Dear Folks,
At the beginning of Chapter VII, Edmund asks Fanny
"Well Fanny, and how do you like Miss Crawford now?"
He himself had begun to like Mary Crawford very much. Fanny answers in a positive way, but does say she was a bit shocked by the unkind - she would say "ungrateful" - way Mary spoke of her London uncle. Edmund agrees but points to Mary's fond attachment to her brother. (Incidentally, throughout the novel Jane Austen signals the nature of a character by the way they treat of family members - but that the subject of another posting.) Fanny agrees with that, but remembers that Mary had complained that her brother's letters were too short;
"... And what right had she to suppose that you would not write long letters when you were absent?"
"The right of a lively mind, Fanny, seizing whatever may contribute to its own amusement or that of others; ..."
Too true! We do grant too much to the possessor of a lively mind. That will always be the case because nothing can be done. We grant these rights especially to the lively female mind and this is one of the small things that can lead to a great unhappiness. However, I think that is because the object of a lively mind can sometimes be more than just amusement; the lively mind can sometimes mask a destructive self-interest.
Mary Crawford is lively, but she is blessed with many other skills as well. For example, it is soon apparent that she has a natural if untrained ability as a horsewoman. She sits her horse well and has courage, strength, and a quick understanding. She is graceful and funny in society. She is also a calculating woman in clear command of all the nuances. She will disappoint herself in one respect - she will not love the correct person. She likes to think herself of the Charlotte Lucas School of Female Philosophy; Mary thinks that Maria is only doing what any woman would do when she accepts Rushworth even though Mary sees all of that man's undesirably qualities. Later, Mary becomes most vexed with herself when she realizes that she cannot make herself stop favoring Edmund so that she can tempt the Mansfield heir instead - A very disagreeable turn of events.
I want to turn to the excursion to Sotherton which, to me, ranks even higher than the picnic at Box Hill, and nearly as high as the passages on Elizabeth's reactions to Darcy's letter. (How that Jane Austen could write!) Sotherton is the estate of Mr. Rushworth, Maria's fiancé, and all the young people are to go there on a visit with their Aunt Norris. Fanny is to go as well, but this is the very first time that she is included in this way. She is dazzled by the event and the scenery. Fanny is included only after a great deal of determined and creative lobbying by Edmund. No one else cares one way or the other - except Aunt Norris who lobbied just as hard to leave the family embarrassment at home.
The day started well with everyone happy except Maria who would have preferred to ride next to Crawford as he drove the carriage. Sister Julia was there instead and happy to assume this privilege of the only unattached female (Fanny doesn't count). She was happy and animated. Crawford is charming and clever, but he is also scum and so he will use Julia in this way to screen his real intentions. He surreptitiously announces himself to Maria in the chapel of her fiancé's home, and so their clandestine flirtation begins even before she has the husband she will eventually cuckold. It is in this very place that sister Mary Crawford learns that Edmund intends to enter the church. She comes undone and is quite overboard in her denunciation of the clergy. In the process, Mary further sinks the reputation of her brother-in-law, Mr. Grant, by using him as an example of that profession that any man should avoid. It is the worst kind of behavior but it is the right of a lively mind and Edmund sees it that way. Fanny is included in the conversation but will not be so easy in the granting of dispensation.
The party then turns to walking the grounds. Fanny is in a party with Edmund and Mary, but she soon tires and her companions seat her on a bench and promise to return to her soon. Fanny is benched like the substitute that she is, like a member of the junior varsity. There is one advantage to such a seat, and that is that Fanny can take in the entire game, the entire field and all the stratagems. Since she is not on the varsity, the others do not have to be so careful of what she sees and learns - she had just better keep quiet and be grateful. And Fanny sees it all; Fanny sees far more than anyone else is allowed. Mary and Edmund move off in the midst of a silly argument about how far they have come. On his side, Edmund uses logic and instruments to make his case, while on hers, Mary makes her argument with axioms. She is clever, teasing, and funny, but what is really happening is that Mary is beguiling Edmund, binding him to herself. When they are gone, Maria appears with Crawford and Rushworth. Rushworth is sent away on a fool's errand and that allows Maria and Crawford to slip away together, perhaps to share a kiss. The bench-warmer is noticed but only granted the duty of passing on a lie to Rushworth upon his return. Fanny is mortified but obeys and so is forced to observe that man's pain.
It was cruelty but that is the right and privilege of the lively Crawford mind.
Dear Kind Voices and Gentle People,
I have been distracted recently by the notions of some people that pride and prejudice comprise the theme of P&P. It cannot be that pride and prejudice were intended by JA as more than complications in her story about "It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." and ending with the next sentence.
In P&P the single young men are Darcy, Bingley, Col. Fitzwilliam, Mr. Collins, and Wickham, not all "of good fortune" and ranging in this fortune from Darcy very great deal, through Mr. Collins' landed gentry expectations, and down to Wickham's negative fortune.
There are the five Bennet young women, the Lucas two, Miss de Bourgh, and Georgiana Darcy for the mothers to pair off with one or the other of the rightful properties, Col. Fitzwilliam and Fitzwilliam Darcy being in loco parentis to one of the young women.
What can deep understanding say in this wise.
Dear John,
I think you are almost undoubtedly correct. The novel was actually to be called First Impressions but someone had had the cheek to steal that particular title and so Our Lady was forced to use P&P. As far as I'm concerned, the pride stuff is all a mistake. It's a cover for a very shy, very noble man whom everybody sees as proud. Here is another quote from a different contemporary of the "mystery man" (which as The Meister has pointed out I believe to be a model for Darcy)of my quiz:
In the formation of his person (this person) was tall and slender, but without elegance or grace. In his manners if not repulsive, he was cold, stiff, without suavity or amenity. He seemed never to invite reproach or to encourage acquaintance, though when addressed, he could be polite, communicative, and occasionally gracious. Smiles were not natural to him.....he advanced up the floor with a quick and firm step, his head errect and thrown back, looking neither to the right nor to the left, nor favouring with a nod or a glance any of the individuals seated on either side, among whom many who posessed $5,000 a year would have been gratified by even so slight a mark of attention"
I have tried punting this idea around before but the literary cognoscenti who have been priviledged to read it simply laugh in my face and witter on about "oh but do you know how many references there are to the word pride?" Yes there are. Loads. And to his being tall. And his sister's pride being attributable to shyness. But there is also a revelation of Darcy's true self which is not proud.
So who is the character that JA may have based Darcy on? Submit your guess to The Meister.
From the Meister: Actually, your view is very
close
to the one I have
expressed at this board.
To All, (but Mrs. A in particular),
As you know it is my mission in life to rival the Meister in concocting bizarre theories about the sub-texts of JA's novels. The only difference is I am far more delusioned and actually seriously believe that I might occasionally have a point. As I realise the rest of the world finds me merely an object of derision, far be it from me to deny you the opportunity for a good laugh.
So, from the genesis of the idea that Persuasion is about Anne Kingsmill-Finch and Mansfield Park is about the Unitarian movement and Mary Wollstencraft, here is the latest idea. But to test it out and make it fun for you.......
Number 1 is, I think, pretty obvious - but do say. Number 2 is interesting and a bit more taxing and number 3 is well-nigh on impossible unless you happen to have been following me round the second-hand bookshops of Perth, Western Australia last Saturday.
I await your guesses and ideas with interest. here's the quote:
"No person...could hear (the mystery man) without perceiving him to be a man of high, intrepid, and commanding spirit, proudly concious of his own rectitude and of his own intellectual superiority, incapable of the low vices of fear and envy, but too prone to feel and to show disdain. Pride, indeed, pervaded the whole man, was written in the ...lines of his face, was marked by the way in which he walked, in which he sate, in which he stood, and, above all, in which he bowed. Such pride, of course, inflicted many wounds.....Several men .....who had been partial to (our mystery man) and who to the last continued to approve his public conduct, ...were so much irritated by the contempt with which he treated them, that they complained ....of their wrongs. But his pride, though it made him bitterly disliked by individuals, inspired (most people) with respect and confidence. They took him at his own valuation. They saw that his self-esteem was not that of an upstart who was drunk with good luck and applause, and who, if fortune turned, would sink from arrogance into abject humility. It was that of the magnanimous man so finely described by Aristotle in the Ethics, of the man who thinks himself worthy of great things, being in truth worthy. It sprang from a conciousness of great powers and great virtues and was never so conspicuously displayed as in the midst of difficulties and dangers which would have unnerved and bowed any ordinary mind. There was something noble in the cynical disdain (with which he reacted to riches and titles of others)....Plain Mister himself....."
"The correctness of his private life added much to the dignity of the public character. In the relations of son, brother, uncle, master, friend, his conduct was exemplary. In the small circle of his intimate associates, he was amiable, affectionate, even playful. They loved him sincerely they regretted him long and they would hardly admit that he who was so kind and gentle with them could be stern and haughty with others"
Also his father was a patron of some people whom our mystery man chose not to patronise.
From the Meister: This may be Darcy in your
mind,
but I cannot believe that this occurred in the mind of the
Lady who
awarded Darcy to her most precious creation.
What is your guess - Did Jane
Austen love Darcy or no?
... Lord Byron which, if correct, means that you do not have much chance. If however, you are reproducing a description of Cowper or Richardson you may be on to something. You will declared a Male-Voices Heroine (First Rank) if you have uncovered a description of Tom Lefroy.
On the other hand, if Mystery Man is William Godwin, Percy Shelly, or the Prince of Wales, The Male Voices International Committee on Public Safety will be convened and you will be judged something other than an heroine.
Dear Ashton,
None of the above.
However I like artichoke hearts and stuff (although I too, am unable to receive them as Australian customs assure me they are almost incvariably riddled with rabies and mad cow disease). Here's a further clue. This was written of our mystery man by Wraxall:
"In the formation of his person was tall and slender, but without elegance or grace. In his manners if not repulsive, he was cold, stiff, without suavity or amenity. He seemed never to invite reproach or to encourage acquaintance, though when addressed, he could be polite, communicative, and occasionally gracious. Smiles were not natural to him.....he advanced up the floor with a quick and firm step, his head errect and thrown back, looking neither to the right nor to the left, nor favouring with a nod or a glance any of the individuals seated on either side, among whom many who posessed $5,000 a year would have been gratified by even so slight a mark of attention"
Other people had a match with a certain French woman worked out for this person. But Our mystery man just ignored this. The mystery man is said to have had just one known love affair...but turned her down because her family connections would have cast him in a bad light. "She" was, on her mother's side, an Elliot and a Dalrymple but it was her father's self-serving attitude that really turned our hero off. Much her senior, he wrote her a letter hoping that it didn't pain her half as much as it did him to call it off.
Here are some quotes from P&P (for it is Darcy indeed I think) that describes the mystery man very well:
Well, that's pretty well giving it away I think. In a subtle sort of a way. Keep guessing. More clues if the next guess isn't spot-on!
Dear Anielka,
Patrick White.
Who is 'Mrs A.', mentioned in one of your recent posts, by the
way?
Julie
Dear Julie,
Good try. OK. You win, I don't know who Patrick White is. The only Patrick White I know serves fish at the local deli. But I don't think he was the model for Darcy. Or your Patrick White (assuming that the Patrick White you had in mind was not the proprietor of the Fish Concession in Perth's finest food hall, The Boat Shed, Cottesloe). He is not the Mystery Man. The first quote of the Mysetery Man was taken from Macaulay - a great fan of Our Lady. Also the last thing Macaulay ever wrote was a biography of the mystery man. I recently wrote to Ashton and said that I supposed having finished this biography he died with a smile having finally realised on whom Darcy was based.
Our Lady was distantly related to The Mystery man and, I believe, a great fan of his reformist attitudes. His father was created an Earl and had exactly the same name as him. Our Mystery Man, however was not an earl as he was a second son. Our Mystery Man was anti-slavery. One of Our Mystery Man's greatest and most intimate friends was Earl Fitzwilliam.
Surely that tells you? Please tell me who Patrick White is - after you have laughed at my consumate ignorance, of course.
PS. Mrs. A = Ashton. Why "Mrs"?. Ashton can tell, if inclined.
From the Meister: No.
Dear Anielka,
Patrick White is an Australian author, who died some years ago. He is, I suppose, reasonable well-known, having won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1973 for his novel Voss. Some of his other works include The Twyborn Affair, Riders in the Chariot, The Vivisector, The Aunt's Story, The Cockatoos, The Solid Mandala, and a number of plays.
He wouldn't do for Darcy, unfortunately, as he was gay, but in other respects
he did indeed have a most Darcy-esque character.
Julie
Dear Anielka,
Could the mystery man be Crabbe?
Dear Anielka,
Robert First Lord Clive or Warren Hastings.
Dear John, Julie and Ashton,
Crabbe would certainly have been a top choice of character for Our Lady to model somebody on. Her devotion to the works of Crabbe is nearly that of mine to those of The Meister. However, I think his personality is a lot closer to Mr. Watson than Mr. Darcy.
I can stand the suspense no longer. William Pitt the Younger. Those quotes from Wraxall and Macalulay were written of William Pitt, rather than Darcy, yet every word they wrote - and fairly peculiar in the true sense of the word - equally describe Darcy. lets face it, how many proud, shy, noble people do you know? Not very many. Really, Darcy's character is both unusual and yet credible. William Pitt the Younger appeared proud to many people in just the same way but in fact he was supposedly very, very shy, very, very busy and a deeply honorable and concerned man.
Look at all the quotes from Pride and Predjudice - some talk of shyness. More talk of how proud he is as a son (his father gave him an illustrious name and was the first truly popular prime minister). His father, William Pitt the Elder who was prime-minister before him became Earl Chatham. The estate and House of Pemberley, as a seat of power as a "house" like the house of commons, passed from father to son. There are just a hundred other similarities. If you are interested, see if you can find a second-hand copy (or a reprint, if there is one) of Macaulay's "Life of Pitt". The quotes I found in Pride and Predjudice that seem to allude to Pitt were selected very quickly. I would be very interested if anyone else can see other analogies between Darcy and Pitt.
I am particularly interested in Pitt's somewhat restricted love-life. he never married. His friends tried to "set him up with" Mme. Necker but he seemed to just brush this relationship away. He did have one love affair with Eleanor Eden which he terminated in a letter. Her family connections - father, another MP William Eden, seemed rather self-serving plus she was the grandaughter on her mother's side of Sir Gilbert Elliot who made his name by impeaching Warren Hastings.
So I can't quite see, if it is an allegory, what Elizabeth is supposed to represent. A woman being admitted to "The House"? Being given power? Being given a Vote? Is she Eleanor Eden, Mme. Necker or someone quite different? Is she England? William Pitt was often supposedly "married to his country". Your bizarre theories will be most welcomed by me (and laughed at by The Meister, no doubt!). Please feel free to over-extend the analogy as you see fit. You may stumble on part of a new literary discovery. (Alligators and other reptiles excepted).
From the Meister: Do you think there is any chance
that P&P is a
love story? I will be very disappointed if you teach me
otherwise. I
didn't guess Pitt because - for some reason - I thought him
married.
The problem you face is explaining why our Lady would so
favor
someone so close to the Prince.
Dear Ashton and All,
Reverend Meister you wrote "Do you think there is any chance that P&P is a love story? of course! In fact I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be Our Lady's love story with Pitt (unfulfilled fantasy, of course). Especially since he did absolutely nothing for writers whatsoever eg. Johnson or Crabbe.
You also point out "The problem you face is explaining why our Lady would so favor someone so close to the Prince." No probs., Meister. Pitt and The Prince were more or less sworn enemies. George IIIrd and both Pitts were pretty matey, all things considered. Macaulay says that before Pitt the Elder, the prime-minister was a man forced on the people by the King. Earl Chatham (Pitt the Elder) was a new trend, a popular prime-minister of the people "forced" on the King.
Julie. Sorry I didn't spot Patrick White but I may have mislead you by saying I live in Australia. I have only lived here a year and what I know about Antipodean writers you could write on the back of a 45 cent stamp and still have room for the national anthem. (Which I have stuck to the fridge, by the way). I will attempt to remedy the situation and have him lined up after Alexander Pope, Boswell's Life of Johnson, Samuel Pepy's Diary and the new Byron biography.
Meanwhile I am working on a new bizarre theory about Jane Austen and code.
Can anyone tell me why Jane Austen
1) Was so keen on Mary Queen of Scots
(life terminated by Elizabeth, Jane's not-so-fave, when Walsingham cracked the
code in which her supporters wrote letters)
2) Disliked the name Richard.
I have no idea, by the way.
From the Meister: I have thought
about the Scottish Mary thing as
well.
Dear John,
I am now growing desperate to discover what you have planned for Charlotte Collins (nee Lucas). It has always been my belief that Mr. Collins was to be eaten by a Christian Alligator which recognised his hypochrisy prior to the birth of Charlotte's (undoubtedly male) olive branch. Thus Charlotte was free to intimidate Mrs. B at a distance in an allegory that has Something More To Do With Large Reptiles. Possibly Jurassic Park is an allegorical reference to Pride and Predjudice? That T-Rex looked a lot like Lady C to me!
Dear Ashton,
I believe that if one looks into the Male Voices home page one can find somewhere or other the startling news that Jane and Ludwig share the same birth anniversary. I would point you to the spot, but I could not find Ludwig on the alphabetical listing.
We fully expect that the Hee hees will become Hear! Hear! Work up a nice speech to propose the toast to the sensible Charlotte.
That should have read five or six successive Sunday Nights.
John
Dear Ashton,
Jane Austen forgave Mr. Crawford. Do you think that Julie will find it in her heart to join Jane in this forgiveness? Or is it the path of wisdom to keep one's thoughts about Henry and Julia to one's self?
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