by Jane Austen
Having once set out, and felt that he had done so, on this road to happiness, there was nothing on the side of prudence to stop him or make his progress slow; no doubts of her deserving, no fears from opposition of taste, no need of drawing new hopes of happiness from dissimilarity of temper. Her mind, disposition, opinions, and habits wanted no half concealment, no self deception on the present, no reliance on future improvement. Even in the midst of his late infatuation, he had acknowledged Fanny’s mental superiority. What must be his sense of it now, therefore? She was of course only too good for him; but as nobody minds having what is too good for them, he was very steadily earnest in the pursuit of the blessing, and it was not possible that encouragement from her should be long wanting. Timid, anxious, doubting as she was, it was still impossible that such tenderness as hers should not, at times, hold out the strongest hope of success, though it remained for a later period to tell him the whole delightful and astonishing truth. His happiness in knowing himself to have been so long the beloved of such a heart, must have been great enough to warrant any strength of language in which he could clothe it to her or to himself; it must have been a delightful happiness! But there was happiness elsewhere which no description can reach. Let no one presume to give the feelings of a young woman on receiving the assurance of that affection of which she has scarcely allowed herself to entertain a hope.
Their own inclinations ascertained, there were no difficulties behind,54 no drawback of poverty or parent. It was a match which Sir Thomas’s wishes had even forestalled.55 Sick of ambitious and mercenary connections, prizing more and more the sterling good of principle and temper, and chiefly anxious to bind by the strongest securities all that remained to him of domestic felicity, he had pondered with genuine satisfaction on the more than possibility of the two young friends finding their mutual consolation in each other for all that had occurred of disappointment to either; and the joyful consent which met Edmund’s application, the high sense of having realised a great acquisition in the promise of Fanny for a daughter, formed just such a contrast with his early opinion on the subject when the poor little girl’s coming had been first agitated,56 as time is for ever producing between the plans and decisions of mortals, for their own instruction, and their neighbour’s entertainment.57
Westminster Abbey.
[From Fiona St. Aubyn, Ackermann’s Illustrated London, illustrations by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson (Ware, 1985), p. 85]
Fanny was indeed the daughter that he wanted. His charitable kindness had been rearing a prime comfort for himself. His liberality58 had a rich repayment, and the general goodness of his intentions by her, deserved it. He might have made her childhood happier; but it had been an error of judgment only which had given him the appearance of harshness, and deprived him of her early love; and now, on really knowing each other, their mutual attachment became very strong. After settling her at Thornton Lacey with every kind attention to her comfort, the object of almost every day was to see her there, or to get her away from it.
Selfishly dear as she had long been to Lady Bertram, she could not be parted with willingly by her. No happiness of son or niece could make her wish the marriage. But it was possible to part with her, because Susan remained to supply her place.—Susan became the stationary niece—delighted to be so!—and equally well adapted for it by a readiness of mind, and an inclination for usefulness, as Fanny had been by sweetness of temper, and strong feelings of gratitude. Susan could never be spared. First as a comfort to Fanny, then as an auxiliary, and last as her substitute, she was established at Mansfield, with every appearance of equal permanency. Her more fearless disposition and happier nerves made every thing easy to her there.—With quickness in understanding the tempers of those she had to deal with, and no natural timidity to restrain any consequent wishes, she was soon welcome, and useful to all; and after Fanny’s removal, succeeded so naturally to her influence over the hourly comfort of her aunt, as gradually to become, perhaps, the most beloved of the two.—In her usefulness, in Fanny’s excellence, in William’s continued good conduct, and rising fame, and in the general well-doing and success of the other members of the family, all assisting to advance each other,59 and doing credit to his countenance60 and aid, Sir Thomas saw repeated, and for ever repeated reason to rejoice in what he had done for them all, and acknowledge the advantages of early hardship and discipline, and the consciousness of being born to struggle and endure.61
A marriage ceremony.
[From William Combe, The Dance of Life (London, 1817; 1903 reprint), p. 234]
With so much true merit and true love, and no want of fortune or friends, the happiness of the married cousins must appear as secure as earthly happiness can be.—Equally formed for domestic life, and attached to country pleasures, their home was the home of affection and comfort; and to complete the picture of good, the acquisition of Mansfield living by the death of Dr. Grant,62 occurred just after they had been married long enough to begin to want an increase of income,63 and feel their distance from the paternal abode an inconvenience.
On that event they removed to Mansfield,64 and the parsonage there, which under each of its two former owners, Fanny had never been able to approach but with some painful sensation of restraint or alarm, soon grew as dear to her heart, and as thoroughly perfect in her eyes, as every thing else, within the view and patronage of Mansfield Park, had long been.
FINIS
A contemporary picture of a visit to a new mother.
[From Joseph Grego, Rowlandson the Caricaturist, Vol. II (London, 1880), p. 313]
Notes
VOLUME I, CHAPTER I
1. This is the only time that Jane Austen states at the outset of a novel how many years earlier her story began. One reason is that this novel provides by far the longest narrative (lasting several chapters) of the events leading up to the main action, including the heroine’s childhood. As usual, Austen is careful and accurate in her dating. The main action begins approximately twenty-seven years after this opening event and transpires over one year. The concluding events sketched in the last few pages would logically span about two years and possibly a little more. For more detail, see the chronology, this page.
2. Huntingdon is a town in eastern England and the county seat of Huntingdonshire. Since the time of this novel Huntingdonshire has been absorbed into the county of Cambridgeshire.
3. In most wealthy families, women were allotted a fixed sum as their inheritance. It would serve as a dowry and go to her husband upon her marriage.
4. Grand homes were always given formal names. Many names included the word “Park,” for estates normally had ample grounds, and the name designated the grounds as well as the house.
5. The county of Northampton, or Northamptonshire, is in the Midlands of England; it is to the immediate west of Huntingdonshire. Jane Austen, who was never in Northamptonshire, probably set her story there because its distance from Portsmouth, the home of the heroine, serves the plot by making travel between the two places difficult. Similar considerations determine her choice of settings for other novels. For these locations, see map.
6. A baronet was the highest rank in Britain below the aristocracy or peerage. It was a hereditary knighthood, which gave the holder the right to be known as “Sir” and his wife the right to be known as “Lady” but, unlike the peerage, conferred no legal or political privileges. Baronets and peers, as well as the untitled gentry who ranked just below them, derived most of their wealth from large landed estates, usually with grand residences like Mansfield Park at the center. This landed elite dominated British government and society.
7. handsome: large. The word could also refer to the house’s attractiveness, but in this context it probably refers mostly to its size.
8. greatness: social eminence. This and its attendant privileges are what is primarily meant by the “consequences” of the match.
9. “Lawyer” at this time could mean either a barrister, who could try cases in co
urt, or an attorney, who could not. The uncle is likely a barrister, for barristers were considered gentlemen (for what this means, see this page, note 67) while attorneys were looked down upon socially; having an uncle who was an attorney would have been a formidable barrier to marrying a baronet.
10. Marriage choices among the wealthy were so heavily determined by considerations of fortune and social rank that people had a clear sense of how much wealth on the wife’s side would normally be required to attract a husband of a specific social and economic level. Lawyers would be particularly aware of this, for much of their business involved negotiating and drawing up the complicated financial settlements that elite marriages involved.
11. handsome: attractive. The word is frequently used in Austen’s novels to describe women, with no masculine connotation intended.
12. “Miss Ward” is the eldest. The oldest unmarried daughter in a family was referred to as “Miss + last name”; her younger sisters were referred to as “Miss + first name,” with the last name sometimes added. Later we learn that Maria was the next oldest, and Frances (or Fanny) the youngest (see this page—the latter is called “some years her [Lady Betram’s] junior”).
13. scruple: hesitate.
14. This basic truth manifests itself throughout Austen’s novels, and—along with women’s urgent need to marry due to the absence of alternative careers—provides much of the novels’ dramatic tension. The reference to a woman’s prettiness underlines the importance of looks as an asset. It is almost certain that her looks were what allowed Maria to make such an advantageous marriage, for, as is soon revealed, she has almost no other attractive qualities.
15. “Rev.,” short for “Reverend,” indicates he is a clergyman. Clergymen were central to English rural society at this time. Jane Austen’s father was a clergyman, as were two of her brothers. Clergy tended to be closely connected to the landed elite, and usually ranked next in status in the rural hierarchy. The phrase “obliged to be attached” indicates that Miss Ward married for the sake of her husband’s social and economic position rather than for love, which was not unusual.
16. This living is the position as clergyman for Mansfield parish, which comes with a regular income. England was divided into parishes, which were units both of the church and of local government; each parish had a church and a clergyman belonging to the Church of England. The official state church enjoyed legal privileges and was where most people in England worshipped, including virtually everyone in rural areas like this one. In towns and cities, more people belonged to other denominations, though, while generally able to worship freely, they were still obligated to contribute to the official Anglican Church. The power to appoint someone to a church living was frequently in the hands of wealthy landowners, and it was standard for them to appoint friends and family members. Jane Austen’s father was appointed to his living by a cousin, which allowed him to marry and start a family. For more on the system of church appointments, see this page, notes 3 and 6.
17. This is a very comfortable income, though not nearly as grand as Sir Thomas’s (which is never specified) undoubtedly is. “Conjugal felicity” was a common expression of the time, in this case used ironically, given the real motives behind the marriage.
18. This society emphasized people’s obligations to their family, which included taking into account the family’s wishes and interests in one’s marital decisions.
19. fixing on: choosing, selecting.
20. The Royal Marines was a corps of soldiers who were trained like army soldiers and had similar uniforms and weaponry, but were attached to the navy. Virtually every naval ship had a contingent of marines, who existed to participate in landing parties that were sent ashore, to assist in hand-to-hand combat when a ship directly grappled with an enemy ship, and to maintain order and discipline. Commissioned military officers were considered gentlemen, but those in the marines were lower in status than army or navy officers. One reason was that, whereas commissions in the other services either had to be purchased or required years of experience, neither was the case in the marines, so those seeking marine commissions frequently had humble backgrounds and poor qualifications. This, plus the fact that lieutenant was the lowest officer rank and promotion was difficult, would make such a figure an undesirable husband for a woman from a family that could give its daughters a decent dowry and whose other daughters had married a baronet and a clergyman with a good living.
21. connections: relations, family ties. Such ties were highly important, both for social prestige and for the practical benefits they could confer. This man’s lack of them, along with his lack of education and private fortune (he would receive only a modest salary as a marine lieutenant), would add to his undesirability from the perspective of the bride’s family.
22. interest: influence, especially as arising from personal connections.
23. Patronage was important in the navy and marines, as in almost every other area of life in this society, but they were relatively closed societies in which the principal form of patronage was that exercised by high-ranking officers within the services. Moreover, in the case of the marines, promotion tended to operate by strict seniority, making outside interference even less possible.
24. Austen’s novels contain other examples of such breaches (as in a similar match at the outset of Emma), but she also shows, as in this case, that the “inevitability” results as much from pride and anger and hasty temper as from absolute necessity.
25. Once people had reached the age of twenty-one they were legally free to marry in England without parental consent, but social mores dictated that even then the couple should marry only if both could obtain consent. Mrs. Price, knowing she would not have received consent, found it more convenient not to try for it.
26. temper: disposition, inclinations. The term had a broader meaning then.
27. This most likely means ceasing any communication or contact with her, and no longer speaking of her to others. Such actions would minimize the possibility of others learning about the embarrassing affair, indicate one’s firm disapproval to anyone who did know about it, and prevent any encounters between the offending relative and the members of one’s immediate family or social circle.
28. This use of a colon where a semicolon would normally be used appears at numerous points in Mansfield Park. It was likely the preference of the printers, for other Austen novels use colons far less often. Variation in punctuation or other points of style, due to different standards prevailing at different printers, was common.
29. activity: energy, busyness.
30. reflections: critical reflections or comments.
31. She probably assumed that Sir Thomas’s high rank made him especially proud and inclined to disapprove the match, and that this pride accounted for much of her sisters’ disapproval.
32. This passage provides the first picture we have of Mrs. Norris, one of the most distinctive and memorable characters in the novel. Many people in Mrs. Norris’s situation, even if angered by the words in her sister’s letter, would have refrained from sharing them with her brother-in-law, for the importance of family made people anxious to minimize family quarrels.
33. wonderful: amazing.
34. Many couples had numerous children, for methods of birth control were limited and most people believed they had an obligation to be fruitful and multiply. Jane Austen’s parents had eight children, as did one of her brothers, while two other brothers each had eleven. It is not certain where Mrs. Norris obtains her information about her sister’s fecundity. Most likely, she made an effort to find and befriend someone living near the Prices as a source of regular updates. She will show similar inquisitiveness on other occasions.
35. A disabled military officer would go indefinitely on half pay. Since the regular pay of a marine lieutenant was not much, half would provide little to support a family. Moreover, he would lose any chance of sharing in the most potentially lucrative part of serving on ship, the distribution o
f the often ample prize money allotted after the capture of an enemy vessel.
36. As will be shortly indicated, the Prices live in Portsmouth, a town on the southern coast. As it contained the main British naval base, Portsmouth would offer plenty of drinking companions for Mr. Price and plenty of establishments where they could indulge their habit.
37. friends: relations. The term was often used for family then.
38. Lying-in, also known as confinement, was the standard procedure surrounding the birth of a child. It started with the birth—thus “preparing for” it means primarily anticipating that she will soon give birth—and, when followed fully, continued for about a month afterward. During this period the mother remained in bed and was kept isolated from light and visitors (other than a nurse who usually attended her); this was believed to minimize the possibility of ill consequences to her. Those in less favorable circumstances like Mrs. Price would have a harder time following this regimen strictly, but the term could still be applied.
39. countenance: support, favor.
40. spirited: energetic, vigorous, enterprising.
41. Sir Thomas has property in the West Indies, or Caribbean, ample enough that a little later in the novel he will spend two years there endeavoring to put it back on a profitable footing. A variety of possible jobs would be connected with it, especially since he does not live there himself, and the slowness of communication across the Atlantic required delegating substantial responsibilities to those managing the property. For more on the West Indies and Sir Thomas’s property, see this page, note 14.