Jane Austen (13 page)

On 16 December 1804, which happened to be Jane’s 29th birthday, Mrs Lefroy died in a fall from her horse. Then came another blow; on 21 January 1805 Jane’s father George died, whereupon she wrote:

With the death of the Revd George Austen, his eldest son James, curate of Steventon since 1801, became its rector.

When George Austen died, so did his clergyman’s pension of
£
600 per annum. From then on, the impecunious Austens were obliged to spend their summers with Jane’s brothers Henry and Edward, and the season in Bath, where Mrs Austen could continue to enjoy the company of the Leigh-Perrots.

That Jane’s relationship with Henry and his wife Eliza was a warm and enduring one is vouched for by a letter Jane wrote to Cassandra in April 1805. Henry, says Jane:

In April 1805 the Austens moved to 25 Gay Street. For their income they now depended on Jane’s brothers James and Henry, each contributing an annual sum of
£
50, and Edward contributing an annual sum of
£
100. In addition, Cassandra derived a small income from the interest paid on her
£
1,000 inheritance from the estate of her late fiancé Thomas Fowle, and Mrs Austen had modest means of her own, amounting to about
£
200.

At Godmersham Park in August that year, Jane made it clear that she did not appreciate her straitened financial circumstances. However, her hairdresser Mr Hall had been considerate in charging her only 2
s
6
d
for a haircut. ‘He certainly respects either our Youth or our poverty’ she remarked dryly.
7

In view of the difficulties at that time, it might reasonably be asked why Jane did not look for employment. The answer was that her books were beginning to bring in a modest income; otherwise, she might well have become governess to the children of some wealthy family.

In October, Francis narrowly missed taking part in the Battle of Trafalgar, which took place on the 21st of that month, between the British fleet on the one hand, and the French and Spanish fleets on the other. Instead of joining the battle, his ship
Canopus
(a prize ship which was originally
Le Franklin
), which Admiral Horatio Nelson had placed under his command, was required to travel to Gibraltar to collect water and stores. Francis did, however, see action in 1806 in the Battle of Saint Domingue (Santo Domingo – a French colony until
1804, when it became independent as Haiti) in the West Indies, when his squadron captured three French prize ships. His share of the prize money allowed him to fix a date for his marriage to Mary Gibson of Ramsgate: this took place on 24 July of that year. (Francis was the fourth of Jane’s brothers to marry).

Francis and Mary set up home in Southampton, the city being situated conveniently near to the naval base at Portsmouth, and in October 1806 they invited Jane, Cassandra, their mother and Martha Lloyd to join them. In January 1807 Cassandra received an invitation to Godmersham Park, where she remained until the following month. Jane was not amused. In a letter to her sister dated 8/9 February, she stated as follows:

Jane also expressed regret that her sister’s return was to be delayed. But she said:

The same letter reveals just how cool the relationship between Jane and her brother James had become:

On 20/22 February 1807, when Jane wrote again to Cassandra, she could scarcely conceal her annoyance with the latter, who to her way of thinking, was seldom in the right place at the right time:

Meanwhile Charles, while stationed in Bermuda, had met 17-year-old Frances Fitzwilliam Palmer (‘Fanny’), daughter of the island’s former Attorney-General. The pair were married on 19 May 1807. In March 1808 Francis was given command of HMS
St Albans
, in which vessel he voyaged to South Africa, China and the East Indies.

On 15 June 1808 it was Jane’s turn to be invited to Godmersham Park and she makes no secret of the fact that she looks forward to the luxurious life there: ‘I shall eat Ice & drink French wine, & be above Vulgar Economy.’
10

Over a week later, on 26 June, Jane tells Cassandra that, ‘We are all very happy to hear of his [Francis’s] health and safety’, and a few days later she is exuberant at the prospect of seeing her seafaring brother again. She writes to her sister:

In August, Francis found himself in command of a flotilla of ships transporting troops to Corunna, north-west Spain,
in support of Sir Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, and bringing wounded English soldiers and French prisoners back to Spithead (Portsmouth). The Duke had been sent to assist the Portuguese against France in the Peninsular War.

At the end of September Cassandra made another visit to Godmersham Park; this time for Edward’s wife Elizabeth’s confinement with her eleventh child. Tragedy then struck because on 10 October, ten days after the birth of a boy, Brook John, Elizabeth died. Cassandra was required to remain with Edward while the latter’s eldest two sons George and Edward were taken by coach from Winchester College, where they were pupils, to Southampton, to be looked after for a time by Jane. Mourning clothes were purchased for them and during that period Jane took them on several excursions up the Hamble river where they saw a naval ship under construction. In a letter to Cassandra, Jane expressed her feelings:

Once again, Jane found herself missing her sister greatly. On 24/25 October she wrote to Cassandra saying, ‘As to your lengthened stay, it is no more than I expected, and what must be, but you cannot suppose I like it’.
13
(In the event, Cassandra did not return to Southampton until February 1809).

On 16 December 1808, which was her birthday, Jane composed a poem in memory of Mrs Lefroy who had died exactly four years previously:

However much she regretted the fact that Mrs Lefroy had been instrumental in sending away her nephew and lover Tom, Jane had clearly forgiven her.

Jane’s letters indicate that she made frequent visits to Henry and Eliza at Sloane Street, and yet in that month of December 1808, she requests of Cassandra, ‘Send me some intelligence of Eliza, it is a long while since I have heard of her’. A month later Jane tells Cassandra, ‘Your report of Eliza’s health gives me great pleasure’.
14

In April 1809 the Austens left Southampton for Bookham in Surrey, home of Mrs Austen’s cousin and namesake Cassandra Cooke (
née
Leigh), and Godmersham Park. That summer, Jane’s brother Edward generously invited Jane, Cassandra, Mrs Austen and Martha Lloyd to live at Chawton Cottage in Hampshire; this was a part of the Chawton Estate which he had inherited from Thomas Knight II. They accepted and took possession of the property on 7 July.

In that month Jane sent a delightful poem, which she had written, to Francis on the birth of his and his wife Mary’s son, Francis William Austen junior:

In the summer of 1810 Francis returned from China aboard the ship
St Albans
which was laden with gold and treasure – he being an agent of the East India Company. For transporting this precious cargo he received from the company the princely sum of
£
1,500.

The following spring Jane visited Eliza and Henry at Sloane Street in order that she might correct the proofs of her novel
Sense and Sensibility
, sent to her by her publisher Thomas
Egerton. Other things which Jane looked forward to included attending a party with Eliza, going for a walk with her, and also meeting her friends Comte d’Antraigues and his wife Mme St Huberti, formerly an operatic prima donna, and their son Comte Julien). ‘It will be amusing to see the ways of a French circle’ she says.
16

Also around this time, on 14 October 1812, Thomas Knight II’s widow Catherine died, whereupon Edward changed his name to ‘Knight’.

The novel was commenced in 1811, completed in the summer of 1813, when Jane was aged 38, and published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton.

Mansfield Park, in the county of Northamptonshire, is the country seat of Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram. Lady Bertram has a sister Frances, who is married to Lieutenant Price of the Marines: a man ‘without education, fortune, or connections’. Living near to Mansfield Park at the White House is another of Lady Bertram’s sisters, Mrs (‘Aunt’) Norris, wife of a clergyman who, subsequently, becomes a widow.

When the impecunious Mrs Frances Price is expecting her ninth child, she and her husband appeal to the wealthy Bertrams, who agree to assist them by inviting their eldest daughter Fanny to live with them at Mansfield Park. Fanny, the heroine of the novel, is then 9 years old and described as:

But with a sweet voice and a pretty countenance. At Mansfield Park Fanny finds a friend in Edmund, Sir Thomas Bertram’s youngest son who is destined to be a clergyman. Fanny describes Edmund as someone whose ‘friendship never failed her’.

Tom Bertram is Sir Thomas’s eldest son and his heir. However, he lives an extravagant lifestyle and is told by Sir Thomas that as a result he has robbed his brother Edmund ‘for ten, twenty, thirty years, perhaps for life, of more than half the income which ought to be his’.

Sir Thomas visits Antigua (Leeward Islands) where he has financial interests, whereupon his daughters Maria and Julia consider themselves to be ‘immediately at their own disposal, and to have every indulgence within their reach’. Maria, ‘who was beginning to think matrimony a duty’, becomes informally engaged to Mr Rushworth of ‘Sotherton’. Such a match ‘would give her the enjoyment of a larger income than her father’s, as well as ensure her of the house in town’.

Aunt Norris becomes a perpetual thorn in Fanny’s side. In one instance she declares that it is both unnecessary and improper that she should have ‘a regular lady’s horse of her own in the style of her cousins’. However, she is overruled by Edmund.

A wealthy young brother and sister, Henry and Mary Crawford, come to visit Mary’s half-sister Mrs Grant, wife of Dr Grant the parson. It is Mrs Grant’s notion that Henry should marry the youngest Miss Bertram – Julia, whereupon Mary cautions her against it. Her brother Henry, she says, ‘is the most horrible flirt that can be imagined. If your Miss Bertrams do not like to have their hearts broke, let them avoid Henry’.

Whereas Mary is a creature of the town, Fanny is a creature of the country. For example, when Mr Rushworth talks of having an avenue of trees cut down at his house ‘Sotherton’, Fanny expresses her regret by quoting the poet William Cowper: ‘Ye fallen avenues, once more I mourn your fate unmerited’.

Mary was brought up by her uncle and guardian Admiral Crawford. On his wife’s death the Admiral, who is described as ‘a man of vicious conduct’, makes it impossible for Mary
to go on living with him at his London home because it is now occupied not only by himself, but also by his mistress. Mary decides, therefore, to make a home with the Grants at the parsonage. Speaking of the Admiral’s house, where she was brought up, Mary says that ‘Of Rears and Vices, I saw enough. Now, do not be suspecting me of a pun. I entreat’. Edmund considers this joke to be in poor taste, and is not impressed.

Despite Mary’s faults, which are all too apparent to Fanny, Edmund finds himself falling in love with her. When Mary expresses the desire to learn to ride, Edmund offers her a mare which Fanny considers to be hers. Edmund subsequently notices that Fanny is suffering as a result of spending too much time indoors. He becomes angry with himself for having left her for ‘four days together without any choice of companions or exercise’.

When Fanny has the opportunity to visit the Rushworths at ‘Sotherton’, Aunt Norris continues with her personal vendetta against her by declaring that it is ‘quite out of the question’, as Lady Bertram cannot possibly spare her. In this Edmund overrides her once again. When Fanny is offered the east room of the house, Aunt Norris shows her spitefulness by stipulating that no warming fire would be lit in the hearth ‘on Fanny’s account’.

At ‘Sotherton’ Mr Rushworth’s guests are shown the chapel, where Mary Crawford makes disparaging remarks about the church by referring to those ‘poor housemaids and footmen’ who are required ‘to leave business and pleasure, and say their prayers here twice a day’. In her opinion, it was:

The amateur theatricals held at Mansfield Park are reminiscent of those organised by Jane’s eldest brother James in the improvised theatre set up in the barn at Steventon. When Fanny is asked to perform a part, in a play of which she disapproves, she objects vigorously. At this Aunt Norris declares:

Mary then attempts to comfort Fanny. (Here, Jane Austen demonstrates, once again, her belief that very few people are entirely without some redeeming features).

Edmund, who previously declared that he would not act in the play, is persuaded to do so, whereupon Fanny reprimands him saying that she is:

Fanny finds herself increasingly isolated:

Just as Fanny reluctantly succumbs to the pressure and agrees to accept a part in the play, Sir Thomas Bertram returns home. He is delighted to see her again and greets her ‘with a kindness which astonished and penetrated her, calling her his dear Fanny, kissing her affectionately’.

When Sir Thomas shows his displeasure at what has been going on in his absence, Edmund admits that ‘we have all been more or less to blame’. But he does admit to his father that this does not include Fanny who was

Mary complains about the ‘remoteness’, ‘unpunctuality’ and ‘exorbitant charges and frauds’ of the local nurseryman and the poulterer, and states that she means to be ‘too rich to lament or feel any thing of the sort’.

When Mrs Grant asks Fanny to dinner, Aunt Norris cannot resist a jibe, by warning the latter about ‘the nonsense and folly of peoples stepping out of their rank and trying to appear above themselves’. When Aunt Norris goes on to suggest that Fanny could walk to the dinner engagement, Sir Thomas overrules her in no uncertain manner and orders the carriage to call and collect her.

At the parsonage Henry Crawford, echoing the views of his sister Mary, declares that the most interesting topic in the world was ‘how to make money – how to turn a good income into a better’. He subsequently declares his intention to ‘make Fanny Price [fall] in love with me’. At this, Mary tells him that it is her wish that he does not make Fanny unhappy, ‘for she is as good a little creature as ever lived and has a great deal of feeling’.

When Fanny’s brother William, who is in the Royal Navy, visits Mansfield Park, Fanny declares that she has

William presents Fanny with an amber cross, whereupon Mary Crawford invites her to choose a necklace to wear with it. Mary does not tell Fanny that the necklace she chooses had been previously purchased by her brother Henry who has designs on her. In other words, Fanny has been tricked. When Edmund also presents Fanny with a chain for William’s cross, she says she will return the one given to her by Mary. However, he persuades her not to do so. At a ball held by Sir Thomas at Mansfield Park, Fanny resolves the dilemma in which she finds herself by wearing both Edmund’s chain and Mary’s necklace with her cross.

When Sir Thomas asks Fanny to lead the way and open the ball, she is overcome:

Sir Thomas, for his part, acknowledges that whereas his family had been kind to Fanny, she was now ‘quite as necessary to us’.

Edmund is dismayed when Mary tells him that this will be the last time she will ever dance with him. ‘She never has danced with a clergyman, she says, and she never will,’ he tells Fanny. Not only that, but Mary confirms her lack of feelings for Edmund by telling Fanny that she regards him as no more than a ‘friendly acquaintance’.

Henry Crawford informs his sister Mary that he is determined to marry Fanny Price. He tells Fanny that his uncle the Admiral has promoted her brother William to be a lieutenant in the Navy and confirms that it was he (Henry) who was instrumental in persuading him to do so. Moreover, ‘Every
thing he had done for William was to be placed at the account of his excessive and unequalled attachment to her’. Fanny is horrified. ‘But you are not thinking of me. I know it is all nothing,’ she says. Mary compounds the situation by assuming that Fanny has decided to marry her brother and offering her congratulations.

Shortly afterwards Sir Thomas tells Fanny that Henry Crawford has arrived to see her. Fanny responds by telling Sir Thomas that she intends to refuse Henry’s offer of marriage on the grounds that she is ‘so perfectly convinced’ that she could never make him happy and that she should be miserable herself. Aunt Norris then weighs in by criticising Fanny for her independent and secretive spirit. Sir Thomas, having tried his utmost in the matter, finally relents, saying that he will not attempt to persuade Fanny to marry against her will. ‘Your happiness and advantage are all that I have in view.’ As for Lady Bertram, she tries to cheer Fanny up by saying: ‘The next time Pug [her dog] has a litter, you shall have a puppy.’

Nevertheless, Fanny finds herself besieged on all sides. Henry Crawford turns on the charm to persuade her:

When Fanny tells Edmund that she and Henry are ‘totally unalike … We have not one taste in common. We should be miserable’, he says he believes her to be mistaken. Mary openly admits to Fanny that her brother Henry ‘has now and then been a sad flirt and cared very little for the havock he might be making in young ladies’ affections’; at which Fanny shakes her head and declares, ‘I cannot think well of a man who sports with any woman’s feelings’. When Mary says she
believes Henry will love Fanny forever, ‘Fanny could not avoid a faint smile …’

At Sir Thomas’s suggestion, Fanny returns to her family in Portsmouth. The welcome, however, is not what she might have hoped for. Her father is pre-occupied with his son William and her mother has ‘neither leisure nor affection to bestow on Fanny’. Henry Crawford arrives, saying that he cannot bear to be separated from her any longer, and she finds him ‘much more gentle, obliging, and attentive to other peoples’ feelings than he had ever been at Mansfield’. Fanny receives a letter from Edmund who is clearly still in love with Mary; she fears for him. ‘He will marry her and be poor and miserable … She loves nobody but herself and her brother.’

Lady Bertram writes to Fanny to tell her that her son Tom has had a fall in London after ‘a good deal of drinking’ and has now developed a fever. Fanny also receives a letter from Mary Crawford to say that if Tom were to die, Edmund would become heir to Sir Thomas’s estate, and it was Mary’s opinion that ‘wealth and consequence could fall into no hands more deserving of them’. The letter makes Fanny despise Mary even more in that she can, apparently, forgive Edmund for being a clergyman but only ‘under certain conditions of wealth’.