by Jane Austen
By “a cottage” she does not mean a small, humble dwelling but what was then known as a “Cottage Ornée” (from the French for “adorned” or “decorated”). The first couple of decades of the nineteenth century witnessed a brief vogue for such cottages among the wealthy, who, in line with the prevailing Romanticism of the period, were attracted by the simple and rustic associations they evoked. These cottages were built in a deliberately primitive style, with thatched roofs and crude stone walls and many intentional irregularities. But while smaller than grand houses like Mansfield Park, they were still fairly substantial buildings, with many rooms and all the latest luxuries and conveniences.
41. Gravel walks, benches along paths, shrubberies, and flower gardens were standard features of landscaped grounds. Rustic seats, which meant chairs or benches done in a rough-hewn style, were also popular, a product of the same taste that made “cottages” for the wealthy popular.
42. Edmund disapproves of her sarcastic reference to him as “my honoured uncle” and her statement that he wished to improve the cottage because it was “excessively pretty.” She also called him “not the first favourite in the world.”
43. liveliness: playfulness, jocular talk, inclination to be merry.
44. put the matter by: set it aside, let it alone.
45. She calls Edmund “Mr. Bertram” here because, with Tom gone, there is no need to distinguish between the two brothers.
46. The harp was, after the piano, the most popular instrument for young ladies to learn to play. For more, see this page, note 7.
47. The shop can be referred to that simply because it is most likely a general village store. Since almost everyone would frequent it, news shared there would quickly spread. The network of local gossip she describes was a basic feature of rural life, as often seen in Austen’s novels.
48. hand-barrow: a rectangular frame for carrying items; it has bars going across the frame to place the items upon, and is lifted and conveyed by means of poles sticking out at each end, as with a stretcher.
49. The hay harvest was a central event in the rural calendar, starting in June and usually continuing into July. The hay would be mown and then gathered first into piles and then into a haystack before being carted away into storage, furnishing the food necessary to enable livestock to survive the winter. Since the labor involved was substantial, and speed was important to reduce the chance of cut hay being rained on (it needed to be dry for gathering), all available labor and resources, including horses and carts, would be mobilized. A very late harvest (it is currently after the middle of July—see chronology, this page), probably caused by bad weather earlier, would add to the sense of urgency.
50. speak for one directly: order one immediately. Her maid is her lady’s maid, who, unlike other servants, would travel with her mistress. Mary’s having her own indicates her wealth; Maria and Julia Bertram share a maid.
51. dressing-closet: small room for dressing, attached to the bedroom.
52. Farmers, distinct from laborers, were basically the rural middle class: they rented large tracts of land from estate owners like Sir Thomas, and hired laborers, the rural lower class, to work the land under their supervision. In Emma a character who is a farmer has a nice house and employs servants. Hence Mary’s list involves three categories of descending importance, allowing her cleverly to suggest the steadily increasing absurdity of the offense she has aroused.
53. A bailiff in this context is someone who superintends the operation of a farm. The farm here is Dr. Grant’s glebe land, which is given to a resident clergyman as part of the living to help furnish his income.
54. Dr. Grant’s own income is derived from agriculture, whether the products of his glebe land or what he receives in tithes (payments from his parishioners based on a percentage of their produce). Hence he would have a keen sense of the need not to interfere with something as essential as the hay harvest.
55. A barouche is a type of carriage (see the picture). Its principal feature is a folding roof that renders it suitable for both warm and cold weather. This made it desirable, though also expensive due to the cost of a mechanism that was regularly opened and closed. Henry Crawford’s possessing one testifies to both his wealth and his wish to own a highly fashionable carriage. Jane Austen speaks in a letter of riding in a barouche: “I liked my solitary elegance, & was ready to laugh all the time, at my being where I was—I could not but feel that I had naturally small right to be parading about London in a Barouche” (May 24, 1813). This is why Mary says the harp will be “honourably conveyed.”
56. Where the musical taste of the listener equals that of the performer, the latter has the advantage, for both her love of her music and her vanity are gratified. Her use of “she” for the player, at a time when “he” was regularly used to refer to people in general, indicates how much playing an instrument was an almost exclusively female activity in this social world.
57. Tom has been attending the horse races. Mary’s mention indicates that she is still thinking of him as a potential mate, though this scene also marks the beginning of a greater interest in Edmund. Her writing to Tom herself would be improper, so she must send messages through Edmund.
58. During the eighteenth century Bath became the leading spa and resort town in England, and while by this time it was facing increased competition from seaside resorts, it was still very popular. Its many entertainments and busy social life made it a natural venue for a wealthy man of leisure like Henry. Bath was most frequently full, or crowded, during the winter months.
59. The two main characters in Emma both describe women as writing longer and more detailed letters. Henry’s willingness to send such a short letter indicates selfishness: letters were very expensive and the charge, by the page, was laid upon the recipient. Therefore most letter writers would at least turn the page (write on the reverse side), and many, including Jane Austen, took special pains to cram every available space with writing.
60. Men serving in the navy were often assiduous correspondents. Long overseas postings made them anxious to communicate news of themselves to their families and to receive news from home. Ships carried mail regularly between Britain and naval stations abroad, and those serving in the navy (or army) were legally entitled to send and receive letters at extremely low postal rates. Jane Austen maintained a regular correspondence with her two brothers who were serving in the navy.
61. “The King’s service” is the navy. The alternative, serving in the merchant marine, was much less prestigious. Mary thus assumes the navy, though her comment may be intended as a question, since the lower status of Fanny’s family could naturally raise doubt; in fact, a younger brother of hers is later described as serving on a merchant vessel (see this page).
62. Britain had naval bases in various parts of the world, and many in the navy would be stationed abroad for years.
63. Edmund is maybe hoping that if Mary does know the captain she could help persuade him to promote Fanny’s brother.
64. A post captain was an officer who could command large ships; it was the highest rank below admiral.
65. Admirals were divided among three different flags—the red, white, and blue—and traditionally ships sailed under the flag of the admiral commanding them. This practice had long ceased, but the flags remained as a distinction of rank, with red the highest, then white, then blue. There were also three types of admirals: full (the highest), vice (the next highest), and rear. A man would start as a rear admiral of the blue, then become in turn rear admiral of the white, rear admiral of the red, vice admiral of the blue, and so forth, until reaching full admiral of the red; a tenth supreme rank, full admiral of the fleet, was added in 1805. As an admiral rose in rank, his pay also increased.
66. Admirals were promoted automatically to the next rank after serving enough years in their existing rank. But promotion did not confer any particular post, so many high-ranking admirals, if judged less worthy, would be given insignificant posts or no po
st at all, while lower-ranking admirals could be given prominent ones. Posts also differed in the opportunities they offered for prize money (see this page, note 69). All this could foster jealousy among admirals, and a sense of being passed over unfairly.
67. She refers to types of admirals (see above). The possible pun would involve a vice relating to rears, a very risqué comment by the strict standards of genteel society, which is why the straitlaced Edmund looks grave. Some commentators have suggested she is referring to male homosexuality, which in later times was sometimes associated with the navy (one source being an apocryphal quote by Winston Churchill that naval tradition is “nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash”). This, however, is extremely unlikely. Male homosexual acts were extremely taboo, subject to serious punishment, and almost never discussed in public. A genteel lady, even a daring one, would never introduce the topic in a dinner conversation, nor would Jane Austen, or her publisher, have sanctioned its mention in print. Moreover, sexual relations between men seem to have been very rare in the navy then, in part because crowded conditions and strict discipline limited opportunities for it.
Instead, one writer has suggested, “Mary’s naughty innuendo clearly concerns flagellation: utterly unfit for a lady’s conversation, but legal…and familiar enough to any citizen who ever glanced in a print-shop window at the satirical cartoons of Gillray or Rowlandson, in which birches and buttocks made frequent appearances” (Josephine Ross, Jane Austen: A Companion, p. 148). During the eighteenth and nineteenth century, books appeared discussing the practice and sexual appeal of flagellation, and special “parlors” existed catering to those with a taste for it. It was often associated with upper-class men—a standard explanation was that they acquired the predilection in public schools, where caning was common—and its popularity in England was such that during the nineteenth century it became known in Europe as the “English Vice.” The topic would also fit naturally with a pun involving the navy, in which flogging was prevalent as a means of discipline.
68. The navy was held in especially high regard during this period because Britain was in the midst of a long war with Napoleonic France, and the navy had been its principal weapon, saving Britain from French invasion. Mary’s speaking of it in the next sentence in purely mercenary terms would be a patriotic failing on her part, as well as disrespectful of her uncle.
69. Naval pay was not particularly high, but it offered the opportunity to make a substantial fortune through capture of enemy vessels. The navy, after determining the value of the ship, would distribute this sum among the crew as prize money, with those of highest rank receiving the most. Some officers became very wealthy in this fashion. The suddenness of the acquisition could be a temptation to spend it recklessly.
70. Mrs. Grant would have lived there before she married, when their father was alive and owned the estate.
71. fall of ground: slope or declivity of the ground. Current landscaping ideals celebrated hills and steep slopes.
72. Timber was often an important product of estates. Mrs. Grant shows that she appreciates the economic value as well as the beauties of an estate.
73. He means now that Mrs. Grant has lived next to Mansfield Park. Seeing it may have increased Henry’s own sense of the smallness of his estate.
74. People came of age when they turned twenty-one. Before this, Henry, while the designated heir, would not yet have legal control of the estate, which, after the death of his father, would have been vested in one or more other family members until he came of age.
75. Westminster was one of the leading boarding schools for upper-class boys. Heirs to wealthy estates had no need to attend Oxford or Cambridge, unlike those (such as Edmund) training to be clergymen. But it was normal for them to attend for at least a year or two to acquire additional education and polish. They did not pursue rigorous courses of study, were segregated from other students, and could receive honorary degrees when they left.
76. enforced: urged, reaffirmed.
77. Earlier Maria was recommending the employment of Repton. Now, however, she sees an opportunity to please Henry by enthusiastic support of his participation; she also may be spurred by competition with Julia, who suggested the idea. It gives both of them an excuse to have more of his company.
78. party: social gathering. The word could refer to modest as well as grand occasions.
79. Mrs. Norris, who loves activity, sees an opportunity for an outing at no expense to herself. When she actually goes, she spends little time with Mrs. Rushworth, instead focusing on inquiring into others’ affairs and trying to procure valuable gifts from them.
80. Dinner was usually at four or five o’clock, so it could occur during or after an excursion for the day.
81. The moon was the only source of nighttime illumination on country roads, other than the limited light provided by carriages. People often arranged evening activities to coincide with a full or nearly full moon.
82. Men frequently went on horseback rather than going in a carriage.
VOLUME I, CHAPTER VII
1. Fanny disapproves strongly of what Mary said, but her first reply to Edmund only praised Mary. After Edmund has made a critical comment himself, Fanny feels emboldened to express her true feelings.
2. indecorous: improper.
3. throwing a shade: casting a negative light.
4. Prevailing ideals of femininity put particular emphasis on being delicate and restrained and gentle in speech and behavior.
5. It is actually clear from Fanny’s own words that her overall verdict is less positive than his, but he, wanting her to agree fully with him, fails to perceive it, and Fanny is too deferential to correct his error. This misperception on his part will continue for most of the novel and play an important role in the plot.
6. wit: the quality of being cleverly amusing.
7. Many young ladies played the harp. It had long existed but became more widely used after the development at the beginning of the eighteenth century of pedals, an innovation that significantly increased its musical range. Late in the century, the French queen Marie Antoinette’s love of harp playing enhanced its status and popularity, especially among women, throughout Europe because of the cultural prominence of the French court. Many portrait paintings from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries show elegant, aristocratic young women playing the harp. A critical attraction was the gracefulness the harp imparted to the person playing it; it also put the lady’s arms on full display and often caused her feet and ankles to be exposed as she pressed the pedals. These were important considerations, since a principal reason for young women to learn a musical instrument, or learn to sing well, was that musical performance was believed to enhance considerably her attractiveness and value in the marriage market. Jane Austen presents several cases of women who gave up, or planned to give up, their music making after marriage (when it would no longer be needed for this purpose).
8. A musical dictionary of the time defines “expression” as “that quality in a composition or performance from which we receive a kind of sentimental appeal to our feelings, and which constitutes one of the first of musical requisites” (Thomas Busby, A Dictionary of Music, 1813 ed.). Taste is described at various points in Austen’s novels as one of the critical ingredients of successful musicianship.
9. fair train: good course or direction (for greater intimacy between the two).
10. Windows stretching to the floor, called French windows, had recently become popular. They appealed to the growing taste for natural beauty and the outdoors, for they offered a fuller view of the outside and often access as well, since many such windows functioned as doors.
11. A tambour frame is a round frame over which a piece of cloth is tightly stretched, allowing someone to embroider it easily by passing the thread back and forth through the cloth. “Tambouring” had become very popular in the late eighteenth century; in Northanger Abbey the heroine owns a gown that is decorated with tamboured embroidery.
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br /> 12. Sandwiches were a recent English invention, created around 1760 by the Earl of Sandwich. They were normally served as a snack or part of a light meal, normal during the day due to the absence of a regular meal between breakfast and a late-afternoon dinner. They were also suitable for serving in a sitting room, as here; nobody would think of serving a regular meal in such a setting.
13. doing the honours of it: performing the courtesies of a host with it.
14. world: fashionable world, high society.
15. The suggestion, confirmed at other points, is that neither Mary’s education nor her background, centering on the admiral’s home and fashionable London society, has given her much knowledge or experience of these virtues. Thus, while she has sufficient intelligence and natural decency to perceive and appreciate them, she cannot really understand them. This sort of analysis is found elsewhere in Jane Austen, who consistently treats virtue, especially in its highest forms, as the product of education and rational understanding as well as benevolent inclinations. In some cases she shows people, through a conscious intellectual effort, teaching themselves to correct their faults and become better people. Mary’s incapacity or disinclination even to “discuss with herself” these new sensations might not bode well for this process of improvement.
16. Women often mixed wine with water (men did so also but not as much). Jane Austen describes doing it herself in a letter (Sept. 16, 1813), and mentions women drinking it or being offered it at two other points in her novels, always in the evening. One reason was the strong social taboo against female alcohol consumption except in strict moderation; in contrast, men frequently drank heavily. A book commended by Jane Austen in a letter, Thomas Gisborne’s An Enquiry into the Duties of the Female Sex, says that “among women, in whom feminine delicacy and feeling have not been almost obliterated,…intemperance in wine, and the use of profane language, are unknown; and she who should be guilty of either crime, would be generally regarded as having debased herself to the level of a brute” (see p. 33). A wish not to seem eager for drink also caused women to often wait for men to offer them alcohol or, in this case, to mix it for them.