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A world of appearances
In
her novels, Austen plays with appearances, a term that is defined by the
Cambridge Dictionary as: “what things look like
or seem to be rather than what they actually are”[1].
When one comes across this definition, the first thing that comes to mind is
that this definition sticks to antagonists in Austen’s novels, but not only.
The purpose is to understand how appearances and duplicity are used by the main
characters, mainly the heroines in Austen novels, but also to what purpose, and
why.
1. Appearances are deceitful.
In Sense and
Sensibility, as well as in Pride and
Prejudice, Austen offers to her readers two main female characters who used
appearances to hide their true feelings: respectively Elinor Dashwood and Jane
Bennet. But today’s readers can wonder why they decided to hide their feelings.
This can be explained by an article of Ashly Bennett, who described the view of
the eighteenth-century society concerning sensibility as a:
dangerous quality, which is continually extracting the
excess of misery, or delight, from every surrounding circumstance" so that
"we become the victim of our feelings, unless we can in some degrees
command them [2]
In Austen’s era, people and particularly women had to
contain themselves, especially people belonging to high social classes. There
was a taste for moderation, restraint and discretion concerning personal
feelings. Appearances had to be kept due to the decency and adequacy of an
individual towards his or her social class.
In Pride and
Prejudice, Austen decided to create a character who used appearances to
hide her feelings. Jane Bennet is
described by Austen as a young woman who is reserved by nature, she rarely shows her true feelings,
especially if they can hurt someone. She rarely speaks her mind and remains
mostly neutral in all conversations.
She prefers to see the positive aspects of a
situation even if the situation is bad. She lied about her true feelings
concerning Mr. Bingley to everyone and even herself when he left to supposedly
never return. It was clear for Elizabeth Bennet and the reader that Jane was
devastated and yet she used of duplicity to make her environment think she did
not mind. The character of Jane Bennet can be compared to what Austen writes about Elinor Dashwood:
she joined them at dinner
only two hours after she had first suffered the extinction of all her dearest
hopes, no one would have supposed from the appearance of the sisters, that
Elinor was mourning in secret over obstacles which must divide her for ever
from the object of her love [3]
The social environment of Elinor in this quote is her family, and yet, even
with her closest circle, she does not allow herself to let her feelings be
truly known. The quote also underlines the easiness for Elinor to conceal what
she truly feels behind appearances, and the reader understands that this is a
habit. She is reserved by nature, and that the moderation of her own self is
exacerbated by what society expects of her. The reader can wonder if Elinor
decides to silence her feelings to her family because this is what society
expects of her. This is how she is perceived by her family, as a secret woman,
or because of the pain the revelation of Edward’s engagement would cause to her
family. Susan Morgan described Elinor as:
“the heroine of this early novel, is a dutiful elder
sister, a teller of polite lies.”[4] The term “polite
lies” can be understood as lies that do not hurt anyone. She lies for the
greater good: she keeps her word to never tell the secret of Lucy Steele and
she conceals her feelings at the same time, which suits her, as she prefers to
rely only on herself: “She was stronger alone”[5]
There seems to be a similar pattern with the characters of Elinor and Jane,
as both hide their feelings because of their reserved nature, and to avoid the
pain it would cause to their families to know the truth. Both prefer to conceal
their own suffering. One must note that both Jane and Elinor are the eldest in
their families. The reader can perceive their concealment of feelings as a
sacrifice for the well-being of the other siblings, as the Bennet sisters are
extravagant, and Marianne and Margaret Dashwood tend to let their feelings
known too much for society’s taste. They seem to have to conceal their own
feelings to let their siblings flourish in sentiments.
Austen depicted in both her novels how women had to use duplicity, to hide
what they truly felt to fit the standards society had set for them: moderation.
Both Jane and Elinor have succeeded in moderating their feeling so well that
they appear for some as cold and even insensitive. Elinor said to Marianne at
the end of the novel: “You do not suppose that I
have ever felt much”[6] Elinor is aware of how her
family perceives her, and she seems to have complied with this description of
being an insensitive woman, because it suited everyone. Yet, Elinor, as well as
Jane Bennet, have feelings: “her disposition
was affectionate, and her feelings were strong”[7]
They are not insensitive or cold-hearted, on the contrary, they just have a
deep sense of moderation that others have not: “she knew how to govern them”[8]
As heroines of the two novels, Austen makes them likable for the reader. She
succeeds in doing so by letting the thoughts, impressions and feelings of both
heroines known to the reader, through the omniscient narrator and the use of
free indirect speech. This process makes the two protagonists silent martyrs,
as only the narrator and the readers know the truth about their feelings, how
they truly feel, which creates a form of intimacy between the two characters
and the reader. Seeing the two characters having to face their environment
through appearances because they are conditioned by society to not divulge
their true feelings makes them even more likable for the reader. Yet the appearances they want and must keep
are seen as insensitivity by many people belonging to their social circle. This
perception is also a product of the eighteenth-century society.
Ashly Bennett made a transcription of a magazine of
the eighteenth century in her critic:
The
Monthly Magazine similarly brandishes shame against both sensibility's
"ridiculous" excesses and the "contrary extreme of affected
insensibility,” a “freezing air of indifference” [9]
Society of
the eighteenth-century resented sentimentality but also abhorred too much
insensibility. People and women had to find the right amount of sentimentality
and indifference, and Austen likes to create characters who represent one side:
sentimentality or insensitivity, even if it is just appearances. By opposing
such characters (Marianne and Elinor Dashwood, Jane, and Lydia Bennet and even
Anne Elliot and Mary Musgrove), Austen shows the two opposites that can be
found in her society, in all social circle, the middle class as well as the
upper class. Her purpose is to show to her readers that they must find the
right amount of sensibility and moderation while being in accordance with their
own self, and that the duplicitous term that is appearances is not only used by
antagonists in her novels, as well as in real life, but also by the main
protagonists of her novels, which are more than likable.
Publication N°2: Appearances in Austen's novels
II. Social manners hide and reveal true personality.
The reader finds social interactions to be
at the core of Austen’s novels. The eighteenth-century society was made of
social conventions, rules to follow or everyone. Austen depicts in the
characters of her novels who interact with other characters, and through these
interactions, their true personality is revealed either from the start, or was
hidden under a layer of social conventions.
J.A Downie wrote:
Much of the action in Austen's novels derives from
questions of social status. What Austen describes in Pride and Prejudice, as
well as in her other novels, is the complex interaction of the various groups
which made up the ruling class of Georgian England [10]
In Pride and Prejudice,
this complexity is depicted humorously by the character of Mr. Collins. He
wishes to be associated permanently with Lady Catherine de Bourgh, as he
mentions her name too often. Mr. Collins mentions:
You will find her manners beyond anything I
can describe; and your wit and vivacity, I think, must be acceptable to her,
especially when tempered with the silence and respect which her rank will
inevitably excite. [11]
This quote becomes highly comical when the reader
knows that it is preceded by a marriage proposal. Mr. Collins only wants to
marry to please his patroness. The quote makes the reader think that the only
advantage of marrying Mr. Collins is to be associated with Lady Catherine de
Bourgh, and to see her daily. The importance Mr. Collins gives to his patroness
becomes blinded hypocrisy when after reading such praising, the reader
instantly knows when she is introduced to the protagonist that Lady Catherine
is cold and prejudiced, especially towards those belonging to an inferior
social rank to hers. Such a desire to be linked to her becomes comical. Mr.
Collins becomes a fool because of the numerous false praises he made, as he is
blinded by the social rank of his patroness. Elizabeth Bennet is not blinded by
the social rank of Lady Catherine, and the reader, who perceives this character
through the eyes of Elizabeth, understands the importance of the aristocracy in
Austen’s society, even if it is heavily criticized through foolish and vain
characters such as Sir Walter and Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Austen underlines the possible over importance society
gave to the aristocracy, as the characters who represent the aristocracy are
for a bigger part cold, vain, foolish, and unpleasant people who take pleasure
in their social rank. Their social rank seems to give them the possibility to
judge and give orders to people, which Austen heavily criticizes. But with the
character of Mr. Collins, Austen shows his true personality from the start.
The reader knows what he thinks even if Austen does not give any
indication of what he thinks. Mr. Collins lives to be admired and recognized by
Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and this makes his wholes personality. The reader and
the characters around him realize this very soon after having met him because
of the social interactions they have with him. This is through discussion and
lack of social manners that everyone understands that Mr. Collins is blinded by
his wish to be accounted with members of a higher social class than his. Social
interactions are everything in Austen’s novels, they dictate if a character is
foolish or not, if a character is a hypocrite or not. Mr. Collins brings humour
in Pride and Prejudice through his
foolish behaviour, but Austen underlines through this character the importance
of social manners which can reveal the true identity or personality of someone
from the very beginning, which is not always the case in Austen’s novels.
In Sense and Sensibility, the reader encounters
hypocrisy coming from a member of the upper-middle class, Mrs. Ferrars, towards
Lucy Steele, who belongs to the low middle class. This hypocrisy is shown
through social manners, who hid what Mrs. Ferrars truly thought of Lucy Steele.
From the beginning of the novel, Mrs. Ferrars is described as a stern, cold
woman with strong and firm opinions, especially concerning her sons. Edward
informs Elinor that “His mother wished to
interest him in political concerns, to get him into parliament, or to see him
connected with some of the great men of the day.”[12], when all Edwards
wants is “(…) domestic comfort and the
quiet of private life.”[13]
Edwards wants to follow another path than what his mother wishes to impose on
him. Through these two quotes which show an opposition, Austen depicts the
impact families have on someone, and the duty sons had towards their parents.
The hypocrisy of Mrs. Ferrars is revealed later in the novel, when she appears
as nice and warm towards Lucy Steele, but she snaps when Edward informs her of
his engagement to Lucy. Lucy Steele describes Mrs. Ferrars as such: “But Mrs. Ferrars is a very headstrong proud
woman, and in her first fit of anger upon hearing it, would very likely secure
every thing to Robert” [14]
It is revealed later in the novel that she indeed disowned Edward to favour
Robert. The reader can wonder why Mrs. did Ferrars thought Lucy nice, but not
nice enough to marry her son. Austen wants to depict to her reader that social
manners, which involve being polite and respectful towards a stranger, do not
mean that the respect shown signifies more than this. One can hide his true
feelings behind a layer of convention and social manners. Even though Mrs.
Ferrars is a minor character, Austen depicts her as an authoritarian mother,
who wishes to climb the social ladder through the marriage of her sons.
The term “headstrong proud woman” is a direct reference to the social status of Lucy Steele, who does not correspond to what Mrs. Ferrars wants and is ready to accept as a wife for her son. This term also underlines the temperament of Mrs. Ferrars, who can never accept the marriage of Edward and Lucy, as it would be a misalliance. Money is at the center of her wishes for her sons. She can only accept a wealthy marriage for her sons, and not for them to marry below their social rank or marry someone who has no real dowry. Her hypocrisy is only linked to the importance society gave to social class, and it was badly seen for a man or a woman to marry below his or her social rank. Austen shows the hypocrisy reigning in all social milieu, especially the most fortunate ones. The kindness and warmth coming from Mrs. Ferrars towards Lucy Steele do not mean she wants her as a daughter-in-law. When it comes to important matters such as marriage, the true feelings and face of someone are revealed, and the courtesy showed to a person is revealed as being simply respect and not actual liking of the said person. Through the character of Mrs. Ferrars, Austen criticizes the upper class who wants to see her children remaining in the same social class, to the detriment of their children’s true desires.
Arlie Russel Hochschild states in his article about
emotions and sociology:
Goffman suggests that we spend a good deal of effort
managing impressions-that is, acting. He posits only one sort of acting-the
direct management of behavioral expression. [15]
Behavioral expression for Hochschild is a term that refers to “the given-off sigh, the shoulder shrug”[16],
which then leads to “the management of
feeling from which expression can follow”. Austen
shows to her readers these two kinds of acting, through characters who hid
behind social conventions to hide their true feelings, or who lacked social
conventions so much that their true feelings were revealed instantly. In both
novels, Austen depicts to her reader that through social conventions, which
were even more important between to different social classes, the true
character of someone can be revealed but also hidden from the reader and the
entourage of the said character. One must note that Austen, in the end, always
reveals the true intentions of a character, if they were duplicitous or not,
and their true feelings.
[1] Cambridge Dictionary. “Definition: Appearances”
[2] Bennett, Ashly.” Shame and Sensibility: Jane
Austen’s Humiliated Heroines”
[3] Austen, Jane. “Sense and Sensibility”.
p.123
[4] Morgan, Susan. “Polite Lies:
The Veiled Heroine of Sense and Sensibility”
[5] Austen, Jane. “Sense and
Sensibility”. p.124
[6] Austen, Jane. “Sense and
Sensibility”. p.230
[7] Austen, Jane. “Sense and
Sensibility”. p.4
[8] Austen, Jane. “Sense and Sensibility”.
p.4
[9] Bennett, Ashly. “Shame and Sensibility: Jane Austen’s
Humiliated Heroines “
[10] Downie, J. A. “Who Says She's A
Bourgeois Writer? Reconsidering the Social and Political Contexts of Jane
Austen's Novels.”
[11] Austen, Jane. “Pride and
Prejudice”. p.75
[12] Austen, Jane. “Sense and
Sensibility”. p.12
[15] Hochschild, Arlie Russell. “Emotion Work, Feeling
Rules, and Social Structure”.
[16] Hochschild, Arlie Russell. “Emotion Work,
Feeling Rules, and Social Structure”.
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