Confusion, Confession and Conviction

by Victoria Winfield

  In the 1811 Sense and Sensibility, Austen explores the difference between two sisters with distinct attitudes and fortunes as well. One sister is portrayed to represent reason or sense while the other is portrayed to display sensibility or emotion. These two sisters are forced to deal with a profound change to their lives when their father dies. They are forced into surviving on a meager amount of money because their father, who provided their upkeep, has passed away. This theme resonates with many of the aspects prevailing in the society at the time. Sense and Sensibility provided a crucial representation of the value of money and wealth in providing a decent livelihood for many families. It also serves to illustrate the reason behind the division of the society into classes based on their possession of wealth and money. In fact, many of the core decisions coming from the ruling classes were aimed at improving the wealth of these families and the elites. Therefore, many of the issues facing the lower classes were never addressed. In fact, the King or later the Prince Regent was not informed of the issues of abject poverty and the decline of the “morals” among the lower classes. This in part, is the reason why the lead up-to, during, and after the Regency Era faced massive tumult regarding the morals of the society in Britain as a whole. These aspects are aptly captured by Austen in Sense and Sensibility.

  The 1813 Pride and Prejudice, Austen tackles the issue of genteel poverty. The angel of the book views poverty as a possibility and thus a threat to the structure and way of life of the societies in Britain. Poverty showed the potential to erode the core moral values of the society and continue on a declining slope. However, this theme of poverty is given a small focus compared to the emphasis on the possibility of pride and first impressions can cause prejudice in the society. She delves into the core issues of etiquette and behavior during the time. This is especially the case when it comes to the behavior of women. She evaluates the restrictive rules and customs of women when it comes to meeting men, behavior in public, the role of social meetings, dances, and the need for women to have companions when it comes to running public errands. She reveals how restrictive this era was for women in the communities. At the same time, she elaborates the importance of these rules and customs in enhancing respectable interaction and a functioning social structure that made sure no one was embarrassed.

  Throughout her early writing, Austen kicked off the process that re-defined the limits and boundaries of her fictional world. Her books offered a strong emphasis on character. This is displayed through her focus on small families of friends, relatives, and acquaintances. Her work is extremely narrow in subject matter and the characters she portrays. However, this is also the core strength of her work; this is because it establishes clarity in its dissection of the core themes and issues she focuses on in all her books. This approach ensures that her work gains beauty and intensity for her audience. For example, in Pride and Prejudice, Austen intimates that there is no connection between the upper middle-class to either the classes above or below them. It paints a picture of a stratified society from the wealthiest and most powerful at the top to the poorest peasants at the bottom with no connections. In fact, the social structure and norms created an environment where the first class could not relate to the fifth class at any level. Additionally, Austen’s early books argue that the family is at the center of the society. Therefore, all the actions made by an individual were always based on the will or support of the family. This is especially the case when it came to marriage. According to Austen, matrimony is the basis of stability alongside the economic and social continuity. Therefore, she portrays it as a crucial part of the societal structure. This is despite the fact that she never got married, even after trying to. At the same time, her failure to get married gave her an effective perspective without the bias of an individual that has experienced something negative or positive about marriages. Although she was culturally inclined to prefer the stability of marriage, the fact that she did not get married gave her a distinct vantage view compared to writers during her era that had go married.

  Chapter4: Austen’s Later Works

  Austen’s father decided to retire from his clergy work and moved the family Bath in 1800. The move was not easy for Austen. She had developed a close fondness of their home in Steventon and thus moving made her very sad. This was exacerbated by the constant movement from one home to another between 1800 and 1809. During this 9-year period, Austen did not write any books. Her literary works halted for the entirety this time. The constant movement and the upheaval caused did not give her the right environment to create and write literature. After the death of Mr. Austen, she moved together with her mother and sister to a country town called Chawton where her Austen’s brother lent then a house he owned. Finally settled, Austen began to write again; she wrote Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion. The experience she had between 1800 and 1809 was crucial and it informed most of her subsequent works. Additionally, the death of her father also formed part of the emotional basis for her familial understanding and literary works.

  Mansfield was published in 1814; its primary story focuses Fanny Price, a lady from a poor family, who is raised by her wealthy uncle and aunt in Mansfield Park. The primary themes of the book include morality and the constant struggle between societal pressures and individual conscience. This book is considered by many critics as the first modern novel. The emphasis on morality was crucial at the time. This is because the book Mansfield was written at a time when morals are considered to be in decline. Therefore, Austen delves into the core issues and factors influencing decisions and other major behavioral constructs in the society. It also appraises the societal divisions into classes reflecting wealth and connections to the ruling classes. This is especially depicted in the lack of understanding and connection between the ruling class and the poor lower classes in the society. This situation continued to worsen over time and thus, helped to expand the gap between the poor and the wealthy. In fact, many of the rulers and officials were out of touch with reality. This is because they did not interact with the poorer classes. This created a bubble, where the wealthy people do not understand the extent of squalor, poverty, and moral decline in these classes of the society.

  The book Emma was published in 1816, right in the middle of the Regency period. In the book, Jane Austen focuses on the “rich, clever, and handsome” heroine called Emma Woodhouse who fancies herself a matchmaker. The character, Emma, is committed to bring people together. However, her efforts end up teaching her several aspects of the societal functioning, humility, as well as her discovery of love. Bringing people together during this era was crucially important because the class issues and palpable discrimination of the poor was driving a massive wedge between the members of the society in a way never seen before. Therefore, Emma’s efforts to bring people together aimed to overcome class issues and bridge any of the many divisions in the society. However, her efforts do not seem to be extremely successful. In fact, her endeavors end up teaching her more than the main objectives she had set out. For example, it teachers her that humility is crucial in her life. Moreover, her encounters give provide an in-depth understanding of the concept of love. Many critics posit that Emma is Austen’s most complex character. The thematic organization of the book is significantly distinct from Austen’s other works, and the intricacy if Emma’s actions and life in the book present a vintage view of Austen’s literary work. At the same time, many of the readers of Emma have a divided view of the book. On one hand, some readers love Emma’s story while other the other, some readers hate the story. The sharp divisions of opinion indicate that the story is hard-hitting and elicits a variety of emotions and criticism from the readers.

  Persuasion is Austen’s final book; it was published in 1818 posthumously. It primarily focuses on the broken engagement of Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot. It also highlights her second chance at rekindling their love after 8 years apart. Therefore, Persuasion focuses on romance and the power of love. It also covers some of the themes influen
cing relationships between a man and woman during the Regency Era. The concept of love was dictated by societal structure, classes, and the etiquette that regulated how they met, interacted, related, courted, and eventually married. In the book, Austen uses Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth to evaluate the core relationships and also to illustrate romance. This is consistent with the romanticism Austen broadly covers in her books. This also highlights the reason why this period is also regarded as the romantic era. Although Austen describes the romanticism in the society at the time, she also paints a picture of significant struggles and difficulties for romance. Aspects such as rules and class divisions often affected the main aspects of romance. Critics also note that Anne Elliot is one of the least confident characters ever written by Austen. The fact that the book was published posthumously indicates the core respect that Austen’s literary work has received from the literature industry as well as the readers. Although she never pursued the public glare for her work, her name has become synonymous with great literary works and some of the most complex and interesting characters ever created in literature. She also provides a massive coverage of some of the pertinent themes in the era of her lifetime. Through Austen’s works, history can chronicle, document, and review the Regency Era at the societal, etiquette, moral, and literary levels as well.

  Chapter 5: Death and Legacy

  Towards the end of Austen’s life, she lived and interacted with her family and close friends. The last eight years of her life were spent in Chawton. She emphasized on being warm and loving to her family and friends as well. Her experiences with her parents, sisters, and the local community helped shape her worldview. Certainly, these interactions are crucial in the development and portrayals of the core characters of her books. She immersed herself in the world of societal structure and culture. This is seen in the thematic priorities in her books which include romance, relationships, social interactions, etiquette, classes, and poverty as well. Her books provide a combination of her experiences and background as a little girl, schooling, experience with love, and her mobility across different communities in Britain gave her a rounded understanding of culture. She was not out of touch from many of the issues that were often ignored by the ruling class. The complications and intricacies of the people and families she interacted, as well as the moral and social dilemmas she encountered during her lifetime are reflected or transferred into her books. She created her characters in ways that reflected the day-to-day lives of the community. Moreover, she also took some liberties in creativity as well as innovative writing in the creation of her literary works. She ended up establishing novels renowned for their bluntness, complexity of the characters, and contradiction of many conventional thinking and dogmas regarding core issues of social interactions, marriage, class, and even the literary works as well. Jane suddenly fell to illness, which was possibly Addison’s disease. As a result, she was unable to continue with her work on the novel called Sandition. She later succumbed to the illness in 1817.

  After her death, Austen’s literary work took on an elevated dimension in the society. She was begrudgingly admired because of the prioritization of intelligence over feelings. This was especially the case in the nineteenth-century romantic era. Her worldview of romance was a direct contradiction of the dogma and conventional understanding of romantic temperament in the society. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Austen’s work gained an increasing flock of following that were referred to as “Janeites.” In the US, before 1900, Jane Austen was little known. However, by the middle of the century, her work started receiving an increasing amount of critical attention there as well as in England. This was an indication of the start of the explosion of her work throughout the world. It showed that some of the themes she created and covered in her books resonated not only in Britain, but also throughout the global societies. Additionally, it also shows that some of the progressive ideas she had advance din her books were finally gaining ground in the mainstream thinking of the people. Towards the end of the 20th century, Austen’s literary works started to receive increased attention and acclaim in the general public. This is demonstrated the fact that most of her novels were adapted into films. This was an indication that the complexity of the characters eh created as well as the core theme she tackled could be aired and advanced in the popular culture. For example, modern novelists designed sequels to the book Pride and Prejudice, as well as endings to the Sandition book. Additionally, a mystery series was developed later starring Jane Austen as the heroine. This shows that the literature sector was not only celebrating Austen’s work and genius, but also her as a person and the life that she led as a literary individual and as a member of the society.

  Austen’s legacy focuses on her literary works and the influence she has had on the writing style, character creation, thematic coverage, and the attitudes that writers adopt when creating such novels and materials. Austen also leaves a massive coverage of the Pre, during, and after the Regency Era. She covers romance, poverty, class, marriage, relationships, etiquette, and an understanding of the changes in morals as well as technology and innovation. Austen’s legacy also serves to illustrate the reason behind the division of the society into classes based on their possession of wealth and money. These aspects were relevant during Austen’s lifetime; however, they are also pertinent in today’s society. This means that her books have adopted a message that resonates with the society in the modern era. In fact, many of the core decisions coming from the ruling classes were aimed at improving the wealth of these families and the elites. Austen shows that many of the issues facing the lower classes were never addressed. In fact, the King or later the Prince Regent was not informed of the issues of abject poverty and the decline of the “morals” among the lower classes. This in part, is the reason why the lead up-to, during, and after the Regency Era faced massive tumult regarding the morals of the society in Britain as a whole. Her works highlight the consequences when the ruling elite are out of touch with the everyday ordinary citizens.

  Austen also leaves a legacy of social interactions, friendship, family, and love as well. For example, the complications and intricacies of the people and families she interacted, as well as the moral and social dilemmas she encountered during her lifetime are reflected or transferred into her books. She created her characters in ways that reflected the day-to-day lives of the community. Moreover, she also took some liberties in creativity as well as innovative writing in the creation of her literary works. She ended up establishing novels renowned for their bluntness, complexity of the characters, and contradiction of many conventional thinking and dogmas regarding core issues of social interactions, marriage, class, and even the literary works as well. Although Jane Austen is dead, her legacy lives on in both the literary circles as well as in the sociocultural organization and functioning of the modern society.

  Confusion, Confession and Conviction

  A Pride and Prejudice Regency Variation

  BY

  Victoria Winfield

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One………………..

  Chapter Two………………..

  Chapter Three………………..

  Chapter Four………………..

  Chapter Five………………..

  Chapter Six………………..

  Chapter Seven………………..

  Chapter Eight………………..

  Chapter Nine………………..

  Chapter Ten………………..

  Epilogue………………..

  Rosings Park, Kent

  Easter

  Chapter One

  Birdsong filtered into his consciousness. The stubble of his beard scraped the back of his left hand, although the fingers themselves were numb. The scent of ink and snuffed candle tickled his nose. Where was he?

  Darcy lifted his head and pushed back from the writing desk. He frowned and rubbed a hand across his eyes. Why was he not in his bed?

 
; Snapping brown eyes flashed into his mind and, instantly, he remembered. He remembered everything.

  A groan rumbled out of his chest. What an incomparable ass he had been. The most exquisite woman in the world might have been his, had he put a little more thought into his speech and not insulted her so damnably. It was only now that he realised precisely what it was that had upset her so very much.

  He stood and paced to the open window, twisting his neck to work out the stiffness. He'd made some unpardonably rude comments about her family and then managed to further hang himself by saying he knew he would be marrying below his station.

  His exact words escaped him, but Elizabeth's words--her scathing rebuke--he'd never forget.