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by Bethany Wells
Society during Jane Austen's time was title motivated, requiring a respectable family name and an estate. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries A.D., the Austen family owned a substantial amount of land. Her family came from a long line of clothiers in Kent, but her father was a clergyman and the son of a surgeon (Halperin, 16). Although it is easy to recognize the difficulties of the lower class, Jane Austen was also able to recognize the difficulties the upper class faced. In Persuasion, Jane Austen explores the difficulties forced on the upper class by the expectations of society.
Jane Austen's writings have been prized for nearly two hundred years as beautiful love stories and excellent character studies. Austen had a marvelous aptitude for discovering the idiosyncrasies of the people around her as an observer of society and used them as the base for most of her literary characters. The greatest accomplishment of Jane Austen is, however, her ability to truthfully portray society, its problems, and subtly offer suggestions for its improvement.
The six completed novels, which Jane Austen wrote, can be divided into three basic societal categories. Her two most familiar novels, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility deal with the difficulties of the lower middle class in finding suitable husbands to support them and allowing them to live comfortably, while struggling with the need to marry for love rather than fortune. Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey follow heroines who are exposed to society through the only means available to them, wealthy friends. Emma and Persuasion, explains the often-overlooked struggle of the upper class to maintain popularity and lifestyle without compromising their respectability or wealth. The main difference between Emma and Persuasion is where the status of "upper class" comes from. Emma's father is rich, while Anne's father earned his position in society merely by birth.
Jane Austen's Persuasion, written at the turn of the nineteenth century when novels were beginning to become popular and lending libraries were just becoming available, increasing the literacy of the lower and middle classes (Laurenson, 127), offers a unique perspective by revealing the vulnerability of the elite. Sir Walter lacks the income to maintain his lifestyle and is forced to retrench, relocate, or go into debt (Austen, 6). If he retrenches, he will have to forego some of the frivolities that make his position visible. A man with a title and nothing to show for it is the same as any other man. He must keep up his appearance to fit the mold of society.
The decision is made to relocate to Bath where the style of living would not have to be altered, but merely downsized to fit smaller living quarters (Austen, 9). While living in Bath, Kellynch Hall could be rented out without drawing attention to the poor financial state of the owner. Relocating is an unpleasant prospect to the heroine of the story, Anne, who has memories of Bath, which she would rather not remember.
Eight years prior to these events, Anne received a proposal of
marriage given by a young sailor named Frederick Wentworth. Because
she is the daughter of a baronet and he is only a sailor, she
is advised by her neighbor, Lady Russell, to decline his offer.
Not wishing to hurt her family or disappoint Lady Russell, who
had become a surrogate mother to her after her own mother had
died while Anne was attending school in Bath, she refused him.
He immediately left for sea and did not contact her (Austen, 18).
A sailor was a member of the middle class, also known as gentry or the governing class. Members of this class must work for their livings in such occupations as the church, military and the law. They are also the people who are most involved in committees and in making laws. The lower end of the middle class would work as attorneys, apothecaries and surgeons, while the upper middle class would embrace aristocracy (Halperin, 16).
An interesting contrast to the lower middle class of Jane Austen's society is the upper class in modern society. Doctors and lawyers were at the lowest end of the totem pole during Jane Austen's time, it is nearly every mother's dream today that her daughter will marry a wealthy doctor or lawyer. Most people whose professions make them celebrities today would not have been upper class during the early nineteenth century. Actors, for example, make millions of dollars for a profession that would have been questionable during the time of Austen.
In the race to find happiness, people often assume that professions, which offer fame and fortune, will also offer happiness and an absence of want and worries. In Notting Hill, Julia Roberts' character, Anna Scott, makes the statement that whenever her heart is broken it is plastered all over the news stands while explaining that even though she has fame, she is just like everyone else. When Hugh Grant, as William Thacker, appears, partially clothed, in the door to his house and discovers the street filled with photographers, Anna tells him that "newspapers never die." Her name, because it is so well known, can be ruined by just a few words from a tabloid reporter (Notting Hill).
A title or a name is the most important, and sometimes the only thing a member of the upper class has to recommend them. Since a title is often earned by birth and not by skill, once the title is tarnished, the holder of that title has nothing left. Tabloids are a major industry, which specializes in tearing down the names of famous individuals. Princess Diana was exploited in photos and stories from her engagement up to her death in 1997. Multiple side stories were written about Olympic figure skater, Tonya Harding during the investigation of Nancy Kerrigan's knee clubbing during the 1993 Olympic tryouts.
During Jane Austen's time, word of mouth and gossip worked as fast as tabloids do today. Though not as far reaching, gossip can tear down the respectability of any person in his or her own community. In both periods, people in the upper class are expected to behave in a manner that reflects the ideal person. Any deviation from this code is grounds for poor gossip. Society builds a mold, which must be conformed to otherwise a person becomes like one from the lower class, but without skills to enable them earn a fortune.
Upholding appearances is sometimes expensive. Certain trivial, frivolous things are expected to be seen in an upper class home. It is expected that an upper class person will have servants, fine china and silver, paintings, sculptures, and carefully landscaped walks over the extensive grounds. When these things become too expensive, the owner is forced to economize or go into debt.
Mr. Elliot chooses to go into debt when his lifestyle overruns his means. Anne met Mr. Elliot for the first time during her visit to Lyme. He reappears in Bath and shows considerable interest in her. Although Mr. Elliot's interest is not unwelcome at first, Anne discovers through Mrs. Smith, her friend and former schoolmate, that he has very high gambling debts and that, by marrying her, he hopes to attain Kellynch Hall (Austen, 147). Mr. Elliot is in a difficult position. He is already in debt, but if he is to remain respectable, he must keep up his extravagant lifestyle. This requires that he go deeper into debt or marry a woman with ties to a fortune. Anne, however, does not wish to marry him because there is no love in their relationship.
Anne had loved a man eight years prior to these events. Frederick Wentworth requested her hand in marriage, but she refused because Lady Russell advised her to on account that his status was not equal to her own. Anne looks back at the eight years of her separation from Wentworth and regrets refusing his hand. To her, the loss of title and fortune mean nothing compared to the loss of love. Society dictates that she must marry well, but society's viewpoint of an ideal husband differs from her own. The daughter of a baronet, Anne would be expected to marry a gentleman with a strong title and good fortune. The status of a baronet is above that of a knight, but below judges, barons, dukes and earls (Wallace, 6). To marry below her social status would be degradation to the family.
As proof that title and fortune mean nothing to her, Anne is not afraid to visit her former schoolmate, Mrs. Smith, in her present lodgings, a very humble home nearby the hot baths to relieve her rheumatism. Formerly Miss Hamilton, she had married a man of good fortune, but he was extravagant and lost all of his money, leaving a terrible state of affairs at his death a year prior. It has been twelve years since the two women have seen each other and multiple visits are made to make up for the long absence (Austen, 111).
This type of acquaintance would not be acceptable for a woman of high class if she were trying to conform to society's ideals. Anne, through the pain she brought on herself by putting prudence before love in her refusal to Frederick Wentworth, has learned that friends are worth more to her than any sort of title or societal mold.
This is Jane Austen's subtle suggestion for the improvement of the class system. She throws out the concept of noblesse oblige so prevalent in Emma and inserts optional, but necessary friendship with human beings. It has been conjectured that by this point in her life, Jane Austen has lost faith in manners as an indication of what is in the heart (Duckworth, 181). Mrs. Smith might have received many upper class visitors because they felt obliged to visit her. Anne does not associate with Mrs. Smith because she is obliged to; she associates with her because she chooses to.
Mrs. Smith is notable for her optimism. Though she has faced the death of her husband, is still recovering from his extravagant expenditures, has rheumatism that requires that she be taken to the hot baths, and is living in a very modest home on a meager amount of money, she still takes life with a grain of salt. If someone were to ask her if it is easer to be a member of the upper class or the lower middle class, one could presume she would respond that the lower middle class is preferable.
The life of a middle or lower class person is free and simple. While living from paycheck to paycheck, one grows accustomed to frugality. The constant struggle is to make ends meet, but those ends are not always far away depending on the ability of the person to avoid unnecessary expenditures. Although still slaves to society, those in the lower and middle classes are not bound by such strict codes of conduct as the upper class members are.
Economically, one person can only consume a certain amount of goods and services before he or she must put the remaining money into savings or an investment. A person living as a part of the lower or middle class may not be able to consume as much as a person in a higher class, but people in the higher classes have limits to how much they can consume as well (Baumol, 149).
The upper class is certainly not any happier than the lower or middle classes because of title, money, or power. As in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, misers are in constant worry that they will lose what they have through pilferage, extortion, or stealing. Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his counting house with his money, counting over and over again. He leaves the door open so the can tell if his employees are doing their jobs properly (Dickens, web). The worry that comes with wealth makes the value of the title worthless in the race to find happiness.
In God's eyes, it does not matter if a person has a large fortune or an important title. Jane Austen recognizes this and brings it out in a secular way. Anne's behavior towards Mrs. Smith, still loving her as a friend even though her position is not as high as it once was models God's attitude toward his people:
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to promise. What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. (Galatians 3:26-4:1)
God sees his children as equals. The class system on earth destroys the human view of equality. A man should be reimbursed for the work he does, but should not shun other human beings because they do not make the same amount of money or have a prestigious title.
Through the characters in Persuasion, Jane Austen is able to defeat the class system. Anne, having learned her lesson that love is more important to her than title marries Captain Wentworth who, though rich, does not have a title of nobility. She gives up her frivolous life in Bath for an adventurous, simple life aboard a ship with her husband. The cost of retreating from the upper class is far outweighed by the happiness gained.
Laetitia Elizabeth Landon had similar frustrations with the necessity to conform to the class system, which are apparent in this excerpt of her poem, "Lines of Life," published in 1829:
I live among the cold, the false,
And I must seem like them;
And such I am, for I am false
As those I most condemn.
I teach my lip its sweetest smile,
My tongue its softest tone;
I borrow others' likeness, till
Almost I lose my own.
I pass through flattery's gilded sieve,
Whatever I would say;
In social life, all, like the blind,
Must learn to feel their way. (9-20)
In her experience with all reaches of the pendulum of class society, Jane Austen realized that, under the class system, there would always be difficulties. In the lower class, the struggle is to survive in a meager income under poor living conditions. In the middle class, the difficulty is to balance frugality with comfort. The difficulty explored in Persuasion is to maintain face while not overlooking the importance of keeping the checkbook balanced. Members of each class are slaves to society and its expectations. The class with the most luxury is perhaps the one most enslaved because appearances must be kept up regardless of the cost.
WORKS CITED
Austen, Jane. Emma. New York: Signet, 1996.
Austen, Jane. Mansfield Park. New York: Signet, 1989.
Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey, Lady Susan, The Watsons, Sandition. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1998.
Austen, Jane. Persuasion. New York: Dover, 1997.
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New York: TOR, 1994.
Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. New York: TOR, 1995.
Baumol, William J. and Alan S. Blinder. Macroeconomics: Principles and Policy. Orlando: Dryden Press, 2000.
Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol. Stormfax, Inc., <http://www.stormfax.com/dickens.htm>. 2 December 2000.
Duckworth, Alistair. The Improvement of the Estate. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1971.
Halperin, John. The Life of Jane Austen. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1984.
Landon, Laetitia Elizabeth. "Lines of Life." 1829.
Laurenson, Diana T. and Alan Swingewood. The Sociology of Literature. New York: Schocken Books, 1972.
Notting Hill. Dir. Roger Michell. Perf. Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant. MCA/Universal Pictures, 1999.
Wallace, Laura. "Precedence," British Titles of Nobility:
An Introduction and Primer to the Peerage. 19 October 2000. Last
accessed: 1 December 2000. <http://laura.chinet.com:8080/html/titles07.html>
Completed by Bethany Wells on December 2, 2000.