The Jane Austen Pocket Bible - Everything you wanted to know about Jane and her novels by Holly Ivins

Author:Holly Ivins
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781907087417
Publisher: Crimson Publishing
Published: 2011-06-23T03:00:00+00:00

to marry after this or they would be

ruined in society forever. We can see the

terrible consequences elopement could

have in Pride and Prejudice, when

Lydia runs away with Wickham. Not

only does Lydia ruin her own reputation,

she also jeopardises the chances for her

sisters to marry well, as no man would

want to be associated with this

background. Although Wickham and

Lydia are made to marry and the scandal

somewhat covered up, at the end of the

novel Austen does point out the

detrimental effect this one decision has

had on Lydia’s reputation. Another

example

of

elopement

occurs

in

Mansfield Park, when Julia runs away

with Mr Yates. Although her father

condemns this shocking behaviour she is

saved from some of his wrath by the

worse behaviour of her sister, who runs

away from her husband with another

man.

Another option for young couples whose

families

didn’t

approve

of

their

relationship was to enter into a secret

engagement. Again, although Austen uses

this circumstance in her novels she

makes clear the moral uncertainty this

situation could place one in. We see that

Jane Fairfax becomes physically ill from

the stress of trying to conceal her

engagement to Frank Churchill, and we

see the unhappiness Edward suffers from

entering into an engagement with a

woman he barely knows and who turns

out to be completely wrong for him.

Although Jane portrays these other types

of courtships in her novels, she uses the

less than desirable fates of the

characters who pursue these paths to

outline the true morals people should be

following.

THOSE WHO DIDN’T MARRY

For gentlemen to remain single during

this period was not unusual, as many had

their own fortune and home. In fact,

many only chose to marry much later in

life, as we see in Sense and Sensibility

when the older Colonel Brandon marries

Marianne Dashwood.

For women though, remaining single

after a certain age carried more of a

stigma, and while gentlemen could carry

on the same lifestyle as they had

followed in their youth, women would

enter a new stage of life as a spinster.

This was a path that both Jane and

Cassandra chose, meaning they became

the chaperone aunt, rather than the

married mother. The figure of the

spinster can be seen in the character of

Miss Bates in Emma.

In Her Own Words

As Jane grew older she embraced her

role as chaperone to her nieces, once

writing to Cassandra As I must leave

off being young I find many douceurs

in being a sort of chaperon , for I am

put on the sofa near the fire, and can

drink as much wine as I like’.

Of course this option was only open to

women who could afford to care for

themselves, or who had families to

support them. For women who weren’t

so lucky, one of the only options open to

them was to become a governess (see

here for more on this).

AUSTEN’S ELIGIBLE

BACHELORS

Colonel Brandon

Book: Sense and Sensibility

Romantic

interest:

Marianne

Dashwood (although we also hear the

story of his ill fated love affair with

Elizabeth Williams).

Who is he?: Colonel Brandon is the

Dashwood’s neighbour. He takes an

interest in Marianne as she reminds him

of his first love Elizabeth Williams. At

first Marianne thinks that Colonel

Brandon is too old to be in love and so

doesn’t see him in a romantic light.

However, after she has suffered her

illness

after

being

rejected

by

Willoughby, she begins to appreciate the

Colonel for his romantic, yet realistic

tendencies.

Good catch?: Colonel Brandon has

extensive property and a large income.

He is generally considered to be

handsome and is greatly liked by

Marianne’s family.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.