Jane Austen

by Catherine Reef

  What was an abbey? In the 1500s, King Henry VIII abolished the monasteries in his domain. A number of the abbeys, or monks’ residences, became homes for the wealthy. In Austen’s time, some rich Britons also built new homes in the style of the old abbeys. Perhaps the grandest was Fonthill Abbey, completed in 1813. This view of Fonthill Abbey’s western hall shows how forbidding these houses could feel.

  This is Jane Austen, age twenty-two, speaking across the centuries about a subject close to her heart.

  The second of the two novels published after Austen’s death was the last one she finished. She had called it The Elliots, but in print it bore the title Persuasion. It offers the most seasoned outlook of all Austen’s novels and features her oldest heroine.

  Anne Elliot is twenty-seven and single when the story begins. Eight years earlier, she was engaged to marry a young naval officer named Frederick Wentworth, but she was persuaded to break the engagement by Lady Russell, a good friend of Anne’s late mother who has grown close to Anne. At the time, Wentworth had no money and an uncertain future, so Lady Russell believed that she gave good advice. Wentworth left, “feeling himself ill-used by so forced a relinquishment.” For Anne, who had loved him, the “attachment and regrets had, for a long time, clouded every enjoyment of youth, and an early loss of bloom and spirits had been their lasting effect.” She has since put aside any hope of marriage.

  Whatever Anne’s father and sisters knew of this brief engagement has been forgotten. Anne “was nobody with either father or sister; her word had no weight, her convenience was always to give way—she was only Anne.” Her father, Sir Walter Elliot, basks in the glow of his illustrious family history. He admires his own good looks and his fine home, Kellynch Hall. Anne’s older sister, Elizabeth, is as proud and haughty as their father. Her younger sister, Mary, is married to a man named Charles Musgrove and has two children. Mary is a lazy woman who complains about her health. She takes advantage of Anne’s willingness to care for her. Single and nearly past the age for marriage, Anne bows to others’ wishes and needs.

  Anne Elliot (played by Amanda Root) and Captain Wentworth (Ciarán Hinds) come face to face over the fallen form of Louisa Musgrove in the 1995 film Persuasion. Wentworth’s friend Captain Benwick (Richard McCabe) stands at the center.

  Debts force Sir Walter to rent Kellynch Hall. His tenants turn out to be Admiral Croft and his wife, who is Captain Wentworth’s sister. Sir Walter and Elizabeth go to live in Bath, but Anne remains behind to visit Mary. Anne knows that with the Crofts living in the neighborhood, she will see Captain Wentworth again before long. The meeting, which Anne both dreads and hopes for, takes place when he comes to stay with the Crofts and calls on the extended Musgrove family. Wentworth, too, has remained single, but he has made a success of himself and is ready to find a wife. It pains Anne to have him treat her with cold politeness while he pays attention to Mary’s sister-in-law Louisa Musgrove.

  Both Anne and Captain Wentworth are part of a group that makes an overnight excursion to the seashore at Lyme. As Anne begins to wonder if Wentworth might still have feelings for her, an accident mars the happy outing. Louisa Musgrove jumps from the high seawall that runs along the beach. She expects Wentworth to catch her, but she falls and hits her head. In the confusion of the moment, as some people swoon and cry, and the rest try to think what to do, Anne takes charge, overseeing Louisa’s immediate care. Her good sense and natural leadership are not lost on Captain Wentworth. He remains near Louisa during her long recovery, but as she gets well, Louisa forms an attachment to another naval man, Captain Benwick, and consents to marry him. What can this mean for Anne?

  She soon has her answer. Anne next encounters Captain Wentworth in Bath. There, he overhears her tell a companion, “All the privilege I claim for my own sex ... is that of loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone.” Her words have meaning for Wentworth, and he responds by handing her a letter. “Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death,” Anne reads. “I have loved none but you.”

  In the five earlier novels, Austen stepped back from her lovers as soon as their path to matrimony was clear. Persuasion differs, because both its author and its heroine are older and wiser. Austen lingered with Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth as they recaptured past happiness and opened their hearts to each other.

  Wentworth places his declaration of love before Anne in an illustration from 1909.

  “When any two young people take it into their heads to marry,” Austen concluded, “they are pretty sure by perseverance to carry their point, be they ever so poor, or ever so imprudent, or ever so little likely to be necessary to each other’s ultimate comfort.” Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth are none of the above, possessing “maturity of mind, consciousness of right, and one independent fortune between them.” Anne finds happiness as a sailor’s wife, with “dread of a future war all that could dim her sunshine.”

  Having been wrongly persuaded in her youth to give up the man she cared for, Anne Elliot knows how precious young love is. “How eloquent could Anne Elliot have been,” Austen wrote, “how eloquent, at least, were her wishes on the side of early warm attachment, and a cheerful confidence in futurity, against that over-anxious caution which seems to insult exertion and distrust Providence!—She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older—the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning.” Cassandra Austen had the final word. Next to this passage in her copy of Persuasion, she jotted, “Dear, dear Jane! This deserves to be written in letters of gold.”

  Afterword

  OUR OWN JANE AUSTEN

  The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.

  —NORTHANGER ABBEY

  AS THE nineteenth century progressed, the bold novels of Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, and other great writers of the Victorian era drowned out Jane Austen’s quiet voice. Although French editions of her books appeared within a decade of her death, Austen had only a small but loyal group of admirers. The number of people who had known her in life dwindled as time passed, and in 1865, her last surviving sibling, Frank Austen, died at the great age of ninety-one.

  In 1870, her brother James’s son, James Edward Austen-Leigh, published A Memoir of Jane Austen, the first biography of his esteemed aunt. He based it on the family’s fondest recollections and the letters that were allowed to survive. “However little I may have to tell, no one else is left who could tell so much of her,” Austen-Leigh wrote. This book ignited public interest in Jane Austen that has never stopped growing. Many editions of her novels have been published since it appeared, in English and other languages.

  Some readers find that Austen’s novels touch their deepest emotions. They may return to her novels throughout their lives and come to think of Elizabeth Bennet, Emma Woodhouse, and Austen’s other memorable characters as people they know. Many revere the novelist herself; in 1894, a British critic coined the term Janites (often spelled Janeites), to describe Austen’s most devoted fans. The attachment only grew. As decades passed, new generations of readers seemed to feel closer to Austen than the ones before them. This curious fact prompted another man of letters to remark in 1927 that “she has ceased to be the ‘Miss Austen’ of our parents and become our own ‘Jane Austen’ or even ‘Jane.’”

  In 1924, the British writer Rudyard Kipling published a short story titled “The Janeites” about a World War I artillery company whose members found strength and comfort in Austen’s novels. As one of the men explains, “There’s no one to touch Jane when you’re in a tight place.” To the soldiers, Austen’s characters represented the people and nation that they were defending.

  By 1940, Great Britain was fighting another world war. German bombs fell on England’s airfields and cities as an enemy once again threatened the British way of life. In that year, some of Austen’s admirers optimistically founded the Jane Austen Society of the United Kingdom to b
uy and restore Chawton Cottage, her final home. Today its members further the study and appreciation of her life and work. They acquire and preserve letters and possessions of the Austen family, and they help maintain Chawton Cottage, which is now a museum. Similarly, the Jane Austen Society of North America and the Jane Austen Society of Australia promote awareness of Austen’s novels on their respective continents.

  Thousands of Austen’s devotees journey to Steventon, Bath, Chawton, and Winchester because they feel close to the author in the places where she lived and died. Austen artifacts have drawing power as well: In 2009 and 2010, crowds of fans flocked to “A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy,” an exhibit at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. The library offered the public a chance to view some of the author’s rarely seen letters and manuscripts, as well as drawings, prints, and old books that reflected life in Austen’s time.

  Many writers have found inspiration for their own work in Austen’s books and characters. They have written sequels to her novels and even a mystery series with Mr. and Mrs. Darcy as sleuths. Author Anne Telscombe wrote an ending to the unfinished novel Sanditon for a version that was published in 1975. Austen’s novels have also been the subjects of parodies, including Seth Grahame-Smith’s 2009 bestseller Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, in which the undead overrun England. In this book, Elizabeth and Darcy live happily ever after as a zombie-slaying duo.

  Jane Austen’s novels have inspired plays, radio dramatizations, films, and other productions. Since the release of 1940s Pride and Prejudice, the first motion picture based on an Austen novel, there have been more than thirty film and television productions of her books. Also, the 2007 film Becoming Jane presented a fictionalized account of Austen’s romance with Tom Lefroy. It starred Anne Hathaway as the youthful Jane Austen.

  Jane Austen’s Emma inspired the 1995 film Clueless, in which Alicia Silverstone (center) plays a privileged Beverly Hills teen who tries to transform a clueless new classmate into a popular girl.

  Austen’s true-to-life characters and her insights into human nature ensure that her books will never go out of style. Human beings will feel the pressures that weigh on her characters as long as they live in families and communities. Problems will arise as long as couples fall in love and marry. In every generation, young people long to plunge headfirst into life while their elders urge caution, as in Persuasion. Women and men fall for good-looking charmers who break their hearts, as in Sense and Sensibility. Like Emma, the youthful discover upon reaching adulthood that they understand less than they thought they did. Growing up involves pain, as Austen demonstrated in every one of her novels.

  Jane Austen opened new territory for novelists (and filmmakers) by writing about ordinary people and things that happen every day. There will always be an audience for stories about adventures in far-off places or strange doings in frightening castles, but Austen proved that drama can be found in the interactions that take place all around us. “Nothing very much happens in her books, and yet, when you come to the bottom of a page, you eagerly turn it to learn what will happen next. Nothing very much does and again you eagerly turn the page,” observed the twentieth-century novelist and playwright W. Somerset Maugham. “The novelist who has the power to achieve this has the most precious gift a novelist can possess.”

  Notes

  All books and articles cited in the notes are listed in the bibliography.

  p. [>] Austen, “I cannot anyhow ...” is from Le Faye 1995, p. 86.

  One: Gentle Aunt Jane?

  p. [>] Austen, “Now be sincere...” is from J. Austen, Pride and Prejudice, p. 248.

  p. [>] “fine naturally curling hair ...” is from Le Faye 1988, p. 419.

  p. [>] “long, long black hair ...” is quoted in Tomalin, p. 110.

  p. [>] “two of the prettiest girls...” is quoted in William and Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh 1913, p. 61.

  p. [>] “of being a decidedly handsome woman,” is from Le Faye 1988, p. 419.

  p. [>] James Edward Austen-Leigh, “Her sweetness...” is from James Edward Austen-Leigh, p. 165.

  p. [>] Henry Austen, “Faultless herself...” is quoted in Chapman 1949, pp. 95–96.

  p. [>] “I do not suppose...” is quoted in William and Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh 1913, p. 240.

  p. [>] Austen, “I do not want People ...” is from Le Faye 1995, p. 29.

  p. [>] Austen, “For what do we live...” is from J. Austen, Pride and Prejudice, p. 237.

  p. [>] Austen, “Mrs. Allen was one of that numerous class...” is from J. Austen, Northanger Abbey, p. 10.

  p. [>] Austen, “little bit (two inches wide)...” is quoted in Tomalin, p. 261.

  p. [>] James, “little touches of human truth...” is quoted in Bloom 1986, p. 72.

  p. [>] Austen, “Single Women have a dreadful propensity...” is from Le Faye 1995, p. 332.

  p. [>] Austen, “the delight of my life ...” is from Le Faye 1995, p. 275.

  Two: The Novelist Is Born

  p. [>] Austen, “My conduct must tell you...” is from J. Austen, The Watsons, p. 256.

  p. [>] George Austen, “Last night the time came...” is from Richard A. Austen-Leigh, pp. 82–83.

  p. [>] “a profound scholar...” is quoted in William and Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh 1913, p. 23.

  p. [>] “seem to have no object...” is from The Habits of Good Society, p. 24.

  p. [>] “Tilts and Tournaments...” is from Francklin, unnumbered page. p. 21 “To speak with elegance ...” is quoted in Nokes, p. 78.

  p. [>] Cassandra Leigh Austen, “If Cassandra’s head...” is quoted in Le Faye 1988, p. 420.

  p. [>] Swift, “reading books, except those of devotion...” is from Swift, pp. 282–283.

  p. [>] Austen, “where young ladies for enormous pay...” is from J. Austen, Emma, p. 12.

  p. [>] de Feuillide, “notwithstanding my reluctance...” is quoted in Le Faye 2002, p. 71.

  p. [>] de Feuillide, “still my Heart gives the preference...” is quoted in Le Faye 2002, p. 116.

  p. [>] Austen, “If a book is well written ...” is from J. Austen, Catharine and Other Writings, p. 192.

  p. [>] “every circumstance...” is quoted in Nokes, p. 108.

  p. [>] Burney, “The whole of this unfortunate business...” is from Burney, p. 930.

  p. [>] Brunton, “glide through the world...” is quoted in Elwood, p. 216.

  p. [>] Wollstonecraft, “The minds of women...” is from Wollstonecraft, p. 2.

  p. [>] Sentiment, “not one Eastern Tale...” and “no love, and no lady...” are from Mack, p. 52.

  p. [>] Sentiment, “some nice affecting stories ...” is from Mack, p. 53.

  p. [>] Austen, “Beware of fainting-fits...” is from Beer, p. 122.

  p. [>] Walter, “not at all pretty...” through “was not so well pleased ...” is quoted in Le Faye 2002, pp. 86–87.

  p. [>] Austen, “envious, spiteful, and malicious,” and “of so dazzling a beauty...” are from Beer, p. 47.

  p. [>] George Austen, “You may either by a contemptuous...” is quoted in Tomalin, p. 63.

  p. [>] Austen, “Oh, what a Henry!” is from Woolsey, p. 255.

  p. [>] Austen, “Henry Frederic Howard Fitzwilliam...” is quoted in Norman, p. 47.

  Three: Love and Losses

  p. [>] Austen, “I am almost afraid...” is from Chapman 1952, pp. 1–2.

  p. [>] de Feuillide, “greatly improved...” is quoted in Le Faye 2002, p. 116. pp. 33, 35 “a good deal of color...” and “very lively...” are from “Letters to the Editor: Jane Austen,” p. 591.

  p. [>] “a tall thin spare person...” and “great colour...” are from Le Faye 1985, p. 495.

  p. [>] “full round cheeks...” is from James Edward Austen-Leigh, p. 82.

  p. [>] “tall & slight...” is quoted in Le Faye 1988, p. 418.

  p. [>] “rather tall and slender...” is from James Edward Austen-Leigh, p. 82.

  p. [>] �
��She was fond of...” is from Henry Austen, p. xi. p. 37 “animated atoms,” is quoted in Hopkins, p. 10.

  p. [>] Austen, “everything most profligate...” is from Chapman 1952, p. 2.

  p. [>] Austen, “I shall refuse him...” is from Chapman 1952, p. 5.

  p. [>] Lefroy, “boyish love,” is quoted in Chapman 1949, p. 58.

  p. [>] Blackall, “the hope of creating...” is quoted in Chapman 1952, p. 28.

  p. [>] Austen, “And it is therefore most probable...” and “Perhaps she thinks ...” are from Chapman 1952, p. 28.

  p. [>] Austen, “a piece of Perfection...” is from Chapman 1952, p. 317.

  p. [>] Cadell, “Declined by Return of Post,” is quoted in Tomalin, p. 214.

  p. [>] de Feuillide, “alas instead of his...” and “Jane says that her sister behaves ...” are from Richard A. Austen-Leigh, p. 159.

  p. [>] de Feuillide, “the unspeakable happiness...” is from Le Faye 2002, p. 100.

  p. [>] Walter, “Poor Eliza must be left...” is quoted in Le Faye 1979, p. 14.

  p. [>] “dear little Boy,” is from Richard A. Austen-Leigh, p. 136.

  p. [>] de Feuillide, “dear Liberty...” is from Richard A. Austen-Leigh, p. 156.