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185
"LET ME MEND YOUR PEN, MR DARCY'':
LEWD AND AGGRESSIVE WOMEN
IN JANE AUSTEN,S FICTION
TOTH ZSOFIAANNA
Although it may appear strange to raise the issue of the presence of aggressive anÜor
sexually-assertive women in Jane Austen's fiction, the sentence paraphrased in the title
is only one example among the many for such an occunence. Miss Bingley utters these
words while Mr Darcy is writing a letter: "I am afraid you do not like your pen. Let me
mend it for you. I mend pens remarkably well./Thank you - but I always mend my own"
(Pride and Preiudice 32). One might claim that these sentences do not have any sexual
implication but Austen was most acknowledged for her refined use of irony and double-
talk.In my paper, I aim to discuss whether there really are aggressive anüor lewd women
in Austen's fiction. My proposition is that such women abound in Austen's novels and
short stories. To back this stance I invoke Gilbert and Gubar in claiming that Austen's
fiction is a repository of "mad matriarchs" ( l 74) and "injured and angry wom[e]n" ( 1 82),
such as Lady Catherine De Bourgh, Mrs Norris, Mrs Ferrars just to name a few among
the 'older generation,' with such qualities as "arrogance" (l73) and "bitchiness" (l74)
in addition to practicing "ladylike lies, manipulation and deceit" (146-83), but among
the "mad matriarch candidates" we can also find Lucy Steele, Maria Bertram, Mary
Crawford and so on and so forth, Even some heroines tend in this direction, for example,
Elizabeth Bennet as "the next Lady Catherine" (I12-'73) or Emma Woodhouse as - citing
Gilbert and Gubar - a "vitriolic shrew" (173). Devoney Looser while also discussing the
Austen film adaptations states that inAusten's stories it is not uncommon that women are
hard on their own sex (evoking Elizabeth Bennet's opinion), and although second-wave
feminism wished to see these women as morally superior to the men it is not the case
either in Austen's novels or later film adaptations. These women are often manipulative,
competitive "husband hunters" and "greedy schemers" whose hearts are only concerned
with their own monetary and sexual interests (Looser 169), Hence, I intend to argue that
Austen's female characters were not saints even if the general belief contradicts this
view.
However, before starting to discuss Austen's works there are a few words to be said
about her era and, while examining the (potentially) violent and sexually aggressive
women in her writing, the risqué issues of the Regency Period are also to be touched
upon, which were in cuíTency in Jane Austen's time. Austen was born in 1775 and died
in 1817, so she lived during the Georgian Period in England under the rule of King
George III, yet towards the end of her life it was the Prince Regent (to whom she "was
kindly commanded" to dedicate Emma in 1 8 l6 (Duckworth xi)) who was then the real
ruler (Regency Period). Understandably, the issues Austen tackled in her writing were
characteristic of this/(these) period(s). Great changes took place within society around
this time, great changes in the realms of economy, industry science and also in culture,
l86 Tóth Zsófia Anna
manners, habits and so on. It was a transitional period in British history and as such huge
debates and significant changes were taking place, and most of all, the traditionalist and
the reformer points of view were forever clashing.
Although it is generally considered that Austen herself was not aware of the great
happenings of the world around her and that these did not appear in her writing, these
claims are not entirely correct. This stance is backed up by recent scholarship, which, in
fact, has proven the opposite and claimed that Austen did not have a limited existence
and that she did respond to the historical moment of her time (Duckworth 4). She had
brothers in the Army (Henry), the Naly (Francis and Charles), in the field of economy
and banking (Henry), in the clergy (James and Henry) and within the nobility as a
1andlord (Edward), as well as being a single woman with a mother to support and a sister
r.vho was unmarried. Furthermore, she had many relatives and friends and hence she had
the opportunity of being aware of all the worldly "goings-ons" and events within the
country as well (Duckworth 7-8). As Dominique Enright writes in The Wicked Wit of
Jane Austen, Jane Austen's life was not "that removed from the wider-world - it would
have taken a dimwit not to be aware of' the French Revolution and the Napoleonic
Wars with army and naval officer brothers and with the presence of her cousirr/friend
Eliza de Feuillide, whose husband was guillotined (l2, Duckworth 3, Roberts 331-36).
Warren Roberts adds that Austen's correspondence evidently reveals her knowledge of
Britain's struggle with France - information conceming this was communicated through
letters from her sailor brothers and the newspapers she read. Roberts clearly declares
that Austen's "response to wartime news in letters to her family were oblique and ironic,
private rather than public" (332). Later, Roberts continues by saying that Austen was
fully aware of the world around her and that she responded to the great events of her day
both as a private person and as a writer:
It is in Austen's novels that her responses to Evangelicalism are to be found,
as are her responses to Britain's struggle with France. That Francis and Charles
Austen recognized themselves in their sister's naval characters suggests a direct
connection between Austen's fiction and her own experience. Far from being
isolated from the great events of her day she was open to them. (Roberts 334)
In addition, Austen received an education that was considered proper for a young
woman in her time), at Mrs Crawley's at Oxford and at Southampton; later she attended
the Abbey School at Reading, but what is more important, she was also educated by her
father at their "bookish" and intellectually inspiring home and learned a lot from her
brothers (who studied at Oxford) (Grey 279-82, McMaster 140-42, Bush 24, Duckworth
3-10, Roberts,331, Gary 256-58, Todd vi-ix). Thus, probably and quite evidently on
the basis ofthe intellectual, philosophical and literary references included in her works,
she was much better-read, educated, learned, informed and cultivated than an average
woman of her era due to her father, brothers and wider family circle. "Her upbringing,
accomplishments, reading interests, tastes and family connections placed her within the
rvorld of a refined stratum in English socie§" (Roberts 331).
As a crucial addition (being a writer) to Austen's formal and general education Enright
adds that "she saw easily through weaknesses, pretentions and affectation"'but she also
greatly enjoyed jokes and gossips and the tales of those who saw more of the world than
her ( 14). What Enright suggests conceming Austen's messages is in accordance with Jill
"Let me mend your pe,
Lewd and Aggressi e I
Heydt-Stevenson's ide;
saying: "[i]n an author ]
expressing views she as
own attitude towards hl
is conveyed as she sar,
bawdy irreverence she
The most obvious t
contain writings absolu
openly and directlv ab
aggression and open r.ic
not to be published ons
discussing the Juve n i l i'c
[t]he early piece,
without moral or
suicide, and one ;
or guardians. \í,
food. or mone\.. r
This is indeed the case:
butle1 the young and nol
has serious drinking prot
the throat ofLucy and fir.
InThe Beautful Cassan-
down the pastry cook th
angered man's head and i
steal money, elope rlith
verbal aggression and iai
arrogant, undeservins rr.c
In Three Sisters, Mary S
every other young girl ir
hysterical and abusir.e an,
In Catherine or the Bov,
Stanley who is a pre-Isabt
as a mad matriarch, In,] ,
murdered her father and
which she has also peryur,
most prominent example ,
is Lady Susan. In Laá S.
Susan is beautiful, prern-.
and greatly ambitious. SL
disregards others' interest :
in addition to being a cru
to lorce her onto ö tl.lan :
herself to ensure the mor
As a protagonist she is a
mad matriarch candidate l
"Let me mend your pen, Mr Darcy":
Lewd and Aggressive Women in Jane Austenb Fiction
Heydt-Stevenson's idea about the ambiguity of bad and good in Austen's writing as he is
saying: "[i]n an author like Jane Austen, ... it is not a case of her 'good' characters always
expressing views she agrees with, and the 'bad'expressing views that she condemns. Her
own attitude towards her characters is ambivalent" (l5), Heydt-Stevenson's similar idea
is conveyed as she says that Austen with her radical critique of courtship by her use of
bawdy irreverence she "closes the gap between fallen women and proper ladies" (3 l5).
The most obvious proofs of her knowledgeability are the Juvenilia pieces, which
contain writings absolutely unbridled and unrestrained by gentle ladyhood. She writes
openly and directly about female unruliness, improper or even criminal behaviour,
aggression and open violence among women anüor towards men, yet these pieces were
not to be published originally - they were written as family entertainment pieces. When
discussing the Juvenilia Alastair M. Duckworth claims that:
[t]he early píeces are anarchic - delightfully so; many of the heroines are quite
without moral or religious scruples. Several get drunk, others steal, one commits
suicide, and one is a mass murderer. Few show any sense of obligation to parents
or guardians. Most are single-mindedly intent on fulfilling their appetites for
food, or money, or men. (8)
This is indeed the case: for example, in Jack and Alice, the governess elopes with the
butle1 the young and not so young ladies are drinking heavily and gambling, Alice herself
has serious drinking problems and aggressive behavioural conflicts, Sukey intends to cut
the throat of Lucy and finally poisons her as a result of which Sukey is sent to the gallows.
In The Beautiful Cassandra, Cassandra refuses to pay when eating a lot of pastry knocks
down the pastry cook then travels by coach, refuses to pay again, puts her hat on the
angered man's head and runs away.In Love and Freindshlp, Sophia aídLauta lie, cheat,
steal money, elope with young men and there is matricide. In Lesley Castle, there is
verbal aggression and ladylike lies, cheating, manipulation, gossip and the theme of the
arrogant, undeserving woman in a position of power who is tormenting those under her.
In Three Sisters, Mary Stanhope only marries Mr Watts in order to get married before
every other young girl in the neighbourhood and because of his wealth; Mary is rude,
hysterical and abusive and she is always quarrelling and fighting with her husband-to-be.
In Catherine or the Bower, we have an unscrupulous seductress protofype in Camilla
Stanley who is a pre-Isabella Thorpe from Northanger Abbey and Mrs Percival functions
as a mad matriarch. In A Letter from a Young Lady, we can read that the protagonist has
murdered her father and mother and plans to do the same to her sister, in addition to
rvhich she has also perjured herself and is marrying a cheat for his money. Certainly, the
most prominent example of an evil or even Machiavellian seductress and abusive mother
is Lady Susan. In Lady Susan, we encounter a prototypicalfemmefatale because Lady
Susan is beautiful, pretty, extremely clever and intelligent, very deceitful, manipulative,
and greatly ambitious. She is willing to do anYhing to achieve her goals and totally
disregards others' interests and feelings. She has fine manners and she is a great pretende1
in addition to being a cruel and abusive mother who torments her daughter and wants
to force her onto a man she does not want to maíry in turn, Lady Susan marries him
herself to ensure the money while having lovers and breaking marriages around her.
.\s a protagonist she is a widow, an adulteress, a seductress, a terrible mother and a
rrad matriarch candidate (she is still relatively young). One addition is to be made here:
18,7
188 Tóth Zsófia Anna
although The Watsons is not a Juvenilia piece per se I would like to list it here. In this
story it is Penelope who is the evil sister, Margaret is not that dangerous but she is in the
making and Mrs Robert is a pre-Mrs Elton from Emma.
As Margaret Anne Doody states: when writing these early literary pieces Austen
- despite her young age - was not a child, she provides proof of her sophistication in
writing technique, selection of theme and in providing social comment. Doody declares
Austen's genius is similar to tha.t of Mozart (as a child). She also adds that Austen was
not yet tamed by young ladyhood so she dared tackle issues that are improper for a lady
rvriter and she did not have to meet the requirements of the publishers (Doody xxxi-
xxxr,). When she became a writer whose works were published (in spite of the fact that
her name was never written on the books but only that a lady writer was the author and
she remained unknown as a person to the majority of people - she preferred obscurity)
she had to adapt herself to the gentle Jane image that her family was so strongly guarding
even after her death. As a lady writer she was not allowed to talk about indecent topics
openly, which is why she had to use double-talk (double-entendre) and irony to be able to
convey her message and knowledge of the world. As Gilbert and Gubar claim: "[w]e can
see Austen struggling after Northanger Abbey to combine her implicitly rebellious vision
rvith an explicitly decorous form ..." (1 53). They also add that "there are clues thatAusten
is hiding a distinctly unladylike outlook behind the "cover" or "blotter" ofparody" (l53).
A11 of the risqué issues of Regency England (and, as a larger category including the
Regency Period, Georgian England) are to be found in her novels, only carefully sewn
into the fine lace of her writing, Maybe her works seem to be only tiny pieces of painted
ivory (as is also often suggested - after her own iconic yet ironic proclamation that
"little bits of ivory two inches wide, worked upon with a brush so fine that little effect is
produced after much labour" (qtd, in B. C. Southam 201), yet the tiny details also reveal
the unsavoury or risqué aspects of life if somebody wants to see them.
Recently - and not so recently - several scholars have also joined those who
hold firmly that Jane Austen was not a saint writing innocent stories about asexual,
passive women and passionless courtships. Juliet McMaster evokes Charlotte Bronté's
complaints about Austen that '1he Passions are perfectly unknown to her" (qtd. in 287),
Yet McMaster claims that the dramatization of love is maybe restrained but has its own
intensity. In her view, the closest instance of the passionate embrace that Brontö allowed
to Rochester in Jane Eyre "ts the moment at which Mr Knightley almost kisses Emma's
hand" (McMaster 288). In considering Austen and her handling of passions, McMaster
also alludes to the English proverb that "Silent men, like still waters, are deep and
dangerous" by saying "still waters run deep" (288). Heydt-Stevenson in a similar vein
cites W. H. Auden about Austen: "[y]ou could not shock her more than she shocks me;/
Beside her Joyce seems innocent like grass" (qtd, ín "Slipping into the Ha-Ha" 339),
Tony Tanner when discussing Mansfield Park claíms: "Jane Austen also knew about the
passion which furns into lechery" (175), LeRoy W. Smith assertsg that, "contrary to the
traditional view, Austen does not avoid the subject of sex in her fiction," and adds that
acrually, "she is well aware of sexuality's powerful role in human behaviour" (qtd. in
Korba 139). Jean H. Hangstrum, in Sex and Sensibility, warns Austen's readers "against
allou'ing the author's 'considerable modesty' to obscure 'the real passion that seethes
beneath the controlled and witty surfaces'of her novels" (qtd. in Korba 139). He also
drarls our attention to the claim that "anyone so seemingly cool and rational has of
course invited speculation about what is being kept out of sight" (qtd. in Korba 139).
"Let me mend your pe,;
Lewd and Aggressil,e Ií
AlastairM, Duckri o
have shown us that Ja:
greatest novelists in the
Douglash Bush also ri i
misled by its smooth s:
connotation of words t" ,
that "Austen's standards
does not see misconduc:
examining Austen's rr e-rr
in Austen's plots quiie rr
similar such as the trutl:
(167) or Wickham and _
Rushworth and Henn, r
novels are permeated ,*:
of an infinite number oi
sexuality, Douglas Bush
philosophise about ser.
of forces more fuII; anj
Lawrence could unders:;
she is not disfurbed in re
conspicuous in real lite.
49)" (qtd. in24-25).In ar,
Iegs were too short rr.h:]:
favourite novels was Il-;,:
After havins p"
Austen's writing ther-e ie:
as yet not elaborated on: :
reffected in Austen's rr..:i
terms. As Michael St Joi:
Georgian Britain .,,
sufficient: itspolit:;
was preoccupied ,,r:
suffused with idea.,
Protestant, rathel si
as its manners ri.e::
There was an immense ec..
rr haIf. her overseas rra.j:
,,." (Royston 9), The ar;:
,Royston 16-17). To ertel,
rarks and gardens also h.u
:rowing rapidIy and rherr :
:o be a ruraI sociery ( Ror s:.
sath etc.) they stilI clun-. :
:ackground and wealth ic
" Let me mend your pen, Mr Darcy " :
Lewd and Aggressive Women in Jane Austenb Fiction l89
Alastair M. Duckworth even declares thatAusten was not a saint; "[r]ecent biographies
have shown us that Jane Austen was no saint; she was something better: one of the
greatest novelists in the history of English fiction" (19). In accordance with Hangstrum,
Douglash Bush also warns us that we must leam Austen's language so as "not to be
misled by its smooth surface (o1 it should be added, by changes in the meaning and
connotation of words)" since there is an ironic ambiguity in her writing (3). He also adds
that "Austen's standards of sexual morality are sincerely and steadfastly orthodox, but she
does not see misconduct in terms of mere black and white" (Bush 14). David Lodge when
examining Austen's works from a narratological point of view claims that the peripeteia
in Austen's plots quite frequently occur in the form of sexual misbehaviour or something
similar such as the truth about Edward and Lucy's engagement in Sense and SensibiliQ
(167) or Wickham and Lydia's elopement ín Pride and Prejudice or Maria (Bertram)
Rushworth and Henry Crawford's adulterous affair in Mansfield Park. As Austen's
novels are permeated with rhetoric as well as dramatic irony they sustain the possibility
of an infinite number of readings (Lodge 167). Still focusing on sexual misconduct and
sexuality, Douglas Bush declares very eloquently that "although Jane Austen does not
philosophise about sex, her decorous heroines are more or less intense embodiments
of forces more fully and truly human than, say, the primitive female daemons of D. H.
Lawrence could understand" (14). Bush also refers to one of Austen's letters in which
she is not disturbed in telling to Cassandra about the "indelicate behaviour of persons
conspicuous in real life, such as noble lords' acquisition of mistresses (letters 36 and
49)" (qtd. in24-25).In another letter to Cassandra, Austen writes that a certain admiral's
legs were too short while his tail was too long. Neither must we forget that one of her
favourite novels was Tristam Shandy (Heydt-Stevenson 334).
After having partly discussed the violent and sexually assertive women in
Austen's writing there remains a topic already raised at the beginning of the paper but
as yet not elaborated on: the indelicacies ofGeorgian and Regency England as possibly
reflected in Austen's works, as I have suggested. First, let us view England in general
terms. As Michael St John Parker claims in Life in Georgian Britain:
Georgian Britain was economically prosperous, enterprising and sturdily self-
suffrcient; its politics were vigorous but essentiallypeaceable; its ruling aristocracy
was preoccupied with the idea of liberty; its architecture, literature and art were all
suffused with ideals derived from classical antiquity, but its religion was a stoutly
Protestant, rather secular Christianity; its science was as rational and innovative
as its manners were traditional and conservative. (Royston 2)
There was an immense economic boom. "Britain's ... agricultural productivity increased
by half, her overseas trade quadrupled, and her industrial capacity increased five times
,.." (Royston 9). The architecture was that of assertion, grandeur and gigantic scale
(Royston 16-|7). To extend the grandeur ofthe buildings, the building and creation of
parks and gardens also had a great importance (Royston 18-19). Towns and cities were
growing rapidly and their population increased quickly, yet Britain was still considered
to be a rural society (Royston 20-2I) and while the nobility had houses in cities (London,
Bath etc.) they still clung to their country estate, which provided their status, financial
background and wealth and which was their main residence: their principal homes were
t90 Tóth Zsófia Anna
the castles and the mansions that earlier members of their dynasties built (Royston22-23,
Munay 1l3).
However, after the general remarks the other/"darker"/"hidden" side of this period
surfaces in the discussion. It is well known how much this society was in favour of
balance, reason and moderation, yet under the marble surface ofregulation and perfection
there were the extremities to be found in the form of violence and sexuality - maybe,
similarly to Austen's stories:
The mood of the times was all in favour of reason, balance, moderation and calm
- yet the social life of 18'h century Britain was marked by every sort of extreme.
It was a violent society, in which savage crimes such as murder and rape were
common; duelling was a feature of aristocratic high life, while highway robbery
was a common resort of the desperate poor; all classes engaged gleefully in brutal
sports from bear-baiting and cock fighting to bare-knuckle boxing. (Royston 24)
Bear-baiting and cock-fights were theoretically illegal but carried on anyr,vay all
over the country. (Murray 18) Public executions were popular entertainment.
(Royston 24, Munay 18)
Violence was widespread during the Regency Period just as much in civil life as on the
battlefield. Muggers and cut-throats were roaming the streets unchecked, highwaymen
were threats on the roads, 'wreckers'on the coast, bandits in the forests and pickpockets
on markets, country fairs and prize fights (Munay 15). During the Regency prize-
fighters became celebrities and it was the golden age of boxing (Murray 18).
Gambling was almost a universal mania, sometimes a man lost or won a sum of
money on a single throw that amounted to his whole life savings (Royston 24). Gambling
debts were sacrosanct and they had to be paid by whatever means: even suicide or
voluntary exile were more preferable than not paying and being stamped with the label
of dishonour (Munay 64). This issue surfaces, for example , in Mansfield Park and Sense
and Sensibility. In the first instance, Tom Bertram endangers the family resources by
gambling and accumulating a large debt, which results in selling Edmund's church
position. In the second instance, it is Willoughby who has debts as a result of which he
abandons Marianne (and the impregnated, underage Eliza beforehand) for the rich Miss
Grey.
"Alcohol was consumed on a garganfuan scale ,.." (Royston 24). Mansfield Park
and Sense and Sensibili| are good examples for this again with the same men. "Sexual
promiscuity was a male privilege which, however, required the co-operation of a large
proportion of the female population. Venereal disease was rampant in all groups of
society ..." (Royston 24). Mansfield Park atd Sense and Sensibill4.,could be listed
here again but there are also Wickham it Pride and Prejudice and Captain Tilney in
Northanger Abbey, " A1I these vices were characteristics of a society which, at the same
time, exhibited more polish, refinement, sophistication, elegance and rational humaniq
than that the world had seen before, Life in Georgian Britain can rarely have been dull|"
claims St John Parker (Royston 24).
According to Venetia Murray (writer of An Elegant Madness, High Society itt
Regency Englanfl, Regency England was an impolite society. While on the surface it
was unique in the history of English culture as regards elegance and style, at the same
time it was also characterised by amazing vulgarity, gluttony, gambling and a dishones:
"Let me mend your pe,:
Lewd and Aggressit.e lí-
attitude towards mone\.
successfuI mistress ha,i :
and had control over h;:
badly as a courtesan. \.e:_
J "time of glorious pár:;
tn Regency sociefy (\íul
3n age to be remembe:e,
norality is the Prince R,
of his generation'' li,ith :
Fitzherbert and''amore..s
:he Prince Regent \\.as ii.-:
,,r,ere also ..dedicated lec:e
lncest (Murray 5-6). ..[I ::
:he Regency period in tl:
.. T. H. White refers tt ::
\íansíeld
Park that taci.e,
:nd although it is true th::
lorderings'' function sirnl..
Murray also adds tha:
jucfuate but the chang;s
:rghteenth cenfury rhe ri,.s
,"iere obviously defined. :.-
. rgue and elastic (Murra,, _
...cieV became also muc:_
\íurray 22). Nonetheless.
:.:el did not lessen thetr ,:
:]\,one into their circle a-.
=rample. through succes.:-
..-,-called "patronesses... l su,
S:nse and Sensibili^. or Lzc
:jcorum." but the facl rr.r: :
. -.ts of ex- and current lor e:
:*d amatory intrigues t\í_r
_-. Jsslan ambassador) \\ as J ..
-,ne standing was knorln :..
:'Lrope even though her ..ai-,
::t. As Murray claims: ..Pr:
i rose wit was lethal'' 1,§§ , 1
one of the most famclus ;
'_ be sexy, charming and dee:
,, : this latter claim are \Íar. t
:. successful mistress haa :,
,.:ted with her moner rr::,
: -.band. These mistrerr., ...,
: :-:sing men'' (Murral. lJ_
* :rliry and immoralii. ,.:,.
,:: full of .-elopemenis. i:.:
"Let me mend your pen, Mr Darcy":
Lewd and Aggressive Women in Jane Austenb Fiction
attitude towards money, while sexual morality was almost non-existent. For example, a
successful mistress had much more fun than a wife as she was financially independent
and had control over her own money. On the other hand, a wife could behave just as
badly as a courtesan, yet, she had to be discreet about it. Thus the Regency, it seems, was
a "time of glorious paradox" (Murray 1). There was a set of double standards prevalent
in Regency society (Munay 2), and as Murray states: "[t]he Regency was certainly not
an age to be remembered for decorum" (a). The best example of the lack of sexual
morality is the Prince Regent himself as "his love affairs became the serial scandal
of his generation" with numerous mistresses, a clandestine, illegal "marriage" to Mrs
Fitzherbert and "amorous attentions to a succession of society ladies" (Munay 4). But
the Prince Regent was not a unique instance with his bold approach to sex. His brothers
were also "dedicated lechers" with troops of illegitimate children and even accusations of
incest (Murray 5-6). "[I]ncest was the spectre which haunted the eighteenth century and
the Regency period in the same way that homosexuality scandalized the late Victorians.
. . . T. H. White refers to incest as 'the frisson of the cenfury' . . . " (Munay 6). It is again
Mansfield Part that tackles the theme of incest in various forms, with various couplings,
and although it is true that the actual act of incest does not happen, still, the "dangerous
borderings" function similarly.
Murray also adds that with succeeding generations the manners and mores usually
fluctuate but the changes were almost revolutionary during the Regency. In the
eighteenth century the rules were clear and the regulations of etiquette and precedence
were obviously defined, however, by the beginning of the nineteenth all these became
vague and elastic (Murray 2l). Hypocrisy prevailed during this time. Yet, this very same
society became also much more egalitarian "and the criteria of acceptance less rigid"
(Murray 22). Nonetheless, the grande dames of the Regency were far less tolerant and
they did not lessen their standards in acceptance and admittance. They did not allow
anyone into their circle as men did if somebody made his way into their circle, for
example, through successful trade (Murray 48). Theoretically, these grand dames, the
so-called "patronesses"' (such as Lady Catherine in Pride and Prejudice, Mrs Ferrars in
Sense and Sensibility or Lady Denham ín Sanditon etc.) were the "paragons of virtue and
decorum"'but the fact was that "most of these ladies had extremely dubious pasts" with
lots of ex- and current lovers while being extremely skilful jugglers of social, political
and amatory intrigues (Murray 52-53). As an example, Princess Lieven (the wife of the
Russian ambassador) was a "cleveq scheming intrigante" who as Metternich's mistress of
long standing was known to be a serious influence behind the political scene throughout
Europe even though her "affectation and bitchiness" made her rather unpopular (Munay
56). As Murray claims: "Princess Lieven was a brilliant but acid and dangerous woman
whose wit was lethal" (56). This latter example could match perfectly with Lady Susan.
One of the most famous courtesans of the period was Harriette Wilson who was said
to be sexy, charming and deeply avaricious, a courtesanp ar excellence. Perfect examples
for this latter claim are Mary Crawford ín Mansfield Park and Lady Susan ít Lady Susan,
A successful mistress had all the luxury and leisure in life and could do whatever she
rvanted with her money while a wife's entire properfy passed into the control of her
husband. These mistresses "were educated, elegant, amusing and skilled in the art of
pleasing men" (Murray 14l). The Regency, with its multi-level and complex net of
morality and immorality, was known as the Age of Scandal, The annals of the period
ri,ere full of "elopements, infidelities, duels, bankruptcies, suits for breach of promise
191
I92 Tóth Zsófia Anna
and cases brought on the curious charge of 'criminal conversation' " - a euphemism for
adultery -, which could be a basis for divorce in the legal sense (Murray 148). It is again
Mansfield Park, as well as Lady Susan, that treats this issue in minute detail, but the
thought of adultery (Mr Dixon and Jane Fairfax) as sexual titillation erúers Emma too.
Gretna Green was a spectre that haunted every wealthy household that had a romantic-
minded heiress. It was dreaded that fornlne hunters, half-pay officers or dance masters
might seduce one's daughter(s) who would run off with them to Gretna Green (Murray
148):
By the beginning of the 19ft century the marriage of a minor without parental
consent was illegal in England, but there was no such barrier in Scotland. As a
result many a young couple, thwarted in love, raced north through the night in
a coach and four, with a furious father galloping after them in pursuit, (Munay
148)
This issue most explicitly occurs tn Pride and Prejudice with Lydia and Wickham's
elopement,
Lady Caroline Lamb (whom Byron called "the hack whore of the last century") was
reportedly told by her mother-in-laq Lady Melbourne, that "her duty to her husband
was to provide one male heir, and after that she was free to amuse herself as she pleased"
(Munay 150). Ye| there were double standards conceming morality at that time (Murray
1 53).
That is why Gilbert and Gubar suggest that "[t]he novelist who has been fascinated
with double-talk from the very beginning of her writing career sees the silences, evasions
and lies of women as inescapable sign of their requisite sense of doubleness" (161).
They add that Austen's heroines have to realíze and face the fact that their adolescent
eroticism, their imaginative and physical activity is, in fact, incompatible with womanly
restraint and survival (Gilbert and Gubar 161). So, the women in Austen's writing use
"silence as means of manipulation, passivity as tactic to gain power, submission as a
means of attaining the only control available to them," and they have to submit to get
what they want and need (Gilbert and Gubar 163), since Austen's stories (as Gilbert and
Gubar claim) are "taming of the shrew" stories in which a rebellious and imaginative
female is amorously mastered by a sensible male (154),
Many critics have noted the duplicity ofAusten's happy endings that come with such
haste, with such unlikely coincidences and described with such sarcasm that the entire
message is undercut (Gilbert and Gubar 169). Austen is protesting under the cover of
this ideal story against the patriarchal order so much as Harding states that the narratorial
voice is not only witty, assertive, spirited and independent but even becomes arrogant
and nasty (Gilbert and Gubar 168). As Gilbert and Gubar declare, "Austen's duplicity
occurs most obviously in her representation of extremely powerful women who act with
rebellious anger" (169). There are a variety of mothers and surrogate mothers (such as
Lady Susan inLady Susan or Lady Russell ftt Persuasion) who destroy their children and
rlidows who are pushy and dangerous (such as Mrs Norris in Mansfield Park or Lady
Denham ln Sanditon); their energy is destructive and disagreeable and Austen disguises
herself as Other in the speeches of these bitchy women (Gilbert and Gubar l70).
Interestingly, these women are not excluded or silenced, and sometimes not even
punished. Mrs Ferrars and Lucy Steele prove that "women can become agents of
"Let me mend your pen,
Lewd and Aggressit.e lI',..,
repression, manipulator.
Most of these powerful ,,.,
power; who, just like Le;
and express genuine an*::
and Emma Woodhouse-c.
propriety since resen e ::..
manipulation and deceit (
mad matriarchs re,l]ect .:,
(174).
The other means ci s_
the use of humour. and ::-
Austen's works are full ..:
examples; Mrs Clal,in P.,
comment about the seru._ -
reference). Heydt-Ster e:. :
herselfto laugh" her re:;:
of her works while it ..ari*
allusion than any other .i_
Park include Mary Crax ^
church service, her enjor =
smile; Fanny also likes h;:
girls during this actir in ,. s
chains from her rw,o suit.,:.
loop of the cross bener: \\ :
Fanny's developing bodr ;s
her love of WilIiam and L;::
between Henry and \ían C:
\íaria ( Benram) Rusrr r:r:i. .
In Emma, we find Er:::.
to which her matchmakrnl :
are. according to Jill Hel c:-:
lre abandoned women a..:
Claudia L. Johnson discus.
:hat emerged about Emrr.:';
iesbian but an effeminate ::.
ltld the Masturbaring C:, .
:hat plays a central role r: _i
:elationships) (818-37;. tn _r.
rody watched and scrutin:z;.
,,rhich is subjected to the s;::
:dea comes in Northanger .:_
,,i hile offering himself to C"::
,.i,hen discussing the heroine'.
.dolescent girl the desire .
-,asily be sexual even if it lr^:
-+9).
"Let me mend your pen, Mr Darcy":
Lewd and Aggressive Women in Jane Austen's Fiction
repression, manipulators of convention" and still survivors (Gilbert and Gubar 172).
Most of these powerful women, mostly widows who are representatives of matriarchal
Power; who, just like Lady Catherine, are arrogant, offrcious, egoistical and rude, feel
and express genuine anger (Gilbert and Gubar 112-]3). Heroines like Elizabeth Bennet
and Emma Woodhouse can also easily become the bankruptcy of the ideal feminine
propriety since reserve and politeness can easily turn into bitchiness and complicity into
manipulation and deceit (G.ilbert and Gubar 174), As Gilbert and Gubar state; "Austen's
mad matriarchs reflect her discomfort with the glass coffin of female submission"
(114).
The other means of subversion for Austen - as Jill Heydt-Stevenson argues - is
the use of humour, and more specifically bawdy humour. As Heydt-Stevenson asserts,
Austen's works are full of sexual references and allusions. To back this up with some
examples: Mrs Clay in Persuasion and Mary Crawford in Mansfield Park each make a
comment about the sexual habits of the Naly (the first a hetero-, the second a homosexual
reference). Heydt-Stevenson states of Mansfield Park that "[alt]hough Austen allowed
herself to laugh" her readers thought Mansfield Park to be the most moral and earnest
of her works while it "arguably contains more examples of libidinous humor and sexual
allusion than any other Austen novel" (323-24), Other sexual references ín Mansfield
Park include Mary Crawford bringing up the issue of female sexual fantasizing during
church service, her enjoyment of horse riding, being called a siren with a saucy playful
smile; Fanny also likes horse-riding (and men at least Edmund - are watching both
girls during this activity), she receives an amber cross from William and she gets two
chains from her two suitors while there is the problem of which one of the chains fits the
loop of the cross better; William's promotion involves homosocial interventions (326);
Fanny's developing body is scrutinized and commented on by Sir Thomas and her father;
her love of William and Edmund has incestuous implications just as does the relationship
between Henry and Mary Crawford; adultery and divorce occur with the contribution of
Maria (Bertram) Rusworth and Henry Crawford; Julia Bertam elopes with Mr Yates.
In Emma, we find Emma fantasizing about Jane Fairfax and Mr Dixon, in addition
to which her matchmaking activity together with her riddle- and enigma-solving games
are, according to Jill Heydt-Stevenson, sexual play (3 16), In Sense and SensibiliQ, there
are abandoned women and illegitimate children just as in Emma with Harriet Smith.
Claudia L. Johnson discusses Emma's manliness and addresses the scholarly debate
that emerged about Emma's possible lesbianism, yet she maintains that Emma is not
lesbian but an effeminate man with heterosexual inclinations (441-55).In Jane Austen
and the Masturbating Girl, Eve Kosofsky Sedgewick argues that it is masturbation
that plays a central role in Sense and Sensibility (more concretely Marianne's life and
relationships) (818-37). In Sense and Sensibilifl, we have Willoughby's sexualised male
body watched and scrutinized by women while in Persuasion it is Captain Wentworth's,
which is subjected to the same and he is considered to be "well-hung." This very same
idea comes irt Noríhanger Abbey when John Thorpe claims that his gig is well-hung
while offering himself to Catherine Morland, Tony Tanner says about ly'orthanger Abbey
when discussing the heroine's eager gothic novel consumption that "in an impressionable
adolescent girl the desire - craving indeed - for some kind of intense excitation may
easily be sexual even if it takes another form. To be aroused by fear is still to be aroused"
(49).
193
F
Fi
Tóth Zsófia Anna
HeYdt-Stevenson asserts that the humour Austen uses enables her to critique the
ideologY which preaches that all women are either pure or fallen; instead she suggests
that all Women are fallen - all of the Fanny Hills, who are prostifutes, and alsó the
Fanny Prices, "who are expected to prostifute themselves in the marriage market" (331).
As HeYdtStevenson argues, Austen's witty and bawdy humour is "tendentious (Freud;s
term for humour's aggressive purposiveness)" in a way that it provides an outlet for her
hostili§ toward ideologies that dominate women (331).In conclusion, Heydt-Stevenson
states that;
[i]n her bawdy/body humour Austen frankly breaches normative ideologies,
integrating these instances of immodest and risqué humour into the narratives
as a whole: in other words, they are not odd moments to pass over or to titter
about in private, but pleasurable and unabashed inscriptions ofa sexuality that is
foundational rather than incidental or anomalous. (339)
Thus Heydt-Stevenson claims that Austen's use of humour conveys messages that
(can) contain (both) aggression and sexuality and that these instances are to be found
in the text. These are not accidental or mistaken points in the texts but integrated and
central elements in the process of expression and articulation. Regina Baneca and Eileen
Gillooly also acknowledged that Austen's wit has subversive qualities (3), and her wit
including funny double entendres reveals her "knowingness" (5). In the end, we get the
answer to the question of whether Jane Austen really meant that: yes, she did.
DidJaneAusten Really Mean That? ... she did. In oftenunbecoming conjunctions,
these "unladylike" references foster erotic delight, critique patriarchal ideologies,
and offer a reevaluation of Austen's literary achievements, (28)
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