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Moral Hypocrisy in Austen's novels
Austen also depicts in her novel another kind of duplicity: moral hypocrisy. In Persuasion, as well as in Sense and Sensibility, two characters use hypocrisy that can be described as immoral, and both of their actions are led by money.
In Persuasion, the character of Mrs. Clay is using moral hypocrisy, as she has an agenda for all her actions:
she had sacrificed, for the young man’s sake, the possibility of scheming longer for Sir Walter. She has abilities, however, as well as affections; and it is now a doubtful point whether his cunning, or hers, may finally carry the day; whether, after preventing her from being the wife of Sir Walter, he may not be wheedled and caressed at last into making her the wife of Sir William.[1] (Austen, 1818, p330)
The narrator informs the reader that Mrs. Clay has become the mistress of Mr Elliot in the hope of marrying him and climbing the social ladder through her marriage. What is truly immoral is the depiction of her hypocritical actions, and that her nice behaviour towards Sir Walter and Elizabeth was just an act to obtain a higher position through marriage.
Her immorality resides in the hypocritical act she displayed for the entirety of the novel, as Mary Musgrove wrote it in a letter to Anne: “What an immense time Mrs Clay has been staying with Elizabeth! Does she never mean to go away?”[2] This quote underlines the important amount of time Mrs. Clay stayed with the Elliot family, an amount of time that seems abnormally long even for the Elliot extended family. Through this quote of Mary Musgrove, she underlines the possibility that Mrs. Clay has an agenda and that she will not depart until her wishes are granted, in this case her engagement to Sir Walter. The reader understands that she does not care whom she marries if she obtains a title through marriage. Her extended hypocrisy makes her an immoral character, as she never liked Sir Walter nor Elizabeth, she was a social climber who did everything in her power to obtain a higher social status. Austen “disapproves of snobs and women who pursue rich men”[3] Through the depiction of the hypocritical character of Mrs Clay, Austen criticizes people who are ready to do whatever it costs, at the expense of others, to climb the social ladder.
In Sense and Sensibility, one of the most hypocritical characters is Fanny Dashwood. Just like Mrs. Clay, she is driven by money, but she already possesses a large fortune thanks to a marriage with John Dashwood. “A lady hoped to make a good match that would enable her to keep or improve upon her position in society and make her mistress over her own household.”[4] Fanny married within her social rank, but she lusts for Norland Park.
When her father-in-law died, she lacked social manners by
No sooner was his father's funeral over, than Mrs. John Dashwood, without sending any notice of her intention to her mother-in-law, arrived with her child and their attendants [5]
This is an act of hypocrisy, as she hopes for the quick departure of Mrs. Dashwood, even if she acts like nothing. She openly disrespects a mourning widow by preferring money and material good over the kindness that is normally offered to a grieving family. Her hypocrisy is also shown from the very beginning of the novel when she talks of her husband of giving his sister the money they ought to have after their father’s death. The money they should have touched went from three thousand pounds to “a present of fifty pounds now and then”[6] In order to achieve such a scheme, Fanny invoked her son:
Mrs. John Dashwood did not at all approve of what her husband intended to do for his sisters. To take three thousand pounds from the fortune of their dear little boy would be impoverishing him to the most dreadful degree.[7]
Through this quote, the reader understands that the reason Fanny gives to her husband is a false one, she uses hypocrisy to keep the inheritance of her father-in-law. Fanny does not need money, but she wants more than she already has, and she doesn’t care if it is at the expense of people in need. This is what Austen criticizes, the use of hypocrisy to achieve an evil scheme, when morality should have made Fanny let her husband give an important yearly allowance to his sisters, as it was the wish his father made on his death bed. Fanny made her husband break the promise he made, and by doing so, she becomes immoral.
Through those two different characters, Austen depicts hypocrisy that denotes immoral actions, and both are linked through money. Mrs Clay uses her social skills to obtain a higher social status by abusing her friends, when Fanny Dashwood uses hypocrisy to keep the money she does not need, at the expense of others.
Richard Handler and Daniel Segal wrote: “we find in Austen a critical illumination of the principles that organize macro-sociological hierarchies of class and inter- personal hierarchies of sex, generation, and birth order.”[8] Through this depiction, Austen shows various styles of hypocrites in her novels, whose purpose is to make the reader understand that the world is ruthless, and that hypocrisy can be found anywhere, whether it is religious, moral or social hypocrisy, which are signs of duplicity.
This analysis of the various forms of hypocrisy leads to the analysis of the moral fall of the male love interest in Austen’s novels in the following subpart, which is underlined by duplicitous behaviour and actions.
[1] Austen, Jane. “Persuasion”. p.330
[2] Austen, Jane. “Persuasion”. p.213
[3] Jeffers, Regina. “The Obsession with Money and Society in Jane Austen’s Novels”
[4] Knowles, Rachel. “Issue 28: For Love or Money? Marriage in the Time of Jane Austen”
[5] Austen, Jane. “Sense and Sensibility”. p.3
[6] Austen, Jane. “Sense and Sensibility”. p.8
[7] Austen, Jane. “Sense and Sensibility”. p.5
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