by Jane Austen
15. He would have had it in his hands as a schoolboy. Tom Bertram earlier related how he and Edmund recited Shakespearean speeches as boys as part of their education, and in Northanger Abbey the heroine’s education includes learning famous passages from Shakespeare.
16. Henry VIII is one of the least performed Shakespeare plays at present, in part because of the complex court and aristocratic intrigues that dominate it and in part because it lacks a strong overarching plot. At this time it was more popular: stage records indicate it was the fifteenth most performed play (out of thirty-seven) in the second half of the eighteenth century. One reason was the number of dramatic long speeches in the play, a feature more popular in drama of the time (and one that now gives Henry Crawford a chance to shine). Court and aristocratic intrigues also had greater relevance in a society in which the monarch and aristocracy still exercised great political power; moreover, the central event of Henry’s reign, the replacement of Roman Catholicism by the Church of England as the official religion, was still highly relevant to a nation in which most people were strong religious believers, Protestantism was a crucial element in national identity, and legal rights for Catholics were a hotly contested political issue.
At the same time, Jane Austen’s choice of this play is likely a joke at the expense of Henry Crawford, the man who now performs it so well and is the namesake of the title character. Just as Henry has been wooing one woman after another, so Henry VIII is most notorious for going through one wife after another: he divorced his first and fourth wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves, and beheaded his second and fifth, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard (his third, Jane Seymour, died after childbirth, and his last, Catherine Parr, outlived him).
17. abroad: among people in general, in the world.
18. Shakespeare had been regarded with great respect from the time when his plays first appeared, though he had suffered a partial eclipse from the mid-seventeenth century to the mid-eighteenth, due to the prevailing taste for French classical drama, which operated according to sharply different principles. But in the mid-1700s he experienced a revival, one that included increased writing about him as well as special celebrations in his honor, and that led him to be seen as a national icon.
19. Jane Austen’s works contain a number of allusions to or quotations from Shakespeare, and they are found throughout writings of the period, whether novels, poetry, essays, or other forms.
20. Caroline Austen, in her My Aunt Jane Austen: A Memoir (1867), says, “She [Jane Austen] was considered to read aloud remarkably well. I did not often hear her but once I knew her to take up a volume of Evelina [a novel by Frances or Fanny Burney] and read a few pages of Mr. Smith and the Brangtons and I thought it was like a play.”
21. elevating: exhilarating.
22. qualification: accomplishment, skill.
23. Education, at the elite public schools for boys that both Edmund and Henry attended, centered around mastery of Latin and Greek, especially the former, and often focused on memorization of passages in those languages. Reading aloud in English, and especially reading in an effective rhetorical manner, would not figure much in it.
24. The principal professions for men of their rank, aside from the army and navy, were politics, the church, and the law (specifically those lawyers who could appear in court). In all three, public speaking would play a critical role.
25. The two men’s careful distinction between a first or principal cause and a secondary cause, and their use of this terminology, reflects the influence of the principles of logic that were an important part of the education they received.
26. Edmund probably refers partly to a general spirit of improvement that was manifested in various spheres, including proposals for political reform and the technical and mechanical innovations of the Industrial Revolution that had recently begun in Britain; a domestic example of this last appeared in Northanger Abbey, where “the improving hand” of the hero’s father introduced new mechanical contrivances to increase the efficiency of household tasks. The earlier speculations in this novel of improving the grounds at Sotherton represent another example. At the same time, Edmund is probably also thinking of changes within the church itself, whose practices had become lax in many respects in the eighteenth century and which was now, under the influence of the evangelical movement, experiencing growing efforts to revive piety and devotion, improve religious practice, spread religious principles more widely, and raise moral standards in society.
27. observation: perception.
28. The overall educational and cultural level of the clergy had gradually risen over the previous century. One reason was higher clerical salaries, the result of agricultural improvements that meant more money for tithes (see this page for a contemporary illustration of paying tithes), and the consequent greater ability of the church to attract quality candidates. Another was a general spread of schooling and education in society. A third was the greater ability of clergy to learn about the outside world, due to better communication and transportation, and to read widely, due to lower costs of books.
29. This was part of his preparation for being the clergyman for a parish.
30. The improvement of sermon delivery was a subject of debate and discussion at the time, and various writers offered theories and suggestions regarding the best way of preaching. Henry’s extensive discussion of the subject probably results, at least in part, from his hope to impress Fanny.
31. serious: religious (though it could have a more general meaning, as it probably also does here).
32. Anglican worship was characterized by a lengthy and elaborate liturgy, which included repetition of certain formulas and the expounding of central points in more than one place. Because most of it would be the same each Sunday, with some variations for different occasions or periods of the church calendar, a worshipper would hear the same ceremony repeatedly. This was generally regarded as a virtue; it could help reinforce the points in the congregations’ minds and also emphasize the venerability of the traditional doctrines of the church, which was regarded as an argument in their favor. But someone like Henry, who does not have deep religious beliefs and who loves novelty, could naturally find it tiring and look for ways both to improve it and to divert his mind while he is forced to listen. His statement also reveals the strong aesthetic sense he displays on various occasions.
33. trick: art, knack.
34. Rules of composition were a common subject of books at the time, many of them designed to help people teach composition to children.
35. One sees Henry again imagining himself in a role, though as in many cases, his longing is more a reaction to the circumstances of the moment than something that leads to a lasting resolution.
36. Jane Austen would probably agree with part of what Henry says: in a letter from the year she finished this novel she speaks of a clergyman she heard preach for the first time and declares, “he gave us an excellent Sermon—a little too eager sometimes in his delivery, but that is to me a better extreme than the want of animation, especially when it comes from the heart as in him” (Sept. 25, 1813).
37. London churches in wealthy parts of town would have a congregation consisting mostly of the well-educated and culturally sophisticated; for a contemporary picture of a London church, showing the beautiful architecture that added to the attraction of many of those in the capital, see this page. A rural congregation would consist primarily of uneducated laborers and their families, with a smaller number of middle-class families, and even fewer genteel families.
38. A regular minister would preach twice every Sunday, so Henry is proposing something very different.
39. for a constancy: as a permanent arrangement.
40. Advertising was common in newspapers; some papers even had “Advertiser” in their title and ads frequently appeared on the front page. The ads Henry reads are common types: the first is from someone selling or leasing an estate; the second could be from someone seeking an apprent
ice (and thus a child) or seeking employment as a governess or nurse in a family; the third is about selling a horse.
41. neighbourhood: vicinity.
42. Meaning the extreme nature of her reproof. In fact, it is extreme only in the eyes of someone like her, highly sensitive to others’ harsh words and unwilling to use them herself.
43. wronged: maligned.
44. She draws back because of the impropriety of his use of her first name.
45. This is a procession of the butler and some footmen with the tea things; in a grand house like this serving tea could be a highly formal ritual. A “tea-board” is a tea tray; on it are dishes and utensils as well as tea. The urn contains hot water for the tea.
46. She is now at liberty from being questioned, as she is busy making the tea, and she is protected from his continued presence by her side, since it would be rude for him to interfere with her task as well as the activities of serving and drinking and eating.
47. full: very.
VOLUME III, CHAPTER IV
1. reserve: reticence, nondisclosure.
2. cordially: heartily.
3. The shrubbery was already described as having a gravel walk.
4. Jane Austen enunciated this principle in a letter, quoted on this page, note 35, and in a very similar passage in Pride and Prejudice: “do any thing rather than marry without affection.” She followed this advice in her own life, for after accepting the offer of a man who was heir to a good property and could have offered her a much better home (at that point, before she had sold any novels, she was penniless and completely dependent on family charity), she decided the next day that her feelings for him did not justify marriage and she canceled the engagement, despite the resentment she knew this might arouse in the man’s family, who were close with the Austens.
5. A tender heart was considered both a natural quality of a woman and a high virtue.
6. tempers: dispositions, emotional qualities.
7. lively: merry, lighthearted.
8. He may also be thinking of himself and Mary here, for the same contrast exists between them.
9. make against: militate against, portend unfavorably toward.
10. exposed: caused to look ridiculous.
11. This is another effect of Edmund’s participation in the play: in addition to being too busy at the time to notice what Fanny did, he is currently too full of regrets about his own conduct to attend carefully to her discussion of others’ more serious faults.
12. While Edmund’s refusal to heed Fanny stems partly from his own regrets, and his focus on his romance with Mary, it also results from how subtle and skillful Henry was in his flirtation, so that only a careful and attentive observer would have noticed.
13. Edmund’s words touch on an important philosophical discussion in the eighteenth century. While traditional moral philosophies had focused on the need for reason or religion as the source of morality, and the guide to which people should turn, a new school of thought in the eighteenth century focused on the idea of the moral sense—inner feelings of goodness considered to be either innate or the natural product of human social life—as the source of morality. Edmund espouses the traditional emphasis on a source higher than feeling, as Jane Austen does at various points in her writings, but he also is willing to argue for a man’s good feelings as offering at least a strong basis for hope of his acting well.
14. distinction: high rank.
15. connection: marriage, or link through marriage. All could be thinking of how a marriage between Fanny and Henry would link the two families closer together.
16. Since Henry has had no hesitation in telling others of his proposal, Mrs. Grant would know, and Fanny would be aware of that, but she still finds it distressing to have so many people discussing her and her affairs.
17. recollection: regaining her composure.
18. addresses: courtship, application for marriage.
19. liveliness: jocular or playful talk.
20. Lessingby is where he was staying while away; it could be the name of a village, or of the family’s residence. It is not a real place.
21. Thus his return at this time has allowed him to rekindle the romance between him and Mary. It has not, however, led to a proposal, perhaps because she is leaving so soon. Had he returned in a week as he initially planned, instead of staying more than two weeks (see this page and chronology, this page), there might have been sufficient time for their relationship to become close enough to inspire him to propose, and her to accept. But he stayed away longer because of her coldness and apparent rejection of him at the ball.
22. nice: demanding, particular.
VOLUME III, CHAPTER V
1. The “other light” is as a rival for Edmund’s love.
2. secure: certain, confident (of Edmund’s affection).
3. penetration: discernment, keenness of perception.
4. dependence: expectation.
5. They are sitting in the breakfast room, not eating (breakfast itself would be too early for normal calls). Descriptions at other points indicate the breakfast room is a general sitting room for the morning. It probably faces east to capture the morning sun.
6. In this room she earlier witnessed both Mary and Edmund’s rehearsal of their affectionate scene from Lovers’ Vows, and the bitter and painful scene when Sir Thomas called her ungrateful for refusing Henry. Those two scenes, especially the latter, were probably more distressing than anything she is likely to experience now, but Fanny’s fearfulness makes her tend to exaggerate possible future distresses.
7. ideas: thoughts.
8. This is the beginning of a long speech during the extended scene where Amelia and Anhalt end up declaring their love for each other, in which Anhalt evokes the beauty and joy of a harmonious marriage. In saying “two speeches” she may be thinking of the companion speech, coming immediately after, in which Anhalt evokes the horrors of a marriage of disharmony. She would naturally prefer to remember the opening lines of the first speech. Anhalt is supposed to remain very composed, for he is trying to act as Amelia’s tutor and moral guide. Mary’s words suggest that Edmund, who by general accounts was not a very good actor, had trouble maintaining sufficient composure.
9. Here and elsewhere Mary calls her “Fanny,” while Fanny continues to say “Miss Crawford.” Mary’s usage is negligent by the rules of the day, especially since Fanny’s indicates she does not agree that they are sufficiently intimate friends to justify such familiarity.
10. She alludes to Fanny’s disapproval of their acting.
11. It is notable that what is most sweet to her is the feeling of power at having bent another’s will to her own.
12. sober sadness: dispassionate seriousness or earnestness.
13. affected: moved.
14. amiable: kind, good-natured, worthy of being loved.
15. Fanny is reacting to Mary’s calling Mrs. Fraser and Lady Stornaway her “intimate friend for years” and her “most particular friend” while also proclaiming her disinclination to see either of them. Mary says this in part to contrast her longtime and putatively close London friends with her more recent and more genuine Mansfield ones. But she also seems unaware of how contradictory her words are. The contradiction stems from being decent and sensitive enough to recognize the faults of her fashionable friends but still devoted enough to the world of smart London society to be unable to cease her attachment to it. Notably, she recognizes how different her Mansfield friends (most notably Fanny and Edmund) are in fundamental qualities of kindness and trustworthiness from her previous acquaintance. At the same time, she fails to perceive that they have those qualities in part because they are not products of Mary’s London world and have interests and principles completely opposed to it.
16. A romance at this time meant a story that was usually set in distant times and places and involved larger-than-life characters and incidents. A novel, in contrast, generally meant a story set in the current world, with characters
and situations like those in ordinary life. Jane Austen often ridiculed romances for their extravagances and lack of realism, and when asked to write one, responded that “I could not sit seriously down to write a serious Romance under any other motive than to save my Life, & if it were indispensable for me to keep it up & never relax into laughing at myself or other people, I am sure I should be hung before I had finished the first Chapter” (April 1, 1816). Romances had been the dominant type of narrative literature prior to the eighteenth century, when novels, as defined here, first emerged as a major genre. These romances, especially the older ones, often included lovers who were absolutely devoted to each other and ready to make any sacrifice, and often placed them in situations where they were forced to undergo great ordeals for the sake of their love. Many were influenced by medieval ideas of chivalry, which could involve a male lover binding himself by an oath to his beloved and never being able to renounce her no matter how much he suffers or what obstacles arise. In presenting himself as such a character Henry is again adopting a new role, and undoubtedly enjoying the attention and comment it attracts—though without necessarily being insincere in his devotion to Fanny.
17. Presumably she will resent Mary because of Henry’s behavior.
18. Her motive is likely a wish to get rid of this stepdaughter, who probably creates complications in her household. This, like her resentment of Mary, signals the nature of her character.
19. At this time shoes could be bought ready-made, but they also could be custom ordered to fit the individual buyer. Mary’s friends in London, being wealthy and very concerned with fashion and looks (as shown by their asking only about Fanny’s appearance, rather than any other quality), would have their own shoes specially made, and assume that others would likewise.