The Annotated Emma

by Jane Austen

  36. disposition: general mental character or bent.

  37. liberality of mind: freedom from prejudice or pettiness.

  38. Their differences regarding Frank Churchill will persist, and lead to some unexpected and serious complications.

  Poor people gathering wood.

  [From Sir Walter Gilbey and E. D. Cuming, George Morland: His Life and Works (London, 1907), p. 134]

  [List of Illustrations]

  VOLUME II, CHAPTER I

  1. Just as the previous chapter promoted Frank Churchill to a character worth discussing in detail, this chapter presents Jane Fairfax in a similar light. Both characters play important roles and will soon appear in Highbury.

  2. Poor people’s cottages were often too poorly constructed to keep out the wind and cold well, and the poor had limited supplies of firewood for heating. For a picture of poor people carrying firewood, see the preceding page.

  3. It is not clear whom she has in mind besides Mr. Knightley among this “very few.” The opening chapter identified him as the only one of the few who saw faults in her who told her of them (see here).

  4. Thus Emma’s conscience does chastise her, though she is following its dictates now only for the selfish reason of distracting Harriet.

  5. Mrs. and Miss Bates were introduced early on (see here), where their difficult financial straits were also mentioned. This was the lot of many widows of clergymen, for while her husband often enjoyed a good income while alive, once he died, all the income would go to the new person filling his place. Thus Mrs. Bates can only rely on the income from whatever remained of her dowry or her marriage settlement, as well as from any money her husband might have preserved from his own fortune. Jane Austen’s mother was one such clerical widow, and she would have been in a harsh economic position had she not a large number of sons, who each were able to contribute an annual sum to her maintenance, along with that of Jane and her sister, Cassandra. Mrs. and Miss Bates are shown to straddle the line between the first-rate of Highbury, which would include the Woodhouses, the Westons, and Mr. Knightley, and others lower in the social scale. They can associate with the former because, as the widow and daughter of a clergyman, they are considered genteel. They associate with the latter because their reduced economic circumstances make them less inclined to be selective and because Miss Bates is such a gregarious and friendly person.

  6. She means, as explained shortly, that Jane’s letters usually arrive during a different part of the week. Emma would know this, despite visiting the Bateses rarely, because the Bateses are frequent guests at Hartfield and would talk about the letters they receive.

  7. That Mrs. and Miss Bates rent an apartment indicates their lack of money.

  8. They are on the second floor. Drawing rooms were often above the ground floor in houses.

  9. Knitting, unlike needlework, was not normally practiced by genteel ladies at this time; it was associated with poorer women, for whom knitting was of practical benefit in supplying everyday articles of clothing. The Bateses’ need to economize may be one reason Mrs. Bates has taken it up. She also probably taught her granddaughter Jane to knit (see here), for it is doubtful Jane would have been taught knitting while receiving a genteel education with the wealthy family with whom she resides. Jane, however, considering the limited income she can expect eventually to receive as a governess, may have decided that knitting would be a valuable skill; for Jane Fairfax’s background and circumstances, see the next chapter. The only other character in Jane Austen described as knitting is Mrs. Smith in Persuasion, another widow reduced to straitened circumstances.

  10. Because a single fireplace in a room was usually the only source of heat, different parts of the room could vary greatly in warmth.

  11. Rural areas would have only dirt roads and paths, so people’s shoes could become very dirty or muddy from their walk, mud being especially likely during the current season of winter.

  12. beaufet: buffet.

  13. The Coles, described later (see here), are prosperous but from a mercantile background. This makes them insufficiently genteel for Emma to visit, but Mr. Elton, who is from a similar background, and the less choosy Bateses see them frequently.

  14. This would be at Bath, where Mr. Elton is at present. It had a very active social life, especially during the winter.

  15. Bath had two sets of assembly rooms (mentioned below), the Upper and the Lower Rooms. They would host dancing as well as other entertainments; an elaborate weekly schedule existed to ensure that different events were available each evening. Each was presided over by a master of ceremonies, who would organize the balls. In Northanger Abbey the heroine, attending a dance in the Lower Rooms, is assisted in securing a partner by the master of ceremonies. For a diagram of the Upper Rooms, see this page.

  16. putting forward: interposing a remark, intervening.

  17. The clear implication is that Mrs. Cole also expected to miss Jane’s letter, and perhaps even chose this day to call because of that expectation, but like Emma was forced by politeness to feign interest and listen (above, Miss Bates explained that Miss Cole called for an intended ten-minute visit and stayed for an hour). Miss Bates, however, as on all other occasions, is far too naively credulous about others’ goodness to suspect such stratagems.

  18. huswife: a small cloth case, also called a “housewife,” that held the most important sewing tools, such as needles, pins, thread, and scissors. It had pockets and was designed to allow easy access to the tools. As its name implies, it was a basic accessory for women, since needlework of various kinds was one of the most common female activities.

  19. Her habit of writing every week a letter even longer than this—and Miss Bates’s summary suggests this one contains plenty of information—indicates her dutifulness. Her being able to visit only occasionally her aunt and grandmother, her closest relations, would make her wish to maintain as close a contact as possible by letter (see the next chapter for Jane’s history).

  20. This means that after filling the page with writing, she adds lines by writing across, i.e., perpendicular to, the initial ones. Jane Austen also used this technique in some of her letters. This allowed one to pack more writing on a sheet of paper and thereby save postage, which was assessed according to the number of sheets (postage in this period was extremely high because the government used the postal service to raise revenue, and it needed much revenue to fight the ongoing wars with Napoleon).

  21. put to it: set to work.

  22. chequer-work: work or writing arranged in a checkerboard pattern, which is what the letter would look like with both horizontal and vertical lines of writing.

  23. Spectacles had long been in use; for more, see note 27.

  24. Fine work is needlework that is highly exquisite or delicate, or composed of very small threads, and therefore likely to strain the eyes. The decline of her sight would be an additional reason for Mrs. Bates to have taken up knitting, since its yarn and larger needles are easier to see.

  25. This speech, the first from Miss Bates in the novel, gives a sense of how quickly she rushes from topic to topic, and in how haphazard an order. The author will furnish more examples of such speeches by Miss Bates, using them both to indicate her character and to provide useful information.

  26. Since fine handwriting was a valued accomplishment for ladies, this would be a standard compliment to offer.

  27. There was little available at the time to assist those suffering from loss of hearing, as opposed to loss of vision.

  28. In fact, it is probably due more to Miss Bates’s rapid, breathless, and digressive speech.

  29. full: fully. “Full” was often used as an adverb then; this is not a sign of grammatical deficiency on Miss Bates’s part.

  30. Her being away from her aunt and grandmother for such a long time, despite her devotion to them, suggests that something important may have been diverting her time and attention.

  31. As will soon be explained, she is living with
the Campbells in London. Because that is not far from Highbury, the carriage could take her and return in a single day. By allowing her to travel in their carriage the Campbells save Jane the money of having to hire one; she still will need to hire horses, though the Campbells could also furnish her with theirs for part of the way.

  32. Her decision to go must have been a sudden one, for otherwise she could have given Mrs. and Miss Bates notice in an earlier weekly letter.

  33. As explained in the next chapter, the Campbells raised Jane, and their daughter recently married Mr. Dixon, an Irishman. Many marriages occurred at this time between landowning families in England and Ireland. The latter was dominated socially and politically by Protestant landowners, often called the Anglo-Irish, who descended from English settlers and whose dominance was supported by the British government to maintain British and Protestant control over Ireland. This gave them a strong bond with Britain, and many visited England and socialized with wealthy families there.

  34. Miss Bates’s misstep and correction result from a recent political change. The English monarch had for centuries been the official ruler of Ireland, and during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the English government established firm political control there. But Ireland remained a separate kingdom, with its own parliament and laws. Long-standing discontent with British dominance and the miserable condition of much of the Irish people, along with the inspiration of the French Revolution, sparked a major rebellion in Ireland in 1798. The rebellion was crushed by Britain, and in its wake the government decided that its control could be better maintained if Ireland were joined with Britain and given representation in the British Parliament. In 1801 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was formed. They still, however, were regarded as separate countries. Miss Bates’s initial mistake indicates both her age, for she lived many years before they ceased to be different kingdoms, and her relative neglect of political news, which means that even after almost fifteen years she is not fully acclimated to the change.

  35. give them the meeting: meet them.

  36. Dublin was the capital and largest city of Ireland, then as now.

  37. A countryseat is the home and estate of a prominent landed family. Such homes usually had names. “Baly,” or “Bally,” is a common prefix for places in Ireland, meaning simply “place of”; “craig” is an earlier spelling of “crag.” This could mean their home is on the coast of Ireland, much of which is characterized by striking crags and cliffs.

  38. paying his addresses: courting.

  39. It would not be proper for an unmarried young man and woman to be often alone together.

  40. Drawing was a pastime mostly for ladies then, but gentlemen sometimes learned and pursued it. Landscapes, the most popular type of pictures, were considered especially appropriate for men, and a gentleman such as Mr. Dixon with an estate would have a natural incentive to wish to delineate its properties. Military academies also instructed officers in drawing, for sketching was the only way for those engaged in reconnaissance to bring back accurate pictures of alien terrain or positions.

  41. There was regular mail service between England and Ireland; moreover, the roads in Ireland and in much of England were of good quality. But the distances at current travel speeds were still great, and the time for both mail and passengers was lengthened by the boat ride across the Irish Sea, which averaged eighteen to twenty hours and could take much longer, and by the terrible state of the road through Wales that led to the arrival and departure point for such boats. Hence it would take at least a few days for word of any illness or mishap to reach Jane in Ireland, and a similar time for her to return. She also could find difficulties in coming back immediately, for it was not acceptable for ladies to travel on their own and others might be reluctant to accompany her, considering the time, expense, and discomfort of the journey.

  42. backward: reluctant, unwilling.

  43. Weymouth, a town on England’s southwestern coast (see map) was a very fashionable seaside resort. A contemporary book, A Guide to All the Watering and Sea-Bathing Places, by John Feltham, mentions its “pure salubrious air” and “fine beach of sand” and says, “As a bathing place it is perhaps unparalleled.” Its reputation and popularity were given a significant boost by regular visits between 1789 and 1805 by King George III, which brought in their turn other members of the court and aristocracy. It also drew visitors from Bath, the most popular spa town in England, approximately fifty miles north of Weymouth. At the same time, its distance from London kept it from attracting as many visitors as some of the resorts in the southeast.

  44. Weymouth has a bay next to it; A Guide to All the Watering and Sea-Bathing Places calls it “one of the finest bays in the world.” Sailing on the bay was a popular recreation.

  45. habit: clothing; or gown specifically.

  46. Emma asks because of the suspicion that has just entered her brain about Jane and Mr. Dixon, namely that there may be some affection between them and that this has caused at least one person to decide that a separation of the two will be best. Emma’s suspicions of something mysterious and unexplained have also probably been aroused by the sudden and unexpected nature of Jane’s decision to visit. Later events will demonstrate that she has grounds for suspecting something more than appears on the surface, whatever it might be.

  47. It was standard practice to compliment young ladies for being excellent in every way.

  48. Holyhead is a town on the western coast of Wales. The packet boats that conveyed both mail and passengers between England and Ireland sailed between Holyhead and Dublin.

  49. poorly: unwell, indisposed.

  50. liberal: generous.

  51. Later instances appear in which the Bateses receive charity from their neighbors.

  A woman with a landscape picture.

  [From The Masterpieces of Hoppner (London, 1912), p. 50]

  [List of Illustrations]

  The Upper Rooms at Bath (see above, note 15).

  [From Mowbray Aston Green, The Eighteenth Century Architecture of Bath (Bath, 1904), p. 161]

  [List of Illustrations]

  VOLUME II, CHAPTER II

  1. Lieut., i.e., lieutenant, was the second-lowest-ranking officer in the British Army (above ensign). It indicates he was still a young man.

  2. The regiment was the fundamental unit of the British Army, and soldiers were usually known by their regiment, which always had a number and almost always a name (most often the name of a county). Here the number and name are deliberately left blank, a procedure also followed with a militia unit in Pride and Prejudice, presumably to avoid making a mistake by specifying a particular regiment that did not exist or whose history would conflict with the history related of the characters attributed to it. Most regiments at the time were infantry ones; cavalry formed the next largest type.

  3. She is called “Miss Jane Bates” because she is the younger daughter (Miss Bates is the elder). Jane Fairfax, as was standard for the eldest girl, was named after her.

  4. The British Army was often in action in the various colonies Britain possessed at this time, with India being the most important and a scene of frequent military engagement. In the years before and during this novel the army had also become involved in warfare in Europe against Napoleon, but Jane Fairfax would have been born long before that.

  5. consumption: tuberculosis. This was one of the leading causes of death at this time, with no known cure.

  6. fondling: someone who is fondly loved.

  7. connection or improvement: social connections or development of her abilities.

  8. “Camp fever” could mean any of a variety of deadly ailments that afflicted the army. Disease killed far more soldiers than wounds from battle during this period, for the general vulnerability of people to disease at this time was exacerbated in the army by poor sanitary conditions, insufficient medical services, and the frequent deployment of British troops to tropical locations such as India or the West Indies, where
a variety of deadly maladies struck Europeans with particular force. Because of the limited medical services available, soldiers’ recovery often depended on the attention and care of other soldiers.

  9. He has probably retired from the army. He could have transferred to one of the few units stationed in London, where he now lives, but that is less likely, especially since he is currently planning to visit his daughter in Ireland for several months.

  10. This means she will become a governess or a teacher, the only professions available for genteel women who needed to earn a living. She is later shown preparing to be a governess, which was regarded as more desirable.

  11. independence: financial independence.

  12. When he retired, an army officer could either sell his commission (buying one was what allowed him to join the army originally) and use that money, or receive half his previous salary (called going on half-pay). Colonel Campbell has done the latter, and his income has been supplemented by appointment to one or more mostly nominal positions established by the army to provide income for retired officers.

  13. handsome: considerable.

  14. His fortune is his fixed capital, either in a house and estate or in investments, that he can pass on to others. His income from his pay and appointments will cease upon his death.

  15. culture: development or improvement of the mind.

  16. Masters were people expert in teaching specific subjects. Among the most common of these subjects, for girls, were music, dancing, drawing, and handwriting. This is why the author speaks of “every lighter talent” in this context. The contrast is with the aforementioned cultivation of her heart and understanding, or intellect—Jane Austen consistently portrays moral and intellectual education as of far greater importance than any other accomplishment or talent.

  17. abilities: mental powers.

  18. Jane’s transition to governess would be an unfortunate day for her. She would be forced to work, she would probably have to go to a home away from her friends, she would be placed in a condition of subordination in her new home, and she would lose social status, since governesses were looked down upon as littler higher than servants. They also tended to suffer loneliness in their positions, because they existed in a state of social limbo between the family employing them and the regular servants.