JANE AUSTEN'S GREATEST LOVE STORIES?

Jane Austen seems very fond of writing about men who propose more than once before they get the lady they love. I counted no less than three of Jane Austen’s novels that feature a man who proposes to the same lady twice and this is not including Mansfield Park where Henry Crawford will just not take ‘no’ for an answer when he proposes to Fanny Price. There is something very romantic about a man who, even after being refused by a lady, cannot forget her or stop loving her and will stop at nothing until he has her. Men have very frail egos and I am sure it was no different in Jane Austen’s time so it must be a very powerful love that induces a man to risk rejection from a lady who has already rejected him once.

The first example that I am going to mention is one of Jane Austen’s lesser known characters. It is Robert Martin from Emma. We do not know much about him except what we learn from Harriet Smith. He is a farmer and Harriet is good friends with his sisters and stayed with them over the summer. Harriet is obviously very fond of him and before Emma Woodhouse introduced her to a higher level of society she would have had no hesitation in accepting his offer of marriage. Robert Martin even asked Mr Knightley’s opinion before proposing to Harriet and Mr Knightly encouraged him, believing that the two of them were perfectly suited to each other. Robert Martin proposes to Harriet by means of a letter and this gives her time to think it over and show it to Emma before making her decision. Emma has decided in her own mind that Mr Elton is in love with Harriet and believes that Mr Martin is not of the right social class to be married to Harriet. She manipulates Harriet into refusing Mr Martin and cleverly makes Harriet think it was all her own decision. Harriet does not see much of Robert Martin or his sisters for some time but when she does run into them unexpectedly she is pleased to see there are no ill feeling s between them. Towards the end of Emma we learn that Mr Martin has renewed his offer of marriage to Harriet. We are not told exactly what encouraged him to believe that Harriet might accept him this time but that, having learnt to think for herself, is exactly what she does and everyone, including Emma is delighted.

A second example is to be found in Persuasion. Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot first meet eight years prior to the story of Persuasion beginning. They are very much in love but despite Captain Wentworth, at that time Commander Frederick Wentworth being “a remarkably fine young man, with a great deal of intelligence, spirit and brilliancy” he had yet to rise in the Navy and become rich and successful. Anne was persuaded by a close family friend Lady Russell to refuse his proposal and he left for sea very bitter and angry. Their paths do not cross again until eight years later in Uppercross. Captain Wentworth has now risen in the Navy and become rich and successful but has not yet married. Anne is also still unmarried but she is now approaching her late twenties and getting close to an age where she will be considered too old to marry. At first Captain Wentworth pays Anne very little attention and still seems resentful towards her. Only true love would cause a man to still hold such a grudge eight years after being rejected. Anne suffers quietly, she is still in love with him but does not let anyone see her pain. Anne goes to Bath in January and Captain Wentworth is in Bath the next month and their paths cross a number of times. Captain Wentworth has reason to believe that Anne may soon be receiving a proposal from her cousin and loses hope that Anne will ever love him again. Anne is desperate to tell him that she does not welcome her cousin’s attention. In March Captain Wentworth overhears a conversation in which Anne and a Captain Harville are discussing the difference between men and women when in love and he hears Anne saying, “All the privilege I claim for my own sex (it is not a very enviable one, you need not covet it) is that of loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone.” Captain Wentworth immediately writes Anne a secret letter begging her forgiveness and renewing his proposal and this time she is more than happy to accept hardly believing it is true. This shows that Captain Wentworth has loved her all the time, he has not forgotten her over the last eight years and just needed the smallest bit of encouragement to renew his proposal.

The most famous second proposal is of course that of Mr Darcy. It is also very romantic. When he first proposes to Elizabeth Bennet no one is more surprised than Elizabeth herself. He is unaware of how much she dislikes him and has no doubt that he will be accepted. She not only refuses him but declares that he is the last man in the world whom she could ever marry. After being refused in such a way many men would resolve to never think of the lady again but not Mr Darcy. He first writes her a letter to clear his name of some of the things she has accused him of such as ill-treatment of Mr Wickham. He also takes on board all the insults she has hurled at him and sets about trying to change for the better. When they next meet, in Derbyshire he is eager to show her that he has changed. When he does get the chance to propose a second time he does so in a much more humble manner with no certainty of being accepted saying, “You are too generous to trifle with me. If you feelings are what they were last April tell me so at once. Mine affections and wishes are unchanged.” Mr Darcy says he was given some hope when he learned from Lady Catherine that Elizabeth made no promise of never marrying Mr Darcy but he knew he had been refused once when he had expected acceptance but he was willing to risk such an abominable refusal to marry the one woman he loved.

All these stories are so romantic – they tell of men who love a woman so much they cannot do anything but think of her, even when hope seems lost and have to sometimes months or even years later renew their offer when they are given the smallest amount of hope that they won’t be rejected a second time. It is hardly surprising Jane Austen thought this was an exciting plot to include in her stories.

 

JANE AUSTEN'S EMMA - A FAIRY TALE?

Jane Austen’s Emma is one of my favourite books but it did strike me recently that there is one element of it that I find unbelievable, or maybe unrealistic is a better choice of word. Not that an unrealistic plot would stop me reading a well-written book and Jane Austen writes so beautifully she could make a story about a puddle of mud a good read! And it is fiction after all. So, I want to make it clear straight away that I do thoroughly enjoy Emma but must ask myself: If Emma Woodhouse and Mr Knightley were real people would they get married? And they are not the only couple in Emma. There is also Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax and I have to ask myself the same question about them. Why do I find these couple so unbelievable?

For starters there is a large age difference between Emma and Mr Knightley. I know that a large age difference is not that unbelievable as my own family is full of examples of happily married couples with more than ten years between them. A large age gap does seem to close as one gets older but there is a huge age difference in maturity between one who is about twenty like Emma and one who is in his late thirties like Mr Knightley and I think this is actually very evident in Jane Austen’s Emma. Another issue I have with the age difference is Mr Knightley knew Emma when she was born and at the same time he was nearly an adult. I find that anyone I know who was born when I was in my teens or older always seem to remain a child in my eyes and I am shocked when they start doing things like learning how to drive. Would Mr Knightley be able to easily stop seeing Emma as a child and start seeing her as a desirable woman? From the way he often corrects Emma, which she does not like at all and therefore is not endeared to him, could be a sign that he does still view her as a child at times. Mr Knightley does not speak to any other woman in this manner. From the other point of few I think I will always view people who were a good deal older than me when I was born as much older than me and have never considered any of them as a possible marriage partner for myself due to this fact. There are ten years between my boyfriend and myself and we can laugh about the fact that when I was starting primary school he was about to leave high school but I think we would have a completely different relationship had we known each other all those years ago. I do know a very happily married couple who have known each other their whole lives but they are only a year apart whereas Emma, for a long time probably viewed Mr Knightley as an older brother, she even uses this term at the ball at the Crown when she says to him, “You have shown that you can dance, and you know we are not really so much brother and sister as to make it at all improper.”. Emma herself, as she tells Harriet Smith, has no intention of marrying and only feels she loves Mr Knightley when Harriet confesses that she is in love with him. I think Emma may confuse her fear of losing Mr Knightley’s friendship with love for him. As she said to Mr Knightley earlier in the novel when he accuses her and Mrs Weston of trying to plan a match between himself and Jane Fairfax, “You would not come in and sit with us in this comfortable was, if you were married.” Emma knows if she agrees to marry Mr Knightley she will never lose him.

Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill are the other couple I mentioned. It is not so much that they are a couple that I find hard to believe but rather the fact that they remain a couple after all that happens during the course of the story. I do however, have some problems with Jane Fairfax agreeing to the secret engagement. It is secret because Frank Churchill’s aunt would not approve. She does claim to be very ill but has done for years which is why Frank has never been able to visit his father and she may go on living for many more years. So Jane Fairfax agreed to an engagement with no telling how long it would be before it could be made public. When the two of them are in Highbury it is understandable that they do not mention the engagement to anyone in case Frank Churchill’s aunt hears of it. Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax could have just paid each other very little attention to ensure that no one suspects anything but Frank Churchill’s behaviour is appalling. He flirts with Emma Woodhouse in front of Jane Fairfax and everyone is convinced that he is in love with Emma. He also criticises Jane Fairfax when he talks to Emma either insulting the way she wears her hair or saying that her complexion is too pale. He sends Jane Fairfax a pianoforte as an anonymous gift as she loves to play and has no pianoforte to play while she is staying in Highbury. Though Jane Fairfax is slightly embarrassed by the gift, this act could almost redeem Frank Churchill from his bad behaviour if he did not encourage Emma Woodhouse to believe that the piano forte is in fact from Mr Dixon – the husband of Jane Fairfax’s oldest friend and that he has made the gift anonymous because he is a married man but in love with Jane Fairfax. Frank also embarrasses Jane Fairfax with this theory later on in the story when many of them are playing an alphabet game. I find the fact that this couple did eventually marry unbelievable because I don’t believe any woman would have put up with Frank Churchill’s behaviour. I do understand that in Regency England women were not in the same position they are today but Jane Fairfax did have the power to break the engagement. I find it hard to believe she just silently let Frank Churchill do as he please and did not once question his behaviour. Even though she is quiet and timid I still believe she would have had something to say to him. The only two possible reasons she does not is that she really is as spineless as Emma believes she is or that marrying well is too important to her to jeopardise the engagement by getting angry with Frank Churchill. But though she lacks a bit of character she is a very accomplished young woman and I am sure she could have married elsewhere. I do not know any woman, now or then who would have put up with their fiancé behaving like Frank Churchill did in Highbury. Emma Woodhouse or Lizzy Bennet certainly would not.

These are the reasons that I believe Jane Austen’s Emma is somewhat of a fairytale. Nevertheless, it does not have to be believable to be enjoyable and fairytales sometimes make the best stories!

MR BINGLEY AND JANE BENNET - A FORGOTTEN LOVE STORY

When one thinks of Pride and Prejudice, especially in terms of it being a love story, everyone immediately thinks of Elizabeth and Mr Darcy. While I am not taking anything away from what a great love story this is there is another love story Pride and Prejudice which is often forgotten and overlooked and that is the story of Mr Bingley and Jane Bennet.

When Mr Bingley and Jane meet for the very first time at a ball in Meryton it is definitely a case of love at first sight as far as he is concerned and this is always a romantic start to a love story that has a happy ending. He is straight away struck by her beauty and immediately asks her to dance once they have been introduced. He does dance with some other young ladies that evening but it is obvious that Jane is far and above his favourite as he dances with her more than any other young lady. He communicates as much to Mr Darcy that evening by saying that she is the most beautiful creature that he has ever beheld and later defies Mr Darcy to make him think ill of Miss Bennet. It may not have been a case of love at first sight for Jane but it is clear that she likes him very much as she speaks of him in a very positive light to Elizabeth the next day.
Bingley and Jane see much of each other in the forthcoming weeks and it is obvious that they are both falling in love with each other and all believe that an engagement between them is imminent. Mr Bingley hardly notices any other young lady and we are told that several young ladies were very put out at the Netherfield ball as Mr Bingely did not ask them to dance.

Mr Bingley’s biggest fault is that he is too easily persuaded by his sisters and Mr Darcy. When Bingley leaves Netherfield to go to London for a few days his sisters and Mr Darcy, who are quite concerned about his affection for Jane Bennet, see the opportunity and follow him to London. They persuade him that Jane is not in love with him, convince him to stay in London for the winter and conceal from him the fact that Jane, herself is in London.

We are not told anything about Mr Bingley from the time he leaves Netherfield in November to the time he meets Elizabeth in Derbyshire in the summer. All we know is that he was in London for the majority of that time. In London he would have gone to many balls and assemblies and met many charming young ladies and yet he cannot forget Jane Bennet and we know that as hard as she tries she cannot forget him. When Mr Bingley sees Elizabeth in Derbyshire she is pleased to see he knows exactly how long it is since they have seen each other as the last time he saw her was also the last time he saw Jane. He also tries to glean from Elizabeth as much information about Jane as possible without asking after her directly. When he does return to Netherfield he visits the Bennets often and it is not long before he proposes to Jane confessing that he has always loved her. She has no hesitation in accepting as she has never stopped loving him.

A wonderful love story, one of true love that does not die. It contradicts the saying ‘out of sight, out of mind’. Mr Bingley would have had many distractions in London but from what we learn later in the story is that his love for Jane was so strong that she was never far from his thoughts.

Mr Bingley and Jane Bennet’s love story does affect the better known one of Elizabeth and Mr Darcy. Mr Bingley introduces Jane to his sisters at the ball in Meryton and they soon invite her to Nethferfiled which is when she falls ill and this results in Elizabeth spending several days at Netherfield to nurse her sister but she also does get to know Mr Darcy in this time. Elizabeth learns that Mr Darcy is the one who persuaded Bingley not to marry Jane and this is one of the reasons she gives for rejecting his first proposal. Finally, because Mr Bingley is so eager to see much of Jane when he returns to Hertfordshire and then becomes engaged to her it means Mr Darcy and Elizabeth see much of each other and because Jane and Bingley are not interested in anyone but each other it also means Mr Darcy and Elizabeth have much time alone together which does result in Mr Darcy’s second proposal.

So while the story of Elizabeth and Mr Darcy is a great and famous love story let us not forget that of Jane and Mr Bingley – a charming, romantic story of undying love that also had many effects on the love story we all know so well.