by Jane Austen
11. “Mrs. S” is Mrs. Smallridge, the woman who offered Jane Fairfax the post of governess.
12. For women’s handwriting, see note 11.
13. The line is from John Gay’s poem “The Hare and Many Friends” and was quoted earlier. See note 55.
The College of Physicians.
[From Fiona St. Aubyn, Ackermann’s Illustrated London, illustrations by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson (Ware, 1985), p. 91]
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14. A minister of state would be a top political official. The most important figure in the English government at the time, along with the king, was the prime minister, and he would have other ministers under him in charge of various policy areas.
15. Physicians, the highest type of medical practitioner (see note 38), would usually be consulted or called in by ordinary practitioners like Mr. Perry only in especially difficult cases. Of course, Mrs. Elton means Frank. For a picture of the College of Physicians, see the preceding page.
16. She is probably thinking particularly of the flirtation between Emma and Frank Churchill, which she found unpleasant, since it encouraged Emma to assume a position of leadership that Mrs. Elton felt belonged to her. Mrs. Elton may also be thinking of the unpleasant effects it had for Jane, since she assumes that Emma does not know about the engagement of Jane and Frank and therefore would not understand Mrs. Elton’s allusion.
17. Mrs. Elton may hope that at another picnic Frank would not support Emma in her endeavors to preside. She is also displaying again her presumed superiority over Emma in knowledge of Jane’s engagement with Frank (the “one person” who must not be left out).
18. Morning lasted almost all day, so visits then would be during the time many men were engaged in their employment.
19. The magistrates were the leading judicial and administrative officials in local government, who would have authority over the local parish government (which Mr. Elton is involved with). It is doubtful that a number of magistrates would be coming to ask Mr. Elton’s opinion, since their authority extended over a wider area than the parish and they would probably have more experience than Mr. Elton. The overseer was the parish officer charged with supervising relief to the poor. Finally, the churchwarden was the man who assisted the resident clergyman in the performance of his duties. The latter two would be in a subordinate position to Mr. Elton and therefore likely to ask his advice, yet there is probably only one of each, so Mrs. Elton is again exaggerating. For a picture of a beadle, who assists the churchwarden, see this page.
20. She had earlier predicted her inability to pursue her music, when she first met Emma (see here). Now, with the mentions of her crayons, she adds drawing or sketching to her list of neglected accomplishments.
21. wait on: visit.
22. The leading local landowner was usually the most important figure in the management of the parish, and the local clergyman the next most important.
23. This school would serve the common people of the parish. At this time no system of public education existed. For the lower classes, who could not afford to send their children to private schools, the only education available was that furnished by local benefactors. Starting in the late seventeenth century, a movement to found charity schools had emerged and had led to the creation of more than a thousand such schools across England (though many parishes remained without one). In the late eighteenth century this had been supplemented by the Sunday School movement, which sponsored the creation of institutions to provide religious instruction. All these schools depended primarily on voluntary contributions of some kind. The patronage of local wealthy people, such as Mrs. Suckling and Mrs. Bragge, was frequently the principal basis of the school. How small a parish would be indicated by twenty-five pupils is uncertain. Poorer people constituted the majority of the population, and families tended to be large; however, children often attended for only a few years, and in the case of daily charity schools many extremely poor children did not attend at all, since their families could not afford either to pay the small fee that was often charged or to spare the children from work necessary to sustain the family. For the content of the education, see note 31.
24. Mrs. Elton spoke of her own “vivacity” on an earlier occasion (see here), while she has just mentioned her supposed liveliness.
25. pretty: nice, proper.
26. Her allusion is to Jane Fairfax’s impending conjugal state.
27. Roads were often shaded by trees, so they would be less hot than the fields. He presumably went over the fields because it was more direct.
28. Landowners usually had woods because of the value of timber, as well as in many cases because of their aesthetic value and the growth of game in them for hunting (this last is unlikely to influence Mr. Knightley, who is never shown hunting).
29. Presumably Mr. Knightley’s focus on Emma and their upcoming marriage has distracted him from his regular work. This is why the incident amuses Emma.
30. Harry would be Mr. Knightley’s footman, one of whose jobs would be to wait at table. He is called by his first name because a footman was a lower servant. Sideboards had developed as standard pieces of furniture in the late eighteenth century, a product of the rise of the dining room as a distinct room, which encouraged the use of pieces of furniture dedicated solely to dining. Dishes and utensils would be stored in the drawers and cabinets of the sideboard; hence, it would be natural for the footman to stand next to one in case he needed to retrieve something. For a picture of a sideboard, see this page.
31. holds her very cheap: thinks little of her.
32. receipt: recipe.
33. Most mistresses of a household would not concern themselves with quarrels and rivalries between their servants and those in other households. They also would not attack someone else’s servants by name among a large group of people.
34. get the speech of him: manage to speak to him. His difficulties would testify further to Mr. Knightley’s distraction, for William Larkins is probably the person Mr. Knightley deals with the most regularly.
35. impertinent: intrusive, presumptuous; inclined to meddle with matters that are not one’s business. Inquiring too much into others’ personal affairs was considered impolite.
36. stand: remain.
A beadle, a lower-ranking parish official.
[From William Pyne, Costume of Great Britain (London, 1804; 1989 reprint), Plate XV]
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37. Jane’s caution indicates a natural discretion in her, for now she no longer needs to be discreet to protect her secret.
38. Etiquette dictated a period of deep mourning, when an elaborate mourning costume would be worn and various important activities such as marriage would be put on hold. After a time this would relax, though there would usually be succeeding periods, possibly lasting to a year after the death, in which those connected with the deceased would wear somewhat less funereal clothing (usually gray instead of black).
39. Her opinion results both from her recent experience with subterfuge of different kinds and from the influence of Mr. Knightley, who has always stressed the virtues of openness and sincerity.
A sideboard. The box on top holds knives, and the one below holds wine. The footman would use them to serve from the sideboard.
[From Singleton, Esther, The Furniture of Our Forefathers (New York, 1916), p. 535]
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VOLUME III, CHAPTER XVII
1. either: any.
2. sports: jests, amusements.
3. freaks: caprices, whims.
4. Boys normally went away to boarding school for much of their childhood; beginning at seven or eight and in some cases continuing until the boy was grown. Girls sometimes went away to school, but usually for limited periods and not far from home, and many would have their entire education conducted by a governess. Mrs. Weston’s own past experience would make this even more likely with her child.
5. Madame de Genlis was a Fren
ch writer; her novel Adelaide and Theodore appeared in English in 1783. In it the Baroness d’Almane adopts her niece La Comtesse d’Ostalis and educates her; the baroness later draws on this experience in educating her own daughter, Adelaide. The book attained wide popularity in England, being seen as an ideal guidebook for educating the young in virtuous principles. Later books of hers also attracted great interest, though her popularity gradually declined over time. In a letter Jane Austen expresses disappointment about a later novel by Madame de Genlis, Alphonsine, saying that “it has indelicacies which disgrace a pen hitherto so pure,” a statement suggesting appreciation of the author’s earlier works (Jan. 7, 1807).
6. in love with: very fond of, full of love for. The term was often used outside of a romantic or sexual context then; Mr. Knightley has said that he started thinking of Emma as a potential wife only recently.
7. Mr. Weston earlier called his wife “Anne” (see here), so the girl has been named after her mother, the usual procedure.
8. By defying him she was transgressing both the moral principle that inspired his disapproval of her action in the first place and the duty and respect she owed him as an older and wiser relation; thus she was being guided by two wrong impulses.
9. In the marriage rite of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, used for almost all marriages in England at this time, “M” stands for the husband and “N” for the wife. Thus the vow of the husband begins: “I M. take thee N. to my wedded wife,” and the vow of the wife with “I N. take thee M. to my wedded husband”; both include “for better, for worse” in the rest of the vow. Emma plays on the association of “M” and “N” with her name and Mr. Knightley’s, respectively (though this means reversing which letter is for each person).
A woman (Lady Dover) with a child.
[From Lord Ronald Sutherland Gower, Sir Thomas Lawrence (London, 1900), p. 82]
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10. Harriet would have had more reason than people now for fearing a dentist, for dental procedures were performed without anesthetic. During a visit to her brother in London, just before she wrote this novel, Jane Austen accompanied two nieces to a dentist: in a letter she exclaims, “The poor Girls & their Teeth!,” speaks of one niece’s doom, and describes “the two sharp hasty Screams” that she emitted (Sept. 16, 1813). Harriet would also have reason to anticipate a gap in her mouth, for while dentists had developed a variety of procedures, including the insertion of fillings in cavities and the filing of jagged teeth, their most common was simple extraction—the most likely result for Harriet’s tooth. Before she was fifty Jane Austen’s mother had lost most of her front teeth through this means. During the late eighteenth century some dentists had attempted transplantation of new teeth, using teeth from poor people willing to sell theirs, but the technique proved ineffective. For a contemporary picture of a woman at the dentist, see the following page.
11. being to stay: staying. This type of grammatical construction is found elsewhere in Jane Austen’s writings.
12. all alive: fully aroused.
13. That Mr. Knightley feels compelled to introduce the letter in this manner indicates how relatively uncomplimentary it is of Emma, as her own summary states.
14. construction: meaning, interpretation.
15. should: would.
16. without ceremony or reserve: without formal civility or reticence, that is, with unrestrained frankness.
17. Emma’s thoughts have already indicated her sense of Mr. Knightley’s superiority over herself.
18. Meaning his compassion for the oppression or unjust sufferings of a worthy person.
Dentistry of the period.
[From Joseph Grego, Rowlandson the Caricaturist Vol. II (London, 1880), p. 376]
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19. The custom at the time was for a woman who had given birth to undergo her lying-in or confinement for a month or a little more. In order to reduce risks to herself and the baby, she was kept indoors, and usually provided with a nurse to attend her and minimize her fatigues. The confinement would proceed through stages, with the mother gradually being allowed to leave her bed and then her room and to receive more visitors.
20. Parental consent for marriage was required by law for those under twenty-one (Emma, who was “nearly twenty-one” when the novel began, would no longer need this). Social custom also dictated that people of any age should receive this consent: the prevailing view was that children had the right to choose a mate but that parents had the right to veto the choice.
21. Mr. Knightley was earlier shown assisting Mr. Woodhouse in his business, to the point of actually taking charge of everything (see here). The letters mentioned are probably ones of business, concerning Mr. Woodhouse’s property and investments or other matters—Mr. Woodhouse never refers to any person living elsewhere who might be the object of his correspondence except for Isabella, and Emma likely takes charge of writing to her—family correspondence was usually a female task.
22. fair occasion: favorable opportunity.
23. connexion: connection, i.e., match.
24. peculiarly eligible: particularly fitting.
25. Few men with an estate of their own would be as willing as Mr. Knightley to give up living on it to please Emma’s father.
26. shifted off: evaded, put off.
27. Meaning equal in what each person brought to the marriage.
28. People of all ages usually wore something on the head; Emma earlier refers to the cockade, or ribbon worn in a headdress, of Isabella’s baby (see here).
29. When Mr. Knightley moves to Hartfield he will probably take some of his servants with him: he will no longer need many at Donwell (though a few might remain, since he will probably continue to conduct some management of his estate there) and his presence will create additional work at Hartfield. He also would not wish to dismiss any servants who have long been with him. The greatest disagreements could occur over whose servants would take precedence.
Baby caps from the period.
[From Candace Wheeler, The Development of Embroidery in America (New York, 1921), p. 86]
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30. Mr. Elton is thinking of his own rejection. He probably decided that she rejected him because he was not of sufficient status and wealth; such a conclusion would flatter him by avoiding the suggestion that any personal defects of his influenced her, and since he is someone with a great concern for status and wealth, he would naturally attribute similar motives to others.
31. It could be daring in expressing criticism of Mr. Knightley, who is his social superior and whose lead he generally follows in the parish affairs that are central to his work as a clergyman.
32. taken in: deceived, tricked.
33. She had spoken harshly of her when Emma visited Jane Fairfax (see here). Thus Emma could have repeated her words to Mr. Knightley.
Blackfriar’s Bridge, which someone traveling to or from the Knightleys’ residence in London would use.
[From The Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions, Manufactures, &c, Vol. XIV (1815), p. 231]
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VOLUME III, CHAPTER XVIII
1. put by: put aside.
Astley’s Amphitheatre (see next page).
[From Fiona St. Aubyn, Ackermann’s Illustrated London, illustrations by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson (Ware, 1985), p. 57]
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2. speaking: expressive.
3. decision: resolution.
4. workbasket: basket containing her materials and tools for needlework.
5. Chambers were the set of rooms that barristers occupied in one of the four Inns of Court in London that controlled entrance to the bar. They contained offices and sometimes sitting rooms.
6. Astley’s is Astley’s Amphitheatre, one of the leading entertainments in London at the time. It was founded by Philip Astley, who is generally considered the creator of the modern circus. An extremely skilled rider
of horses, he had begun in the 1770s with a show that displayed various feats of equestrian skill. It was so successful that he was able to open a large amphitheater with a multitude of performers. The continued popularity of the amphitheater is indicated by its imitation by another circus (which after a while proved less successful), and by its rapid recovery after each occasion when its building was destroyed by fire. Its performances included a great variety of riders and stunts on horseback, acrobats, clowns, rope dancing, trained animals, and in some cases miniature dramas. The spectacles would take place in a large indoor space and on a ring—Astley was the one who developed the ring, with the dimensions that succeeding circuses would also use, because it allowed horses to gallop continuously. For pictures, see the preceding page and the following page.
7. His calling him by only his first name signifies, even amid his proclamation of friendship, his sense of Robert Martin’s social inferiority, for he never does the same with a genteel person outside his family.
8. amused: entertained.
9. This is the public coach. An elaborate network of coaches stretched across England; they operated in a similar manner to vehicles traveling post (see note 6), stopping approximately every ten miles to change horses. Coaches traveled as fast as vehicles going post and cost less, but they were neither private nor socially exclusive. For this reason almost all characters in Austen’s novels go post, but those lower in the social scale, such as Robert Martin, use the public coach. For a picture of a public coach, see this page.