by Jane Austen
48. enduring: being endured.
49. Modern houses had larger windows than older ones, due to improvements in glass making. This would allow them to let in more air during a time of year such as this, May, when the temperature was pleasant. For the superior situation or position of modern houses, see this page, note 27.
50. aspect: appearance.
51. The servants line up in front of the house to greet those coming from far away, whether guests or members of the household.
VOLUME III, CHAPTER XVI
1. established: confirmed.
2. dæmon: demon, evil spirit.
3. piece: drama, play.
4. office: task, function.
5. Meaning that though her daughter will continue to exist, she will no longer be able to see or communicate with her mother, or be truly considered one of the family.
6. express: by express message.
7. Mary, in her letter to Fanny, spoke of “Rushworth’s folly” as being the main problem, one that would keep the affair from being hushed up (see this page). She meant his telling others at this point of the departure of Henry and Mary.
8. Indiscretion would mean they had only gone away together, thereby provoking nasty rumors and making them look guilty, but had not committed actual adultery.
9. This is probably the elder Mrs. Rushworth’s lady’s maid. Servants would know what was happening, for such a dramatic event could not be kept from them. This maid, based on subsequent description, seems to be spreading the news under the instructions of her mistress, or with her encouragement.
10. might…arise: may have arisen.
11. sensibility: sensitivity, feeling.
12. character: reputation. If he separated her from Henry now, after they had been together only a few days, he would have limited her time spent in sin, but she would never be able to restore her public reputation as an honorable woman.
13. alliance: marriage.
14. stay: reliance (for support).
15. eligible: desirable, proper.
16. unreserve: frankness, full disclosure.
17. peculiar: particular.
18. Prevailing mores restricted many activities on Sunday, not only work but also certain forms of pleasure. So Sunday evening could be a time when people, having little other diversion, were ready to talk at length. Moreover, the church services they had attended earlier might put them in the mood for discussing their deepest and most serious concerns.
19. She heard the sermon at a service in the early evening. She may be especially susceptible to sermons now because of her distress over Maria.
20. This is the “one interview” believed on this page by Sir Thomas to have occurred.
21. He saw her while in London with his father, shortly before he came to Portsmouth for Fanny.
22. Social etiquette forbids Mary, an unmarried woman, from sending Edmund a note, or visiting him, but Lady Stornaway, a married woman, can issue an invitation to him on Mary’s behalf.
23. owned: admitted.
24. Meaning her high social and economic position as Mrs. Rushworth.
25. His idea is that women’s natural modesty should give them an instinctive loathing of sexual misconduct. Mary trivializes the sin by calling it mere “folly.”
26. world: fashionable world, high society.
27. have done: cease.
28. fixed: settled, given stability to.
29. He worries that talk of her missed opportunity to marry Henry will distress her or fill her with regret.
30. This expression has biblical echoes, probably intended by the author (this is one of only two times she uses the word “guile” in all her writings, including her letters). The two especially pertinent passages are the second verse of Psalm 32, “Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile,” and the forty-seventh verse of the first chapter of John, “Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, and saith of him, ‘Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!’ ” As a clergyman Edmund would naturally tend to use biblical phrases.
31. Henry’s connection to the Bertrams if he married Fanny would have given him and Fanny good reason to visit the Rushworths at Sotherton once a year, and for the latter to pay an annual visit to Everingham. Mary is envisioning a scenario in which Henry and Maria regularly flirt in front of their own spouses, which would horrify Fanny in particular and make her miserable in her marriage. At the same time, it corresponds to the mores of the fashionable society in which Mary has lived, for such flirtations between married people were often tolerated as long as they led to nothing serious, and spouses were supposed to turn a blind eye.
32. lightness: frivolity.
33. Cruel because of the distress Edmund is feeling due to Maria’s action.
34. A marriage could happen after a divorce of the Rushworths; for the laws governing divorce, see this page, note 12.
35. Opinions varied regarding how strict and unforgiving to be toward people who had committed adultery or been divorced (the latter was also considered scandalous then). They would certainly not have been accepted in most parts of England, but in London they probably could find some people, including those in a similar situation, who would associate with them.
36. liberality: open-mindedness, freedom from prejudice.
37. candour: generosity, willingness to think favorably of others.
38. Mary perceives this change, but it is uncertain if she is correct. The general movement in society at large was toward greater strictness regarding sexual and other behavior. This was partly because of the influence of the evangelical movement, which had spread to some portion of the aristocracy as well, even as other members of high society were influenced in the opposite direction by the licentious example of the Prince Regent. Mary may be judging by her own immediate circle and friends, as well as by her wish for such a change.
39. His protection most of all means living with him. Social mores forbade a young woman from living on her own; without him or the protection of her family Maria would have a difficult time even finding an inn to stay in or a residence to rent.
40. His honor could make him feel bound to marry someone who had abandoned her marriage for his sake, and with his collaboration. His compassion would make him not wish to leave her and render her completely helpless and defenseless. But if she left him to go with her father, Henry could conclude that she had, by her own volition, ceased to be his responsibility.
41. impudence: shamelessness.
42. Meaning, as far as his estimate of her character (i.e., mind), particularly her moral character, was concerned.
43. That is, he wishes he could still feel tenderly toward her and think well of her, even if it made their separation more painful.
44. Methodism was a movement that developed in the eighteenth century to promote a more fervent devotion and practice of religion. It won many adherents, especially among the poorer classes. Methodists were noted for their zeal and for their emphasis on highly emotional preaching. Many devout English people went abroad as missionaries to spread Christianity, a process assisted by the increasing reach of British trade and military power, including colonization, around the world. Mary’s idea is that once Edmund has reformed, in a religious and moral sense, everyone at Thornton Lacey and Mansfield, he will then seek a new, even more ambitious venue for his proselytizing zeal.
45. Affliction was often seen as a punishment by God, and a means of teaching important moral and religious truths to people, but Edmund’s fondness for Mary makes him wish she will be able to learn without suffering.
46. Fanny’s intervention is well timed, whether consciously or unconsciously. Edmund has just begun, once again, to relent in his condemnation of Mary, and Fanny, not wishing him to do that for both his sake and her own, delivers the coup de grâce by telling him of Mary’s letter expressing hope for Tom’s death and Edmund’s eventual inheritance of Mansfield Park.
47. somewhat: somethin
g.
VOLUME III, CHAPTER XVII
1. The opening of this chapter represents an unusual case of overt authorial interpolation by Jane Austen, speaking in her own person and treating her story as a piece of fiction that she can manipulate as she wishes. She does this occasionally in all her novels, but usually in a briefer and more subtle manner. The exception is her earliest work, Northanger Abbey, where the authorial voice continually intrudes. That, however, is a comical work that is in part a sustained satire and commentary on novels themselves. Mansfield Park, however, is a highly serious and realistic novel, and the narrator’s intrusion here, as well as in other parts of this concluding chapter, has been criticized as incongruous with the rest of the story.
This incongruity serves a purpose. As one fine study of the author puts it, the fundamental difficulty of the novel is that “the violent act which precipitates the catastrophe (though carefully kept below the level of tragedy) is not essentially comic; nor can it be made to appear so, without breach of the author’s moral purpose” (Mary Lascelles, Jane Austen and Her Art, p. 76). Austen’s vision here, as elsewhere, is fundamentally comic, involving a happy resolution of the story, especially for the heroine. The grim developments of the several penultimate chapters, however, threaten a different resolution and set a somber tone. Hence the unexpected opening of this chapter serves to wrench the reader back toward a lighter perspective and expectations, and thereby prepare the way for the mostly harmonious resolution of the plot.
2. “My Fanny” is a unique formulation in Austen’s novels. While always evincing sympathy for her heroines, the author never otherwise refers to one in so intimate a manner. This may reflect an almost maternal tenderness for Fanny Price, due to her timidity and sensitivity and to the extensive tribulations she suffers over the course of the story.
3. worldly: devoted to success and money.
4. Many wealthy young men like Mr. Yates, pursuing a life of pleasure among their friends, went heavily into debt. As the younger son, Yates will not inherit the main family estate, but he has been given another estate to help sustain him. Landed families sometimes owned smaller properties separate from the main estate, which they might bequeath to a younger son instead of cash. Another possible explanation here is the custom mentioned earlier in an exchange between Edmund and Mary, that of a childless uncle bequeathing an estate to the younger son.
5. dependence: confidence.
6. The author described this defect of their education early in the novel (see this page); she now has shown its full consequence.
7. Religion was considered the fundamental foundation of morality, and much of the religious doctrines and teaching of the Anglican Church centered around moral conduct. Hence those who had not been taught or led to practice religious precepts might neglect basic moral duties.
8. understanding and manners: mind and conduct.
9. disposition: general mental character, especially in relation to moral qualities.
10. That is, could convince them of this truth, and thereby be profitable or beneficial to them. The only sources of this lesson, with Sir Thomas having neglected to impart it and both Lady Bertram and Mrs. Norris, for different reasons, having not even tried, would have been perhaps their governess or the local clergyman, neither of whom had much influence with them.
11. She comes to hate him because he, by his willingness to run off with her but unwillingness to marry her, has effectively left her ruined. She knows that despite his conduct he can always resume his previous life, though with some inconveniences from the public scandal, but because women were judged more harshly she has thrown away all possibility of a decent and respectable existence.
12. Divorce was in principle legally prohibited, and was in practice extremely difficult to obtain. The only official way to get one was for Parliament to pass a private bill, meaning a bill applying only to select individuals, that granted a divorce. This was available only to aggrieved husbands, and Parliament also required that such a husband first pursue a case in ecclesiastical court to obtain a separation from his wife and a civil suit in a common law court to obtain damages from the wife’s lover (this latter was called a criminal conversation suit). The costs of these legal actions, especially the criminal conversation suit, were so high that only men of great wealth could pursue them. Mr. Rushworth, however, is such a man, and since the evidence of Maria’s and Henry’s guilt is very strong, he would be certain to gain his bill of divorce. He also might gain a large amount in damages from Henry Crawford in his civil suit, for the court sometimes granted judgments in the thousands of pounds.
13. prosperous: fortunate, successful.
14. She could never hope to regain her public reputation.
15. notice: acknowledge, treat courteously.
16. A fundamental principle of the time was the importance of the community, and the need for all its members to uphold its essential standards. By bringing an adulteress into this community as a member of its leading family, he would be violating that principle and pressuring his neighbors, through his own social prestige, to recognize and associate with someone whom they would not approve.
17. The example of a prominent titled family forgiving a daughter guilty of adultery could potentially encourage other women tempted by adultery to think the consequences might not be so dire.
18. The plausibility of Mrs. Norris’s action can be questioned, for while she has shown a strong affection for Maria, she has also shown a consistently stronger concern for herself, and in going to live with Maria she is abandoning her comfortable home in Mansfield village and her place among the Bertrams for a very restricted existence. She may have sensed, with Sir Thomas’s growing coldness toward her as well as Fanny’s rising status and Susan’s presence, that her position at Mansfield was deteriorating. Being able to take sole charge of Maria and become the unimpeded manager of a household might therefore look more attractive. Moreover, since Sir Thomas will doubtless underwrite the expenses of his daughter’s household, and Mrs. Norris has ample funds of her own, their household should be comfortable financially. Even so, it could be argued that here the author has sacrificed a degree of plausibility and realism of character to her wish, stated at the opening of the chapter, to mete out just deserts to everyone.
19. establishment: household, residence.
20. country: county.
21. The neighbors in their vicinity, at least the genteel neighbors, would disdain social contact with them.
22. A question that often arises is why Maria suffers such a worse fate than the character in Pride and Prejudice, Lydia Bennet, who runs off and lives with a man, when both are unmarried. One reason is that Lydia’s action was considered less heinous because she did not break marriage vows or betray a husband; moreover, allowances would be made for her because of her youth, as she was only sixteen. Another is that she does eventually marry the man she eloped with. This results from bribery of her seducer rather than from any worth or action of her own, but it still means that she ends up in a respectable situation, and while the taint of her immoral action remains, that action occurred discreetly and privately, unlike Maria’s highly publicized affair.
23. acquirements: accomplishments.
24. in a fair way of: in a good state of mind for, advancing in the direction of.
25. She shows more wisdom and self-knowledge here than Maria, who begins by being cool to Henry, but soon succumbs again to his charm.
26. She fears she will be kept at home and forbidden to travel or to see other people except under parental supervision.
27. independence: financial independence.
28. freaks: caprices, whims.
29. Her first inclination was her love for Edmund, but once he was married to Mary she would have felt obligated to suppress and overcome that love, since it now would have been adulterous in spirit.
30. Thus Jane Austen envisions a possible alternative ending to her story, one in which all the main characters experience
a dramatically different fate. Notably, she does not suggest that this different ending would have been disastrous, though she does not specify exactly how happy or successful these alternative marriages would have been.
31. Mary stated in her letter to Fanny that she required Henry to stay because of the value of his presence for the party (see this page), but this shows that he acted on different, purely selfish motives.
32. Meaning he would write to his agent giving instructions on what he wanted to be done. His earlier objections to trusting the agent are now easily swept aside.
33. repulsive: repellent.
34. Henry’s actions could be seen as implausible, given the ardent love of Fanny he has shown and that the author still attributes to him. But there is a plausible basis for his adopting a course that goes so completely against his interests and inclinations. One explanation is that it happens in stages, through a series of smaller steps that he never would have taken had he anticipated their ultimate result. Another is that he has already displayed traits that make him susceptible to this kind of temptation: a competitive spirit, the belief that things will always work out for him (even when he has done wrong), hastiness and impulsiveness, and a fickleness that drives him to continually seek novelty. Perhaps most of all, a cold and angry Maria probably represented the same kind of irresistible challenge to his seductive skills as a virtuous and shy Fanny had. And since his first extended flirtation with Maria had had no lasting consequences, he may have felt confident this one would not either, particularly as this time she had so much more to lose.
35. gallantry: amorous intimacy.
36. bounded his views: limited his aspirations. Meaning he only aspired to reestablishing their earlier condition of pleasant flirtation and friendly conversation (which is how he, though not Maria, had seen it).
37. Maria’s “discretion” was her initial reluctance to converse and be friendly with him. This reluctance, though it stemmed from resentment rather than genuine discretion, could have prevented further involvement had Henry not striven to overcome it.