Jane Austen Dishes Disappointment

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Disappointment casts a long shadow over all Jane Austen’s novels.  Whether thwarted by dashed hopes or grappling with a sense of unworthiness imposed by others, her characters face personal challenges and struggle to overcome disappointment.  When they eventually triumph, it creates a strong emotional connection for her readers. 

Emma

Poor Jane Fairfax was orphaned as a child, raised by a wealthy family, and had limited options when she came of age.  When the childhood friend with whom she was raised married, she returned to the home of her grandmother and aunt, Mrs. and Miss Bates, carrying a secret. 

She met a wealthy young man and entered a secret engagement with him even though he wasn’t free to choose his own wife. He was beholden to his adoptive parents who kept him on a short leash.  She was beautiful and talented, but her future was cloudy.  Even though she was treated kindly, she must have struggled with insecurity and sense of unworthiness as an orphan dependent on her benefactors.  The lifestyle in which she was raised was not guaranteed to her as an adult and made her doubtful about her future. 

Her secret fiancé, Frank Churchill, followed her to Highbury under the guise of visiting his birth father, Mr. Weston and his new bride, and presented himself as an eligible bachelor to the intrigued socialite, Emma Woodhouse.  He used her as a distraction to cover where his true affections resided.  Jane was admired by all except Emma, who was jealous and peeved at the beautiful new arrival for drawing attention away from herself, and being more gifted at the pianoforte. 

While Frank toyed with Emma’s affections, Jane was left to fret about her potential future working as a governess, which would follow if their engagement faltered.  At one point she wore her disappointment and disillusionment on her sleeve when she encountered Emma as she was leaving Dunhill Abbey to walk home alone, much to Emma’s dismay.  “Miss Woodhouse, we all know at times what it is to be wearied in spirits.  Mine, I confess, are exhausted.” One can feel the depth of her disappointment and distress.

To the satisfaction of all of Highbury, Frank’s aunt died and he was free to marry Jane.  Emma had long since forsaken interest in Frank as a possible suitor but soon came to recognize her own attachment to Mr. Knightly, leading to a happily ever after for both couples.  Nevertheless, it was a much easier path for Emma than it was for Jane who wrestled with the fear of disappointment if the engagement came to naught and she ended up working as a governess.

Mansfield Park

Having been sent away to live at Mansfield Park by her impoverished family, Fanny Price was little more than a servant and looked down upon by everyone except for Edmund Bertram, who was at least kind to her.  Fanny knew her place in the home as evidenced by living in an attic room with no fire to keep her warm.  Fanny was exposed daily to her “unworthiness”, especially by her aunt, Mrs. Norris. 

Did she aspire to win Edmund’s love during those early years?  I think not, as she probably wouldn’t consider herself worthy of his affections.  Still, she cared deeply for him and felt that his affection for Mary Crawford was misplaced because she dismissed the life of a clergyman, even though Edmund was destined for it. 

Fanny considered Mary to be unworthy of his ardent interest without seeing herself as a potential substitute.  When Henry Crawford came courting, Fanny was appalled because she saw him as untrustworthy and rejected, even resented, his overtures.  She was no fan of either of the Crawford siblings.

Fanny spent much of her time disappointed in those around her at Mansfield Park as well as by her own family when she returned briefly to Portsmouth and witnessed the behavior of her parents.  Through it all, she managed to maintain her integrity despite how she was treated. 

When Edmund finally turned his amorous attentions towards Fanny, she welcomed him even if the romance had been a very slow burn.  Fortunately, in the end, they lived happily ever after and were “equally formed for domestic life, and attached to country pleasures, their home was the home of affections and comfort...”

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Bennet was as modest as she was beautiful and aspired to nothing more than to please her family.  When she was singled out by Mr. Bingley at a local ball and then sought out by his sisters to further their acquaintance, she seemed destined for a superior alliance with a man who was, by her estimation, “sensible, good humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners! – so much ease, with such perfect good breeding.” 

Before long he was snatched away to London by his friend, Mr. Darcy, and his sisters, leaving her with dashed hopes and deep regret. “Hope was over, entirely over…”, yet she bore her disappointment with her usual modesty.  “I have this comfort immediately, that it has not been more than an error of fancy on my side, and that it has done no harm to anyone but myself.”

Jane carried her disappointment heavily, especially after she traveled to London at the invitation of aunt and uncle and was treated dismissively by Caroline Bingley who assured Jane that her brother had no interest in returning to Hertfordshire or renewing their acquaintance, and inferred he had formed an attachment to Georgianna Darcy.

Dear Jane, if it had not been for the convoluted path Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet took towards finally recognizing their own affections, Jane may have gone though life disappointed.  Instead, and fortunately for us, all ends well and both sisters married for love which is as it should be.

Northanger Abbey

Isabella Thorpe arrived in Bath and immediately attached herself to impressionable Catherine Morland. She was already acquainted with Catherine’s brother, James, through her brother, John.  Isabella won the affections of James Morland soon after he arrived in Bath, and they became engaged.  To her dismay, it was to be an extended engagement.  The Morland’s were a large family of twelve children, and the father, a clergyman, couldn’t afford to provide the income needed for his son to marry right away. 

Isabella’s mother was a widow with no dowry in place for her daughter, although both mother and daughter insisted that they didn’t care about money or the length of the engagement.  However, when James went home to consult with his father about the engagement, Isabella spied greener pastures and began a flirtation with Captain Tilney, the eldest son of General Tilney and brother to Catherine’s friends, Henry and Elenor. 

Naïve Catherine was shocked to witness this betrayal of her brother and didn’t understand how Isabella could be so coquettish when she was already engaged.  Engagement was a serious business in those times and not to be taken lightly. 

While visiting Northanger Abbey with Henry and Elenor, she received a letter from James informing her that the engagement has been broken and Isabella would soon be engaged to Captain Tilney.  Henry had serious doubts about the likelihood of his brother entering into such an engagement, as Catherine waited pensively for the announcement. 

Instead, she received a letter from Isabella asking for her help making amends with James, hoping to renew their engagement, after she was jilted by Captain Tilney.  Catherine was shocked and angry at the request; remarking to Henry, “She is a vain coquette, and her tricks have not answered.”

The penalty for a broken engagement fell far more heavily on a woman than a man in that period.  It essentially ruined the reputation of the young lady and, in Isabella’s case, with no dowry and a widowed mother, it was catastrophic.  One may assume the flirtatious Isabella’s hopes were dashed when James and Catherine rejected her overtures. She must have been very disappointed, indeed.

Sense and Sensibility

Elinor and Marianne Dashwood battled one disappointment after another.  The opening pages of the novel announced the death of their father, and then they were forced to leave their beloved home after their half-brother inherited the estate and left them almost penniless.  Fortunately, they were invited to live at Barton Cottage by a wealthy relative.

Both sisters were introduced to love interests early on but Elinor’s attachment to Edward Ferrars was crushed when she discoverd he was secretly engaged to Lucy Steele, and Lucy swore her to secrecy.  Marianne threw caution to the wind, so enamored was she with John Willoughby, that she didn’t care what anyone thought, until he announced his departure to London and deflated her hopes of ever seeing him again. 

When the sisters were invited to London by Mrs. Jennings, Marianne was hopeful that she would see Willoughby again and reclaim his affections. Elinor dreaded the prospect of seeing Edward again, knowing he was engaged to another, and she would be forced to hide her disappointment. 

While in London, Marianne suffered a cruel blow when she was spurned by Willougby and then learned he was engaged.  Elinor was forced to play the role of liaison between Colonel Brandon and Edward, who was disowned by his mother for his secret engagement.  She informed Edward of the colonel’s generous offer of a living as a clergyman that would support his marriage to Lucy.  All hopes for Elinor and Marianne were dashed by the time they returned to Barton Cottage.

After Edward was disinherited, Lucy recalculated her choice and attached herself to Edward’s brother, Robert, instead thus setting free Edward to marry Elinor.  Marianne came to see the error of her ways and realized Willougby was not the man she thought he was.  Instead, she transferred her affections to Colonel Brandon who had loved her from the start.  Dashed hopes were transformed into happy endings for both sisters after weathering a great deal of disappointment.

Persuasion

The entire plot of this novel is based on the disappointment of two people, Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth, who fell in love when she was just nineteen.  Her hopes were dashed when her father made her break off her engagement to a man whom he considered beneath her.  After all, she was the daughter of a baronet, and Captain Wentworth lacked both title and fortune. 

When Captain Wentworth returned after amassing a fortune in the Navy, the early rebuke he suffered over his unworthiness as a suitor still stung.  He did everything he could to punish Anne for rejecting him.  He ignored her while appearing to court the two sisters of Anne’s brother-in-law, who were completely enamored with the worldly, wealthy, and handsome captain. 

Anne was forced to sit on the sidelines watching her former finance' flirt with young ladies that she felt were unworthy of him.  He remained cold and indifferent until an accident occurred that renewed his respect for Anne and made him realize his flirtation threatened to obligate him to propose to someone he did not love.  He then pursued Anne to Bath to renew the courtship and win her hand.  Disappointment was around every corner of this novel, but it ended, as all romances do, with a happily ever after. 

What about Jane Austen’s life? 

One of her biggest disappointments was the unexpected decision by her father to retire and move to Bath.  She was forced to leave behind her home, her beloved books, and adapt to city life.  They moved to a series of less expensive homes over a five-year period, and when her father died, they became dependent on financial support from her brothers.  She did enjoy periods living by the seaside at Lyme, but she was adrift until they moved to the cottage at Chawton and she finally found stability. 

While she broke off one engagement overnight, there is speculation that she fell in love with a gentleman she met at the seashore who died before they could meet again, so she may have been disappointed in love as well. 

She was certainly disappointed by her first publisher who never bothered to print her novel, and she eventually bought back the rights to Northanger Abbey which was eventually published.  I am sure that as she came to the end of her life, she was disappointed to not be able to finish her manuscripts, Sanditon and The Watsons.  Her loyal fans share that disappointment to this day.