Jane Austen - Research

Born in December 1775, Austen remains to be one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed
writers in the history of English literature. Her works are renowned for their acute social
commentary and observation and ironic approach to the themes she deals with. Biographical detail
is scarce of Austen's life, most of which produced for fifty years after Austen's death was written by
her relatives and reflects the family's biases in favour of "good quiet Aunt Jane". Scholars have
unearthed little information since. Austen's family and their social position is an integral to the
nature and creation of her work itself. The Austen family could be described as existing on the
fringes of the English Gentry, her education sourced primarily from her father and elder brothers.
Above all one could say that it was the support form her family that fuelled Austen's writing.
Perhaps as early as 1787, Austen began to write poems, stories, and plays for her own and her
family's amusement. Among these works are satirical pieces such as 'A History of England' in which
she parodied the historical writing of Oliver Goldsmith. In spite of this early interest, Austen never
considered herself a literary talent, it was actually her father who sent Pride and Prejudice (then
titled First Impressions) to be published.

In December 1800, Rev. Austen unexpectedly decided to retire and move the family to Bath. Jane
Austen was shocked to be told she was moving from the only home she had ever known. An
indication of Austen's state of mind is her lack of productivity as a writer during the time she lived
at Bath. She was able to make some revisions to Susan, and she began and then abandoned a new
novel,The Watsons, but there was nothing like the productivity of the years 1795-1799. Tomalin
suggests this reflected a deep depression disabling her as a writer, but Honan disagrees, arguing
Austen wrote or revised her manuscripts throughout her creative life, except for a few months after
her father died.

Works of Austen -

Novels
• Sense and Sensibility (1811)
• Pride and Prejudice (1813)
• Mansfield Park (1814)
• Emma (1815)
• Northanger Abbey (1817) (posthumous)
• Persuasion (1817) (posthumous)
Short fiction
• Lady Susan (1794, 1805)
Unfinished fiction
• The Watsons (1804)
• Sanditon (1817)
Other works
• Sir Charles Grandison (1793, 1800)[121]
• Plan of a Novel (1815)
• Poems
• Prayers
• Letters
Comedy of Manners -
First developed in the new comedy of the Ancient Greek playwright, Menander, comedy of manners
can be described as a satire of the manners and affections of a certain social class or group.
The first comedy of manners in England can be seen as Much Ado About Nothing, but these style of
writing came in to its own during the Restoration period. Oscar Wilde's 'The importance of being
earnest' can be seen as a comedy of manners as well as television shows such as 'The Royale
Family'.

19th Century context

The importance of social class -

In 1834 the Poor Law Amendment Act was passed. In future the poor were to be treated as harshly
as possible to dissuade them from seeking help from the state. In future able bodied people with no
income were to be forced to enter a workhouse. (In practice some of the elected Boards of
Guardians sometimes gave the unemployed 'outdoor relief' i.e. they were given money and allowed
to live in their own homes). This single act reveals much of the importance of social class in that it
exposes what could happen to those on the fringe of society, and what treatment they received.
Furthermore, the 19th century was a period of significant change in English history. One could say
that the industrial revolution radically changed how people thought of their position and social
status all the more important. The unrest of the early to mid 19th century threatened the social order
of previous generations – if England was to become industrious, what would this make the landed
gentry and aristocracy. A pragmatic society was emerging that went against the conservative values
once known, on 11 May 1812 a man named John Bellingham shot Tory prime minister Spencer
Perceval. He was the only British prime minister ever to be assassinated.

Education of women –
Education was available for upper class women in areas such as singing, music, painting, drawing
and speaking French, but it should be noted that these were considered to be fashionable
accomplishments rather that 'skills for life'. Practically, these were attained to fulfil no purpose other
than improve changes of marriage; all that a woman's life was considered to revolve around.
Which jobs were available to women? In the 19th century the Industrial Revolution transformed life
in Britain. It changed from a country where most people lived in the countryside and worked in
farming to one where most people lived in towns and worked in industry. In the 19th century 'work'
became separated from 'home'. A middle class woman’s place was definitely in the home.
Nevertheless in that century women did gain more rights and some women became famous
novelists.
In the 19th century at least 80% of the population was working class. In order to be considered
middle class you had to have at least one servant. Most servants were female. (Male servants were
much more expensive because men were paid much higher wages). Throughout the century 'service'
was a major employer of women.
For working class women life was an endless round of hard work and drudgery. As soon as they
were old enough they worked on farms and in factories. Even when they married and had children
housework was very hard without electricity or modern cleaning agents.
In the 19th century wealthy women were kept busy running the household and organising the
servants. Well to do women often also did charitable work.
In 1874 the first successful typewriter went on sale and the telephone was invented in 1876. These
two new inventions meant more job opportunities for women.
From 1865 women in Britain were allowed to become doctors. The first British woman doctor was
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917). Elizabeth also became the first woman in Britain to
become mayor of a town (Aldeburgh) in 1908. The first woman in Britain to qualify as a dentist was
Lilian Murray in 1895. The first woman to qualify as an architect in Britain was Ethel Charles in
1898.
Two famous women of the 19th century were Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. They
reformed nursing.

What was the best way for an early 19th century woman to secure her future?
Marry and marry well (i.e. a wealthy man)

How were attitudes to marriage different to today?

Most women had little choice but to marry and upon doing so everything they owned, inherited and
earned automatically belonged to their husband. This meant that if an offence or felony was
committed against her, only her husband could prosecute. Furthermore, rights to the woman
personally - that is, access to her body - were his. Not only was this assured by law, but the woman
herself agreed to it verbally: written into the marriage ceremony was a vow to obey her husband,
which every woman had to swear before God as well as earthly witnesses. Not until the late 20th
century did women obtain the right to omit that promise from their wedding vows.

In 1890, Florence Fenwick Miller (1854-1935), one of the first women to qualify in medicine,
described woman's position succinctly:
Under exclusively man-made laws women have been reduced to the most abject
condition of legal slavery in which it is possible for human beings to be held...under the
arbitrary domination of another's will, and dependent for decent treatment exclusively
on the goodness of heart of the individual master. (From a speech to the National
Liberal Club)

Every man had the right to force his wife into sex and childbirth. He could take her children without
reason and send them to be raised elsewhere. He could spend his wife's inheritance on a mistress or
on prostitutes. Sometime, somewhere, all these things - and a great many more - happened. To give
but one example, Susannah Palmer escaped from her adulterous husband in 1869 after suffering
many years of brutal beatings, and made a new life. She worked, saved, and created a new home for
her children. Her husband found her, stripped her of all her possessions and left her destitute, with
the blessing of the law. In a fury she stabbed him, and was immediately prosecuted.

If a woman was unhappy with her situation there was, almost without exception, nothing she could
do about it. Except in extremely rare cases, a woman could not obtain a divorce and, until 1891, if
she ran away from an intolerable marriage the police could capture and return her, and her husband
could imprison her. All this was sanctioned by church, law, custom, history, and approved of by
society in general. Nor was it the result of ancient, outdated laws: the new (1857) divorce act
restated the moral inequality. Mere adultery was not grounds for a woman to divorce a man;
however, it was sufficient grounds for a man to divorce his wife.

19th Century balls and the role of dance -

It was in the ball room that Victorian society was on its best behaviour, everything was ordered
according to the strictest code of good breeding. These balls included: Assembly Room dances that
occurred in town, smaller dances thrown at country inns, and private balls given at a country home
by a private citizen. These social events were used as ways to network as well as give young people
an opportunity to catch a future spouse.

The Industrial Revolution

As with any period of revolution it is difficult to say when the industrial revolution began or indeed
when it ended.
During the 19th century Britain was transformed by the industrial revolution. In 1801, at the time of
the first census, only about 20% of the population lived in towns. By 1851 the figure had risen to
over 50%. By 1881 about two thirds of the population lived in towns.
Furthermore in 1801 the majority of the population still worked in agriculture or related industries.
Most goods were made by hand and very many craftsmen worked on their own with perhaps a
labourer and an apprentice. By the late 19th century factories were common and most goods were
made by machine.

What did the landed gentry think of the nouveau riche?

French for new money the term refers to those who have built their wealth within their own
generation. This is in many terms a derogatory term as those under this bracket would have been
seen as socially inferior by those of the landed gentry whose wealth and status would have been
attained in their family house and name. One could also say that the reason for this snobbery could
be rooted in a fear. People building their own wealth and status contradicted conservative values
that defined the English upper class. Things were obviously changing.

What was life like for the urban poor?

During the 19th century the factory system gradually replaced the system of people working in their
own homes or in small workshops. In England the textile industry was the first to be transformed.
The changes caused a great deal of suffering to poor people.
The industrial revolution created a huge demand for female and child labour. Children had always
done some work but at least before the 19th century they worked in their own homes with their
parents or on land nearby. Children's work was largely seasonal so they did have some time to play.
When children worked in textile factories they often worked for more than 12 hours a day.
In the early 19th century parliament passed laws to curtail child labour. However they all proved to
be unenforceable. The first effective law was passed in 1833. It was effective because for the first
time factory inspectors were appointed to make sure the law was being obeyed. The new law
banned children under 9 from working in textile factories. It said that children aged 9 to 13 must not
work for more than 12 hours a day or 48 hours a week. Children aged 13 to 18 must not work for
more than 69 hours a week. Furthermore nobody under 18 was allowed to work at night (from 8.30
pm to 5.30 am). Children aged 9 to 13 were to be given 2 hours education a day.
Conditions in coalmines were often terrible. Children as young as 5 worked underground. In 1842 a
law banned children under 10 and all females from working underground. In 1844 a law banned all
children under 8 from working. Then in 1847 a Factory Act said that women and children could
only work 10 hours a day in textile factories.
In 1867 the law was extended to all factories. (A factory was defined as a place where more than 50
people were employed in a manufacturing process).
In the 19th century boys were made to climb up chimneys to clean them. This barbaric practice was
ended by law in 1875.
In the 1850s and 1860s skilled craftsmen formed national trade unions. In 1868 a group of them
formed the TUC. However unskilled workers did not become organised until the late 1880s.

Eleanor Pickering 13GD