Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels

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U . S . A . $29.95 CANADA S47.95

Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield

Pride and Prejudice, Northanger

Park, Emma,

Abbey,

Persuasion - all present delicately crafted

contemporary observations of life in early nineteenth-century England. In Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels, renowned Austen scholar Deirdre Le Faye brings this world to life, imparting an understanding that enormously enriches our appreciation of the work of this best-loved of English novelists. Le Faye begins with a meticulously researched overview of the period, from foreign affairs, fashion, and social ranks to transportation, candle etiquette, and sanitation practices. She goes on to consider each novel individually, explaining in detail its action, its setting, the reaction of public and critics, and Austen's own feelings about the book. The witty and pertinent illustrations, many never published before, allow the reader to visualize not only Austen and her surroundings, but also the people and places that appear in these beloved novels. Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels is essential reading for students of literature and social history and for all Jane Austen enthusiasts who want to gain a new insight into her work.

100 illustrations,

including 80plates in full color

D E I R D R E L E F A Y E has spent the last twenty-five years researching the life and times of Jane Austen and her family. In 1989 she wrote the definitive factual biography Jane Austen: A Family Record for the British Library. She has also written The Jane Austen Cookbook (with co-author Maggie Black) and the shorter illustrated biography Jane Austen in the British Library Writers' Lives series. In 1995 she published a completely new edition of Jane Austen s Letters. Le Faye has also contributed numerous articles to literary journals. She lives in Somerset, England.

O N T H E J A C K E T : The Cloak-room,

Clifton Assembly

Rooms, c. 1 8 1 7 - 1 8 ,

by Rolinda Sharpies (Bridgeman Art L i b r a r y / B r i s t o l City Museum and Art G a l l e r y ) F R O N T F L A P : Pen and ink sketch, c. 1805, by John Harden (MS 8867 11 6A, Trustees of the National L i b r a r y of Scotland) B A C K F L A P : Early nineteenth-century watercolor of C h a w t o n Cottage (Private Collection), and the house as it is today ( T i m Clinch © Frances Lincoln Limited)

H A R R Y N. A B R A M S , I N C .

H

100 F I F T H A V E N U E N E W Y O R K , N.Y. 10011 WWW.ABRA.MSBOOKS.COM

P R I N T E D IN S I N G A P O R E

JANE

AUSTEN

The World of Her Novels

JANE

AUSTEN

The World of Her Novels

DEIRDRE

LE FA YE

H A R R Y N. A B R A M S , I N C . ,

PUBLISHERS

The first

First published in 2002 by Frances Lincoln

H A L F - T I T L E PAGE

Limited, London

edition of Northanger Abbey and

Library of Congress Control Number:

said to have been used by Jane to

2002107464

support her writing desk, at Jane

ISBN 0-8109-3285-7

Austen's House, Chawton,

Persuasion., on a small walnut table

Hampshire. Copyright © 2002 Frances Lincoln Limited Text copyright © 2002 Deirdre Le Faye Illustrations copyright as listed on page 320 Published in 2002 by Harry N. Abrams,

F R O N T I S P I E C E The dining room at Jane Austen's House. The table is laid with pieces from the Austen family's Wedgwood dinner service.

Incorporated, New York All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher.

T I T L E PAGE

An engraved version

of the watercolour sketch of Jane Austen made by her sister, Cassandra, and now in the National Portrait Gallery, London. This

Printed and bound in Singapore

engraving was made to illustrate

109 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

James-Edward Austen-Leigh's Memoir of Jane Austen (1870).

ABIflMS •

Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 100 Fifth Avenue New York, N.Y 10011 www.abramsbooks.com

The map of England and Wales and all the maps of the counties used throughout the book are taken

Abrams is a subsidiary of

IAMARTLNIÈRE G R O U P E

from The English Atlas, by Laurie & Whittle, 1807.

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION

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PART 1: THE WORLD OF JANE AUSTEN 8 Jane Austen and Her Family 8 England and The World 40 A Sense of Place 126

PART 2: THE NOVELS 148 Sense and Sensibility 154 Pride and Prejudice 178 Northanger Abbey 204 The Watsons 222 Mansfield Park 228 Emma 262 Persuasion 278 Sanditon 298 Epilogue 308

FURTHER READING 311 THE NOVELS: DATES AND MAIN CHARACTERS 313 INDEX 316 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 320

INTRODUCTION In 1816, when Jane Austen had finished revising her early manuscript o f Susan (now known to us as Northanger Abbey) and was intending to try for a second time to get it published, she felt it necessary to add a foreword, or 'Advertisement' to her text: This little work was finished in the year 1803, and intended for immediate publication. It was disposed o f to a bookseller, it was even advertised, and why the business proceeded no farther, the author has never been able to learn. That any bookseller should think it worth while to purchase what he did not think it worth while to publish seems extraordinary. But with this, neither the author nor the public have any other concern than as some observation is necessary upon those parts o f the work which thirteen years have made comparatively obsolete. T h e public are entreated to bear in mind that thirteen years have passed since it was finished, many more since it was begun, and that during that period, places, manners, books, and opinions have undergone considerable changes.

I f Jane Austen was afraid that her book might seem outdated after a lapse o f thirteen years since its completion, she would be utterly amazed to learn that her works are still enjoyed two hundred years after she first wrote them. This enduring popularity is a tribute not only to her skill as an author, but also to the accuracy o f her plots in identifying the basic and unchanging truths o f human nature. T o meet one's ideal marriage partner is still the hope o f every young man and woman, even in the twenty-first century, and family background and economic factors still help or hinder the achievement o f this hope. But the places, manners, books and opinions with which she was familiar have changed not merely considerably, but beyond the scope o f her wildest imaginings. Society is always changing, but as the river o f time flows inexorably onwards the changes happen so gradually and silently that we do not take note o f them.

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INTRODUCTION

It is only when we look at old photographs, or when television programmes re­ run newsreels o f fifty years ago, that we realize just how much our lifestyle has changed even within living memory; and once memory is no longer alive, we have to turn to history books to read about that familiar and yet strangely different country which is the past. T h e object o f this book, then, is to provide for the modern reader an outline of Jane Austen's own world — her biography and background — and to fit into this historical framework specific and often long-forgotten details o f the late Georgian and Regency social scene. Because all her novels were published close together, between 1811 and 1818, and because modern film and television productions usually portray the characters as dressed in the fashions o f those few years, it is easy to think o f Jane herself as being a product purely o f the Regency. In fact her all-too-short life spanned the change from one century to another, and she grew to womanhood and formed her opinions in the context o f Georgian society. Her first three novels were all composed in the 1790s, and it is only the later three which can be considered to be truly o f the Regency period. As it happens, the reign o f George I I I , from 1760 to 1820, including the years o f the Regency, encompasses the whole length o f time from the marriage o f Jane's parents in 1764 to the posthumous publication o f Northanger Abbey and Persuasion in 1818. That reign, therefore, is taken here as setting the boundaries o f her life and times. It is intended that these details o f social history, together with the illustrations that accompany them, will serve to throw light on Jane Austen's second world, that o f the novels she wrote and the lives o f the characters she created, and so make for deeper understanding and even greater enjoyment o f her works. One o f Jane Austen's very earliest readers wrote o f Emma: 'I like it better than any. E v e r y character is thoroughly kept up. Miss Bates is incomparable, but I was nearly killed with those precious treasures! T h e y are unique, & really with more fun than I can express. I am at Highbury all day, & I can't help feeling I have just got into a new set o f acquaintance.' It is hoped that the following chapters will help present-day readers to feel that, like Alice, they can step through the looking glass and on the other side find themselves in the England o f two centuries ago, ready to become personally acquainted with the Bennets, Bertrams, Knightleys and Elliots.

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THE W O R L D OF JANE AUSTEN JANE AUSTEN AND HER FAMILY •>>

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