Sarah Fanny Malden

“ From such a father and such sisters it is clear that Anne Elliot, cultivated, thoughtful, and refined, can gain no pleasant companionship, and, in fact, the only real companion she has is a very intimate friend of her mother who has settled near them. Lady Russell is sensible, right-minded, and a little prosaic; she is not Anne's equal intellectually, but she loves her for her mother's sake and for her own; and Anne is thankful to be loved at all.
Frederick Wentworth makes the acquaintance of this attractive and neglected girl when she is nineteen, and in the full bloom of her beauty. ”

“ Elinor Tilney is charming, and Catherine has good taste enough to take greatly to her, and to be pleased and flattered by her notice. Finally, to her unutterable delight, the Tilneys invite her to accompany them when they leave Bath. Their home is called Northanger Abbey; and Catherine, who has never seen an old house in her life, believes herself to be on the verge of similar adventures to those that befell her favourite heroines. Henry Tilney discovers her expectations, and amuses himself with heightening them, having no idea that she will take his nonsense so seriously. ”

“ 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. She begged him to think again upon the subject. How could he answer it to himself to rob his child, and his only child too, of so large a sum? It was very well known that no affection was ever known to exist between the children of any man by different marriages, and why was he to ruin himself and their poor little Harry by giving away all his money to his half-sisters? ”

“ Knightley is the man on whom Harriet's present ideas are fixed.
"A mind like hers, once opening to suspicion, made rapid progress; she touched, she admitted, she acknowledged the whole truth. Why was it so much worse that Harriet should be in love with Mr. Knightley than with Frank Churchill? Why was the evil so dreadfully increased by Harriet's having some hope of a return? It darted through her with the speed of an arrow that Mr. Knightley must marry no one but herself! ”

“ Do you think I had better say "No"?'
"'Not for the world,' said Emma, smiling graciously, 'would I advise you either way. You must be the best judge of your own happiness. If you prefer Mr. Martin to every other person, if you think him the most agreeable man you have ever been in company with, why should you hesitate? You blush, Harriet. Does anybody else occur to you at this moment under such a definition? Harriet, Harriet, do not deceive yourself; do not be run away with by gratitude and compassion. ”

“ Jane Austen completely realised more than any other writer has ever done, the saying that no human being can be commonplace if you know him well enough. She knew human nature so well that no phase of it was uninteresting to her, and she painted it as thoroughly as she knew it; but her art was carried to the perfection which seems absolute simplicity, and the public could not immediately recognise the genius under the simplicity. ”

“ Edmund Bertram is the only one of his family in whom Fanny finds a really kind friend. He has all his father's sterling qualities, with much more gentleness and tenderness than Sir Thomas ever shows, and, having surprised Fanny in tears one day, he finds out by degrees how readily she responds to any kindness, and how easily she can be made happy by it. ”

“ For a little while Emma persevered in her silence, but, beginning to apprehend the bewitching flattery of that letter might be too powerful, she thought it best to say—
"'I lay it down as a general rule, Harriet, that if a woman doubts as to whether she should accept a man or not, she certainly ought to refuse him. If she can hesitate as to "Yes," she ought to say "No" directly. It is not a state to be safely entered into with doubtful feelings, with half a heart. ”

“ Everything is finished to the highest point of finish; no labour has been spared, and yet nothing is laboured. George Eliot has named her "The greatest artist that has ever written . . . the most perfect master over the means to her end." Could higher praise be bestowed upon any style of writing? It is in this completeness, this absoluteness of dainty finish, joined, as it is, to a keen, delicate satire and a humour which is never coarse, that lies Jane Austen's gift ”

“ She would never have realised the charm that her sweet, peaceful, womanly life would one day have for those who, having long worshipped her genius in her writings, would be delighted to learn how completely free she was from all the whims and caprices that sometimes disfigure genius, and how entirely she carried out the saying of her great sister writer, "D'abord je suis femme, puis je suis artiste." ”

“ Dashwood, on the other hand, is delighted at the prospect, for, while cordially disliking her daughter-in-law, she has a great esteem and affection for Edward Ferrars; and warm-hearted, romantic, and imprudent, she looks to nothing but the future happiness of the young people. Her second daughter, Marianne, is the exact copy of her mother in disposition; both regard all prudence or circumspection as worldly wisdom of the worst type, and while they respect Elinor for her calm judgment and steady good sense, they have no wish whatever to imitate her. ”

“ Perhaps Miss Austen enjoyed making Elizabeth undergo a mauvais quart d'heure in hearing her own unfounded prejudices retorted upon her by her father, but both he and her sister are so warmly and tenderly anxious for her happiness that her pain would soon be forgotten. It is very different when she has to break the news to her mother, whose behaviour throughout the story gives additional force to her husband's remarks about respecting one's partner is life. ”

“ Thereupon Henry Tilney presents himself, having returned a day before he is expected, and is much amazed at finding Catherine there by herself. She is unable wholly to conceal from him what her delusions had been, and she gets from him, in consequence, a half lover-like, half brotherly lecture, which makes her thoroughly ashamed of herself, and as she is—au fond—a really nice girl, does her a world of good. "It was not only with herself that she was sunk, but with Henry. Her folly, which now seemed even criminal, was exposed to him, and he must despise her for ever. ”

“ Persuasion is the swan-song of Jane Austen's authorship, and, true to its character, the saddest and sweetest of her works. When she finished it, only a few months before her death, she had in fact laid down the pen for ever; and doubtless it was the consciousness of this which shaded the story to a more autumnal tone than anything she had yet written. We could not wish it otherwise, for the group of novels would have been incomplete without some such story of comparatively late happiness. ”

“ None of these great writers had successfully attempted a story in which there should not be one sensational incident, nor one extraordinary individual; which should deal neither with great people, nor with villains, nor with paragons of beauty and virtue, but simply with every-day types of character, leading every-day lives, and speaking and acting like ordinary mortals, but painted to the utmost perfection of finish by a most un-every-day genius. ”

“ When grown up, unfortunate circumstances compel her to live again with her own family, and their vulgarity becomes painfully obvious to her, especially when they come in contact with the great people of the neighbourhood. These grandees have been accustomed to treat the Watsons with contemptuous familiarity, and now find themselves repelled by the lady-like manners of Emma, whose beauty at the same time attracts universal notice. ”

“ Darcy is quite as well drawn a character as Elizabeth, for though his pride and self-will are, in the early part of the story, almost overpowering, we always see the really fine nature behind them, and we can feel that when he meets with a woman who will respect him, but never stoop to flatter his faults, and whom he can love enough to bear with her laughing at him, he will be a most devoted and excellent husband. ”

“ It seems wonderful that a woman who could describe love as she could, who could draw Fanny Price and Emma Woodhouse and Anne Elliot all under the spell of that influence, should never have felt its effects herself ”

“ It is easy to see from what has been already quoted that any intercourse between Maria Rushworth and Henry Crawford would be very dangerous for both, and it is almost impossible for them not to come across each other in London society. When they first meet, Mrs. Rushworth treats her former admirer with repellent coldness, and this instantly wakens his vanity. He determines to soften her into greater kindness, and succeeds only too well, for he has never had any idea how strong her feeling for him had been ”

“ Steventon Rectory in Jane Austen's girlhood was as cheerful and happy a home as any girl need have desired, and she remembered it affectionately throughout her life, unconscious how much of its sunshine she herself had produced, for in her eyes its brightness was mainly owing to her sister, Cassandra. It was natural that two sisters coming together at the end of a line of brothers should draw much together, and from her earliest childhood Jane's devotion to her elder sister was almost passionate in its intensity. ”

“ My mother often talks of your good nature; does not she, Jane? Do not we often talk of Mr. Frank Churchill? Ah! here's Miss Woodhouse. Dear Miss Woodhouse, how do you do? Very well, I thank you, quite well. This is meeting quite in fairyland: such a transformation! Must not compliment, I know (eyeing Emma most complacently) , but upon my word, Miss Woodhouse, you do look—how do you like Jane's hair? You are a judge. She did it all herself. Quite wonderful how she does her hair! No hairdresser from London I think could—Ah! ”

“ The relations between Edmund Bertram and Mary Crawford are among the best passages in Mansfield Park, but they are given by such a multiplicity of fine touches that no extracts could do them justice. On her side there is as much attachment as worldliness and vanity have left her capacity for, held in check by a resolution never to become a clergyman's wife, but tempered by a secret conviction that her influence can prevent him from taking orders. ”

“ Cassandra Austen continued to admire Pride and Prejudice warmly, and her niece, Fanny Knight, joined in the praise. With her usual child-like pleasure in the praise of those she loved, Jane answered, "I am exceedingly pleased that you can say what you do, after going through the whole work, and Fanny's praise is very gratifying. My hopes were tolerably strong of her, but nothing like a certainty. Her liking Darcy and Elizabeth is enough; she might hate all the others if she would. ”

“ Even in the quiet life at Steventon, it is difficult to understand how Jane managed to combine so much literary work with all her household and social occupations, for so little was writing a serious business to her that she never mentions it in her letters throughout those years. It is provoking to read through the pages of correspondence with the sister to whom she told everything, and to find them full of little every-day details of home life without a single word upon the subject which would be so interesting now to us. ”

“ Persuasion is in the tone of a woman who looks back upon her own early romance with sorrowful tenderness, and permits to her imaginary story the happy finale which she had not experienced herself. The heroine has a sort pf subdued charm about her; she makes no brilliant speeches, and exhibits no special gifts, but from first to last we feel that with Anne Elliot we are in the presence of a high-bred, gracious, charming woman, and nothing better could be said of Captain Wentworth than that he is worthy of her. ”

“ I have known myself to be divided from Edward for ever . . . nothing has proved him unworthy, nor has anything declared him indifferent to me. I have had to contend against the unkindness of his sister and the insolence of his mother, and have suffered the punishment of an attachment without enjoying its advantages. ”

“ James Morland comes to Bath, and—having, of course, light eyes and a sallow complexion—is very soon Isabella's declared and accepted lover. John Thorpe comes too, and having fallen in love—or supposing he has—with Catherine, she receives her first offer from him, though being quite unconscious of his admiration for her, which is not very intelligibly expressed, she does not know, until later in the story, that he has offered himself. Last, but not leasts Isabella introduces Catherine to the class of novels which are to influence her mind so powerfully. ”

“ A double range of small drawers appeared in view, with some larger drawers above and below them, and in the centre a small door, closed also with lock and key, secured, in all probability, a cavity of importance. Catherine's heart beat quickly, but her courage did not fail her. With a cheek flushed by hope, and an eye straining with curiosity, her fingers grasped the handle of a drawer, and drew it forth. It was entirely empty. With less alarm and greater eagerness, she seized a second, a third, a fourth—each was equally empty. Not one was left unsearched, and in not one was anything found. ”

“ There could not be a better picture of a second-rate great lady's behaviour towards people whom she considers as her inferiors, and it may be supposed from this how angry she is when her cherished nephew, whom she also intended should be her son-in-law, falls in love with Elizabeth. She hears of it from outside sources, at about the time of Jane's engagement to Bingley, and at once sets off for Longbourn to load Elizabeth with reproaches, and insist upon her giving up all idea of marrying Darcy. Of course Elizabeth absolutely refuses to do this, and her ladyship departs in great wrath ”

“ The attraction is quite as great on Edmund's side, and this is less wonderful, as Mary Crawford is beautiful, clever, and amusing; his taste cannot always approve of her, but he sets down much that pains him to the account of the society in which she has lived, and the sincere affection between her and her brother makes him believe her capable of real feeling. He makes Fanny his confidante in this—as in everything else—and talks to her constantly about the Crawfords ”

“ The first impulse of the whole Bertram family is to turn to Fanny, who is still at Portsmouth, for comfort and sympathy; and she hurries back to Mansfield Park to help and support them through all the days of misery that follow, while Sir Thomas and Edmund are vainly endeavouring to trace and bring back Maria. Tom Bertram is dangerously ill, and there is much anxiety for him; but, deeply as Fanny feels for the whole family, her thoughts turn most constantly to Edmund, with intense longing to know how all this will affect his prospects with Mary Crawford. ”

“ But Catherine Morland is an obvious copy of Evelina: a good-hearted, simple-minded little goose, who will never develop into much. She is distinctly inferior to Eleanor Tilney, and it is impossible not to have a lurking suspicion that Henry, after trying—as he would do for some years—to form his wife's mind, will discover, like David Copperfield, that it is already formed, and that his life at Woodston Parsonage may some day be just a little dull. ”