by Jane Austen
31. When last there, Anne was alone and engaged in melancholy reflections (this page).
32. They may be making Christmas decorations. Skill in decorative projects was an accomplishment often taught to girls, and one they were encouraged to pursue. A number of books for young women explained the technique of various decorative crafts. Mansfield Park describes two girls turning to “whatever might be the favourite holiday sport of the moment, making artificial flowers or wasting gold paper”—the wording suggests the frivolity of some of these efforts.
33. Tressels, or trestles, are supports, either in the form of a horizontal bar with diverging legs at each end or of a tripod. They are holding up the trays.
34. Brawn is a specially prepared type of pork, usually taken from the head and foreparts of a boar. A wide variety of pies, both hot and cold, were eaten at the time, and not only for dessert. Both brawn and pies, particularly mince pies, had long been popular staples of the Christmas season.
35. The large room that would allow so many to gather together would have required a powerful fire. (For a picture of a contemporary family gathering similar to the one described here, see this page.)
36. This is his brother Edward, the clergyman, whose residence in Shropshire was mentioned earlier (this page). For the location of Shropshire, see map.
37. This is another indication of Lady Russell’s more formal and elegant tastes, compared to the Musgroves. Of course, her politeness keeps her from making such a comment until seated in the carriage with Anne.
38. innoxious: innocuous.
39. For the raininess of Bath, see note 16.
40. The Old Bridge is the bridge at the southern tip of Bath. Lady Russell would use it to enter the city since she is coming from Somersetshire, which is south of Bath (see map); since that time the bridge has been rebuilt as a footbridge, and vehicles crossing the river use the nearby Churchill Bridge. The Old Bridge lies at the opposite end of Bath from Camden Place, which is why they must travel a long course (see map).
41. drays: low carts for carrying heavy loads, used especially for beer. Carts and drays would generally be used for local conveyance of goods, as opposed to wagons for longer distances. One contemporary writes, “We apply the term cart to a vehicle for carrying luggage, etc. that has two wheels, and the term waggon to one that has four.”
42. Much of the commerce in English towns at this time was conducted by street peddlers who continually walked around and yelled out for people to buy their wares. Muffin men sold what are now known in the United States as English muffins; many such ready-to-eat items were sold on the street. For pictures of newsmen of the time attracting customers, and of someone selling buns in the street, see this page and this page.
43. Pattens were attachments to shoes designed to keep the feet dry. They consisted of a wooden sole, straps to hold the sole to the shoe, and a large, horizontal iron ring beneath the sole that would elevate the wearer above the ground. They would have been widely worn on a rainy day like this, and their iron rings would have clinked loudly in Bath because of its paved streets. Pattens were most frequently worn by servants, though there is some indication that in Bath they attained greater acceptance among wealthy people. For a picture, see this page.
Newsmen in street, crying out or blowing to attract customers.
[From Andrew Tuer, Old London Street Cries (New York, 1887), p. 69]
44. Winter was the time when Lady Russell normally came to Bath and the time when it was liveliest.
45. Her view on arrival corresponds to Jane Austen’s own experiences. In a letter after arriving on her second known visit, she writes, “It has rained almost all the way, & our first view of Bath has been just as gloomy as it was last November twelvemonth” (May 17, 1799). Two years later, when the family moved to Bath, she writes, “The first view of Bath in fine weather does not answer my expectations; I think I see more distinctly thro’ Rain.—The sun was got behind everything, and the appearance of the place from the top of Kingsdown, was all vapour, shadow, smoke, & confusion” (May 5, 1801).
46. wonderful: astonishing.
47. Anne means her father and sister, as well as Mrs. Clay. That she looks more eagerly on the prospect of seeing Mr. Elliot again, after only a brief glimpse, speaks volumes about her feelings for her own family.
48. Rivers-street: a street in the fashionable northern part of the city and thus not too far from the Elliots’ residence (see map). The street contains many distinguished houses.
Woman selling buns in the street.
[From John Ashton, The Dawn of the XIXth Century in England (London, 1906)]
Camden Crescent, residence of Sir Walter (clothing is from a later period).
[From Mowbray Aston Green, The Eighteenth Century Architecture of Bath (Bath, 1904), p. 200]
VOLUME II, CHAPTER III
1. Camden-place: one of the grandest streets in Bath. Built in the 1780s, and currently known as Camden Crescent, it is in a very high location and offers spectacular views of the hills east of Bath. The houses, which form an architectural unity, are all on one side, allowing each to face the view without impediment (for a picture, see this page; for its location, see map).
The site had been slated for an even grander development, but landslips forced much of the plan to be abandoned, leaving a truncated, though still impressive, crescent. Some have suggested that Jane Austen chose Camden Place as an appropriate symbol for Sir Walter’s own decayed aspirations to grandeur (though in general she rarely uses symbolism).
Crescents are a prominent feature of Bath. The oldest and largest, Royal Crescent, is probably the leading landmark of the city.
2. noticed: mentioned, pointed out.
3. They are part of the obsequious, flattering behavior she always displays, especially toward Sir Walter and his family.
4. complaisance: civility, politeness.
5. laying out for: searching for, attempting to obtain.
6. The drawing rooms are where they would entertain guests and show off their finest possessions, and they are the rooms they would be able to visit in other houses and compare with their own. Having more than one drawing room indicates their affluence.
7. fitting-up: furnishing.
8. Visiting cards had become a standard part of upper-class life at this time, especially in towns, where a wider variety of possible acquaintances existed and where social life was more carefully organized. People would stop at a house whose inhabitants they wished to meet, and if told they were not at home by the servants—which was a standard practice, even when people were at home—the visitors would leave a card showing their name. Those receiving the cards could then decide whether they wished to pursue the acquaintance by returning the visit.
9. The dignity of the landholder would be his leading position in the local area. The duties would include helping the poor, setting an example of good conduct, showing hospitality to the neighborhood, managing his estate (which would provide employment for many people), working with the local clergy on any important religious matters, and, in the case of many landowners, taking the lead in local government. Prevailing ideas, which Anne shares, celebrated such duties as central occupations of landowners and a critical justification for their privileged social and economic position. Someone like Sir Walter, who merely enjoyed the profits from his land without providing anything in return, would represent a violation of this ideal.
10. This probably refers to the striving for distinction and popularity among the other inhabitants, which would seem petty compared to activities in the country because no larger social purpose is being pursued.
11. Folding doors had the advantage of opening very wide, so that one could convert the two adjacent rooms into one large room if entertaining many people.
12. Town houses, which were normally, as they are in Camden Crescent, part of a row of houses, were not large in area. They could have only two or three rooms per floor, though they often had numerous floors, which was the
main means of providing additional space.
13. A fuller history of Mr. Elliot’s stay in Bath and his decision to reestablish contact with Sir Walter is given on this page.
14. This was indeed his main object in moving to Bath.
15. openness: frankness, lack of reserve or secrecy.
16. throwing himself off: casting himself off, disowning himself from the family.
17. connection: family ties or relationships.
18. He means respect for family ties, a central feature of the feudal system of the Middle Ages. In speaking of the present he is probably thinking of the growing intellectual currents, connected with increasingly powerful demo-cratic movements and events like the French Revolution, that were challenging everything considered feudal, whether strong family ties or the respect for hierarchy associated with this. In the decades preceding this novel a number of writings had appeared in England advocating more democratic ideas, though at this time they had attained only a limited influence. In positioning himself in opposition to these unfeudal trends, Mr. Elliot is certainly saying what will appeal strongly to Sir Walter, obsessed as he is with social rank and his own family’s traditions.
19. admit: be capable.
20. article: matter, subject.
21. Marlborough Buildings: a grand street and set of buildings next to the Royal Crescent (several streets in Bath share a name with the buildings next to them); see map. It was a very fashionable address, which indicates the wealth of Colonel Wallis.
22. This means the woman’s family, though rich, had low origins. The good education she received, which would have made her accomplished, was one of the principal ways such families made their children eligible for marriage with people of a higher social level, such as Mr. Elliot. This could then raise the status of the whole family. Given Sir Walter’s strong disapproval of social climbing (this page), it is a testament to Mr. Elliot’s powers of persuasion, as well as perhaps to how manipulable Sir Walter is, that he wins such complete approval of his earlier actions from the latter.
23. fine: attractive.
24. The end of this sentence should read “allowed it to be a great extenuation.” The omission of “to” is probably a printer’s error; elsewhere in Jane Austen where the same or similar wording is used, the “to” is included.
25. A later passage will mention this habit of not giving dinners and its supposed conformity to prevailing customs among the elite of Bath (this page).
26. variance: discord, estrangement.
27. pay his addresses to: court (for the purpose of marriage).
28. temper: emotional qualities.
29. understanding: intellectual qualities.
30. nice: fastidious, careful, delicate.
31. The object of his (marital) attentions. Anne’s wish is that he not discover the truth about Elizabeth until they have married. That even someone as just and generous as Anne is in effect wishing, for the sake of a sister who has always mistreated her, that someone else make an unhappy marital choice, through an ignorance that Anne herself could correct, shows the strength of family partiality in this society, even in the absence of affection.
32. The frequency of his visits suggests he does have some purpose in mind, though whether it is Elizabeth is still uncertain.
33. Fashion could refer not just to stylishness but also to social position. A person of fashion was one from the elite ranks of society; an air of fashion could suggest membership in those ranks.
34. under-hung: having a lower jaw that protrudes too far, especially beyond the upper jaw.
35. Sir Walter’s comment reveals his obsession with looks, his foolish susceptibility to such obvious flattery as Mr. Elliot’s statement about his not aging at all, and—one of his few good points—a strong enough sense of courtesy to produce discomfort when he cannot return a compliment.
36. Mr. Elliot’s keen anxiety for them to meet Colonel Wallis will be explained later (this page).
37. This means she is expected to give birth any day. A woman’s confinement, also called her lying-in, was the time from the birth of her baby through her subsequent recovery. It usually lasted a month, or a little more, for medical opinion held that such a period of strict rest was necessary to ward off the postnatal dangers threatening the mother and the baby. At the outset the mother was kept to her bed, and often shielded from strong light; subsequently, in gradual stages, she was allowed to receive more visitors and to leave, first her bed, then her room, then, at the conclusion, her home. A similar caution frequently attended the period just before birth, which is why strangers are currently unable to see Mrs. Wallis.
38. Bond-street: one of the principal shopping streets in Bath (see map).
39. This is another example of the tendency then to regard excessive thinness as unattractive (see note 28).
40. Sir Walter’s abomination of freckles has already been described (this page), and since freckles frequently accompany sandy hair, it is likely he has a similar disdain for such a hair color.
Woman’s walking dress.
[From Elisabeth McClellan, Historic Dress in America, 1800–1870 (Philadelphia, 1910), p. 87]
41. Perceiving that Sir Walter is fishing for a compliment, they respond that he was the one toward whom every woman’s eye was really turned. Sir Walter has enough decorum to wish to avoid having to make the observation himself and enough foolish vanity to be delighted, as the next line indicates, when such an obvious ploy elicits praise from two people who, as inhabitants of his house, have a natural interest in flattering him.
42. pelisse: a garment that, like a hat, is for wearing outside (see note 19, and picture).
43. Caps were standard articles of clothing for women (see picture). Generally made of soft material such as muslin or satin, they were normally worn indoors, which is why Anne thinks of them in this context. They helped keep the hair clean (means for washing hair were very limited then) and allowed women to take less trouble fixing their hair. Thus they were especially likely to be worn by married women such as Mary, or older women, neither of whom would have as strong a reason to make themselves more attractive by revealing their hair. In a letter Jane Austen writes, “I have made myself two or three caps to wear of evening since I came home, and they save me a world of trouble as to hair-dressing” (Dec. 1, 1798).
44. They suspect Mr. Elliot because it would be too late for less intimate acquaintances to visit—though wealthy people, especially in towns, tended to maintain fairly late hours. Such hours are indicated by their speculation that Mr. Elliot might be stopping on his way back from dinner.
45. Lansdown Crescent: another of the three prominent crescents of Bath (see map, and picture). It is higher than either Camden Place or Royal Crescent, and larger than Camden Place, and was singled out for praise by contemporary writers. One declared that it “appears so elevated, that it looks more like an aerie than a habitation for men” (Richard Warner, Bath Characters). It is possible that Mr. Elliot’s acquaintance there is meant to signify that he moves, at least part of the time, in wealthier circles than Sir Walter does.
46. state: pomp, ceremony, grandeur.
47. A butler was a high-ranking servant whose duties could include answering the door and attending to guests. Footboys, or footmen, were lower servants who could also perform that function, especially in the absence of a butler. Usually both would not usher in a single guest. Sir Walter’s procedure is presumably meant to impress guests: advertising the master’s wealth was in many respects the most important function of footmen, who were frequently dressed in very gaudy liveries and whose main tasks were such public ones as accompanying their employers when they went out, delivering messages, waiting at table, and standing around and awaiting orders from the house’s inhabitants. At the same time, Sir Walter’s hiring of a footboy indicates he is making his show on the cheap, for the wages of a footboy were typically one-third or less of the wages of a footman.
48. This description differs a lit
tle from the statement on this page, when Mr. Elliot was seen at Lyme, that he, “though not handsome, had an agreeable person [i.e., pleasant appearance].” The somewhat stronger praise here could be an inconsistency on the part of the author, or it could be a suggestion that Anne’s own opinion of Mr. Elliot, for whatever reason, has improved.
49. easy: unembarrassed; free from awkwardness or stiffness.
50. The other person is Captain Wentworth, the person consistently on Anne’s mind and forming her standard of excellence. The comparison here suggests a possible rivalry between the two, at least in her head.
51. Current etiquette prescribed strict rules about introducing oneself to others.
52. Ideas of gentility scorned excessive curiosity, especially if it meant prying into others’ affairs or asking them inappropriate questions. It would not mean, however, never asking a question at an inn. Mr. Elliot’s having formed a conscious program when young of making himself genteel gives an important clue to his character, revealing his concern for status and at least some of the reason for his highly correct manners.
53. The statement suggests that Mr. Elliot now believes it is folly to wish to be as fashionable and genteel as possible, but his behavior and his opinions at other points show a continued concern for such values.
54. Clocks small enough to fit on a mantelpiece were widely available then.
55. The origin of this phrase, which seems, based on the quotation marks, to be from a particular text, has never been identified for certain. One commentator, Patricia Meyer Spacks, suggests the phrase may allude to a line in The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope, a poet Jane Austen certainly knew well: “And the pressed watch returned a silver sound.”
The phrase does not represent a literal description of the operation of the clock, for the component parts of a clock were made of other metals than silver, usually brass or steel. Clocks were standard parts of a home, designed for elegant appearance as well as utility.