stored (see note 23).
79. His calling his wife “Madam,” almost as if he would rather not speak her name, and his description of her “ingratiating virulence” constitute his strongest expression yet of hostility toward her. The more he speaks of her, and remembers the contrasting character of Marianne, the more disgusted he becomes with his current choice—though, as Elinor immediately points out, his disgust, however justified, is no excuse for exhibiting and articulating it before a stranger.
80. Her motive was presumably to gain the prestige of being married to someone who had a landed estate (see note 9) and whose charm, wit, and good looks made him cut a fine figure in fashionable society. She also may have been motivated to marry by the animosity earlier described between herself and M
rs. Ellison, one of her guardians with whom she would have been living since young women could not live on their own (this page).
81. Drury Lane was, with Covent Garden, one of the two London theaters licensed to perform spoken drama during most of the year. Ironically it was not actually open at the time this novel was written and published: it had burned down in 1809, and a new building was completed only in 1812. Sir John’s attendance at a play shows that he enjoys other forms of amusement besides sport. For a picture of the newly built theater, see below.
82. ran against: encountered, ran into.
83. To cut someone meant to refuse to acknowledge or speak to that person. It was a standard means of indicating strong disapproval.
84. stupid: simple, undiscerning.
85. putrid fever: typhus (see note 4).
86. Marianne first caught cold seven days before this, and her illness was pronounced to have a “putrid tendency” three days later (see this page). Mrs. Jennings would have sent the letter mentioned by Sir John a day or two after that, meaning two or three days before the current conversation, and it arrived in London a day or two later (mail service was fairly rapid then). Mrs. Jennings’s pessimism about Marianne’s sickness would have made her write of her death as probable.
87. insensible: indifferent. He would prefer to look indifferent in order not to acknowledge publicly his consciousness of his wrong behavior.
88. Sir John, in execrating Willoughby after his abandonment of Marianne, had mentioned offering him one of his dog’s puppies (this page)
Drury Lane Theatre.
[From The Repository of arts, literature, fashions, manufactures, &c, Vol. VIII (1812), p. 287]
[List of Illustrations]
89. The horrid project he is probably thinking of particularly is that of seducing her. It is notable that, in describing his sudden wish to see Marianne, he speaks more of saving his own reputation in her eyes than in learning of her condition and chances for recovery.
90. The one person is Colonel Brandon, who would naturally have reason to speak ill of Willoughby, and in particular to impute a design of seduction to him.
91. independence: financial independence.
92. His good temper and other positive qualities make his case particularly unfortunate, as well as a powerful lesson in the dangers of privilege and idleness. In Emma the rich and spoiled title character, who suffers from the “power of having rather too much her own way,” acts heedlessly and willfully and ends up causing great harm to herself and others—though in her case she manages to reform in time.
93. Elinor’s reflections summarize the moral lesson, though her language, which echoes that found in moral essays, seems a little formal for a personal reflection made in the midst of a highly charged dialogue. The treatment of abstractions—vanity, extravagance, necessity—almost as living entities that act and engender others is common in eighteenth-century writing.
94. Thus there is a poetic justice in his fate, compared to Marianne’s.
95. His eagerness to shake her hand, at the end of what will almost certainly be his last conversation with any of the Dashwoods, contrasts with his extreme reluctance to shake hands with Marianne in his previous, and final, encounter with her.
96. rub through: contrive to keep going through, with more or less difficulty.
97. By “at liberty” he means not married, which would almost certainly require his wife’s death. That is why Elinor immediately interrupts and reproves him.
98. He means Colonel Brandon.
99. This inability to forgive shows the limits of his character, though his awareness and admission of that flaw, and of his injury to Colonel Brandon, reveal once more the capacities that could have led him to become a better person.
VOLUME III, CHAPTER IX
1. Her feelings correspond to his strong wish to be forgiven rather than to how much he actually deserves this forgiveness.
2. person: physical person.
3. lively: vivacious, lighthearted, merry.
4. Her admission indicates the power of Willoughby’s attractions, and makes his enticement of Marianne more understandable. At the same time, it shows the dangers of such external charms.
5. They just missed Willoughby, which, given the hostility between him and Colonel Brandon, was fortunate for everyone; it also shows how close Willoughby came to being unable to meet Elinor and deliver his confession. Colonel Brandon and Mrs. Dashwood have arrived around an hour earlier than Elinor anticipated: she expected them at ten, Willoughby arrived at eight, his visit lasted around half an hour (see above), and it is now half an hour later. One reason for their early arrival may be that Mrs. Dashwood was already preparing to leave and had arranged for Margaret to be picked up by friends, which would have allowed them to depart soon after Colonel Brandon reached Barton (this page).
6. Presumably her mother needs support because of her extreme anguish. The outward door would open to the exterior, in contrast to the inner door between the vestibule and the rest of the house.
7. She, though not speaking, is still expressing her feelings through strong gestures and looks; he is not even doing that.
8. The nurses probably include Mrs. Jennings, her maid (described earlier as one of the principal nurses), Elinor, and Mrs. Dashwood, who as the mother of three would have had ample nursing experience.
9. irritation: excitement, agitation.
10. Elinor is strongly swayed back and forth by her emotions, a state that brings her closer to Marianne. But unlike her sister, she attempts to combat the influence of nonrational factors in her thinking.
11. This wish for Willoughby to be free again, after all he has done, is a sign of his dangerous influence on her.
12. Mrs. Dashwood was already alarmed, presumably by the delay in her daughters’ return home and by letters from Elinor telling of Marianne’s illness.
13. Elinor cannot help thinking of her own situation, and perhaps feeling a little resentment at her mother’s neglect of her own sufferings in favor of Marianne’s more visible ones.
14. Elinor is probably pained because of her fear that Marianne may not be able to return Colonel Brandon’s love, and he will be doomed to disappointment.
15. Elinor perceives, from long acquaintance with Colonel Brandon, the strong differences between his character and Marianne’s. Also, her recent encounter with Willoughby has reminded her of his attractions and of the eagerness and vivacity that he shares with Marianne.
16. prepossession: liking, partiality.
17. In other words, Colonel Brandon feared for Marianne’s involvement with Willoughby from a genuine concern for her happiness, rather than because he harbored hopes at that time of gaining her for himself.
18. Mrs. Dashwood is thinking of her, and others’, misplaced faith in Willoughby.
19. As usual Elinor refers not simply to her own feelings, or even her own observations based on particular incidents or conversations (as her mother is now doing), but to his public reputation, which, as she proceeds to explain, constitutes even more solid proof of his excellence.
20. In this he contrasts with Willoughby, who was not known by anyone of their acquaintance, except for Sir John, who simply praised him as a good sportsman and pleasant companion.
21. connection: family connection through marriage.
22. confidence: confiding of private information.
23. They can feel secure of Marianne’s recovery.
24. attach her: win her affection.
25. simplicity: sincerity, straightforwardness, freedom from artifice. In Emma the heroine articulates a similar ideal of manly behavior when she says that a deceptive character is “So unlike what a man should be!—None of that upright integrity, that strict adherence to truth and principle, that disdain of trick and littleness, which a man should display in every transaction of his life.”
26. Delaford is in Dorsetshire, which is immediately east of Devonshire (see map). Their home in Barton is in the easter
n part of the latter county, so if Colonel Brandon’s home is in western Dorsetshire, it could be an easy distance. Of course, Mrs. Dashwood could be exaggerating, due to her general inclination to emphasize the positive in every circumstance.
27. Elinor would not wish to go to Delaford because it would mean seeing a married Edward and Lucy there.
28. Mrs. Dashwood’s disdain for knowing the exact extent of others’ fortunes contrasts with almost every other character in Jane Austen. While few worry about financial details as much as John Dashwood, most, including the good characters, consider it valuable to know the basic amount of a person’s income, especially a potential son-in-law.
VOLUME III, CHAPTER X
1. weakening in its kind: naturally inclined to weaken its sufferer.
2. The dressing room was usually a large room attached to the bedroom, where one could receive visitors and conduct other business.
3. peculiar: special, particular.
4. She has persuaded herself that Marianne is falling in love with him. The reference below to Marianne’s “bidding Colonel Brandon farewel with the cordiality of a friend” suggests this has not happened and Mrs. Dashwood is being overly optimistic in her perceptions.
A woman at the opera.
[From The Repository of arts, literature, fashions, manufactures, &c, Vol. XI (1814), p. 302]
[List of Illustrations]
5. Mrs. Jennings needs to perform the role of hostess, for she is the one person with a close connection to the owners of the house.
6. determinate: fixed.
7. Mrs. Jennings is extending Mrs. Dashwood’s hospitality.
8. He would be redeeming his carriage.
9. A chaise, Colonel Brandon’s carriage, holds three people, and Marianne will travel with Elinor and her mother.