Jane Austen - Regrets and Redemption

Was Jane Austen a cynic at heart?  Consider the opinion espoused by Elizabeth Bennet at the beginning of Pride and Prejudice: “There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well.  The more I see of the world, the more I am dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.”  Ouch!

Jane was a master observer of human nature  and how choices we make can lead to regrets, followed by transformation and redemption.  While her novels appear at first glance to be love stories, her gaze is focused on the conceits and perfidies of her characters and the social pressures endemic to the period.  Many of them overcome obstacles, self-inflicted or not, while others remain unchanged and will always lack “merit or sense”.  It’s the mixing and matching of these characters with all their human foibles that never ceases to entertain us.

Pride and Prejudice

Let’s start with dear Lizzy who has a rather high opinion of her opinions and powers of observation.  When she first encounters Mr. Darcy at an assembly. she is rightfully offended by his behavior, especially when she overhears his insult by refusing to dance with her because she was not “handsome” enough.  In short order, he comes to find her quite handsome enough and is charmed by her wit, pert opinions and graceful manners. She exhibits all the social graces while he finds society discomfiting and prides himself on his superior station in life.  He struggles with the feelings he’s developing for her while she remains firmly convinced of his distain. 

Arrogance and rudeness are on full display when he finally succumbs to his feelings and makes a disastrous proposal of marriage.  Her shock at the proposal is compounded by her anger over his admission of interference in the attachment of Jane and Mr. Bingley along with his alleged offenses committed against Mr. Wickham.  Her rebuke sears his pride especially when she condemns him for proposing in an ungentleman-like manner.  His shock at her refusal when he expected gratitude combined with her condemnation of his behavior generated feelings of sincere regret for Darcy later.

Lizzy was slower to reconsider her opinion of him.  While the letter he hands her in Rosings Park explaining his relationship with Mr. Wickham and his concerns about the behavior of her family, her opinion of him remains unchanged until they accidentally meet at Pemberley.  There he conducts himself as a true gentleman and she wonders if he will renew his efforts to court her.  When word comes of Lydia’s elopement, she is convinced she will never see him again and finally begins to experience deep regret at the loss of his regard.  Redemption comes quickly to both once Darcy intercedes in tracking down the runaway couple, ensures they marry, and encourages Bingley to renew his attentions towards Jane.  Lizzy and Darcy undergo significant transformations by acknowledging they had both engaged in pride and prejudice before finally realizing they were meant for each other.

Regret plays a high-profile role for many in this novel.  Lizzy’s sister, a very disappointed Jane, comes to regret her early attachment to Mr. Bingley, who demonstrated his high regard for her initially until abruptly returning to London with no plans to return.  Lizzy comes to regret her early regard for Mr. Wickham who undermines Darcy’s reputation and reinforces her already low opinion of him through deceit.  All turns out well for the elder Bennet sisters but the person who experiences the least regret and sees little need for redemption is young Lydia Bennet who breaks all the rules, elopes with Wickham, brags of her conquest, and lacks the merit or sense to see the error of her ways. 

Emma

Few of Jane Austen’s characters have a higher opinion of themselves that “handsome, clever, and rich” Emma Woodhouse. Convinced that she is a gifted matchmaker, she proceeds to interfere with the lives of others and engineer misguided romances, including her own. 

She steers her protégé, Harriet Smith, away from a very suitable engagement to a local farmer by encouraging her to aspire to a more eligible suitor, Mr. Elton, oblivious to the fact that Mr. Elton’s own aspirations were directed towards Emma.  After she rejects him, Elton immediately travels to Bath in search of suitable wife.  So interesting that Jane's clergymen waste no time in finding new marital partners.

With the long-awaited arrival of Frank Churchill, his attentions to Emma lead her to fancy that he has an attachment to her and wonders if she might be in love with him as well.  When she realizes she isn’t in love with him, her matchmaking zeal leads her to believe Harriet’s affections have turned to Frank Churchill, until, to her dismay, she learns that Harriet’s interests tended in an entirely different direction, towards Emma’s dearest friend and confidant, Mr. Knightly. 

Regret quickly overtakes Emma who fears Mr. Knightly returns Harriet’s affections and realizes her interference in Harriet’s love life might very well have ruined her own chance at happiness when she realizes that she is in love with Mr. Knightly. When he finally proposes to Emma, she happily relinquishes her matchmaking role and finds redemption when Harriet finally marries the farmer, Robert Martin.  Was Emma’s transformation from matchmaker to loving wife complete?  One presumes Mr. Knightly will keep his clever wife from interfering in the lives of others going forward.   

The person with the fewest regrets is Frank Churchill.  He enters a secret engagement to Jane Fairfield, deceives everyone around him, manages to come into his inheritance and finds himself free to marry Jane, who had almost abandoned hope.  A fortunate man, indeed.

Sense and Sensibility 

We find an entire cast of characters dealing with regret throughout this story.  Elinor regrets her attachment to Edward Ferrers when she learns of his secret engagement to Lucy Steele from Lucy herself and is forced to carry their secret.  Meanwhile, her sister, Marianne, abandons all decorum when she meets John Willougby and they flaunts their attachment leading many to believe they were engaged.  After he abruptly leaves for London, she is filled with regret, longing, and confusion when she finally realizes his plans are to marry for money rather than love.

Colonel Brandon has viewed all of this from the sidelines as he recognizes the unbridled emotions and impetuous behavior of Marianne reminds him of his own long-lost love and the many regrets he has lived with for years.  His attraction to her is partially influenced by a desire to protect Marianne since he already knows the dark underside of Willougby’s character.  Brandon lives with both regret and unrequited love. 

Edward Ferrers lives with regret as well, especially after he meets Elinor and realizes the youthful indiscretion of an engagement to Lucy Steele will cost him the hand of the woman he truly loves, Elinor.  Either way he had much to risk including the inheritance from his demanding and vindictive mother.

How do all these regrets play out?  Who finds redemption?  Steadfast Elinor, the keeper of secrets, finds happiness after Edward finds redemption via his own stalwart moral character and refuses to bow to the will of his mother, loses his inheritance to his brother, Robert, and escapes the clutches of Lucy Steele (ever the opportunist) who already has her hooks in Robert. 

Colonel Brandon finds redemption when he rescues Marianne and rushes to bring her mother to her sickbed.  He reveals the truth about Willoughby allowing Marianne to find redemption by recognizing the error of her ways and committing to behave with more sense and less sensibility in the future.  Eventually he wins her hand. Meanwhile, Willoughby lives with his regrets for giving up the woman he loved for the financial security of marriage to a woman he does not love.

Lucy Steele has no regrets whatever.  She played a strong hand, traded up in the marriage department after she learned Edward would be disinherited, and later redeemed herself and Robert in the eyes of Mrs. Ferrars with flattery and obeisance.  Her only regret may be living in close proximity to her sister-in-law, Fanny Dashwood, who shares her grasping proclivities.

Mansfield Park

Where to start with the Bertram family?  All have character flaws save Edmund, but even he is easily influenced by others including his older brother and his newfound friends, Mary and Henry Crawford.   He can claim good moral character and kindness towards his young cousin, Fanny Price, whom the family has lifted out of poverty and raised as a dependent under the direction of her insufferable aunt, Mrs. Norris, who treats her like a servant.  

The young Bertram’s lives become entwined with the Crawfords, including newly engaged Maria Bertram whose early flirtation with Henry leads to her ruination after she has married, and Edmund, who becomes infatuated with Mary and turns a blind eye to her character and questionable values.  Fanny remains a bystander witnessing the behavior with dismay. 

Sir Thomas Bertram experiences regret when he recognizes the failings or his children and compares their behavior to steadfast Fanny whose moral compass never fails her even when Sir Thomas tried to force her to marry Henry Crawford.  When Maria spurns her new husband to run off with Henry instead, Sir Thomas is forced to banish her to the country with her Aunt Norris.  He remains disappointed in his own children and never really finds redemption except, perhaps, after Edmund comes to his senses about Mary Crawford and marries Fanny.   

As for regrets with no redemption, that falls to Maria and Aunt Norris who are stuck with each other.  Neither Henry Crawford nor his sister feel regret about their behavior and moved on to greener pastures.  Fanny had nothing to regret and therefore required no redemption; she had remained true to herself throughout.

Northanger Abbey

What can one say about innocent, inexperienced Catherine Moreland when it comes to regrets and redemption?  Certainly, she ended up regretting the relationship with Isabella Thorpe which flourished when they first met in Bath.  Who can blame her for the friendship? She was desperately in need of an acquaintance when Isabella arrived on the scene; they loved to stroll around town and discuss gothic novels. When her brother, James, arrived in town with John Thorpe, Isabella’s brother, she was thrown into a role as witness to the courtship and engagement of James and Isabella, and the unwanted attentions of John.   She struggled with their manipulations and intrusions when all she wanted was to win the affection of Henry Tilney and befriend his sister, Eleanor. 

Her dreams come true thanks to their father, General Tilney, who mistook her for an heiress, invited her to Northanger Abbey, and then sent her packing in the middle of the night when he discovered his error. 

When it comes to regrets, there are many to consider.  Catherine, with her vivid imagination and love of gothic novels, conjures up nefarious schemes while staying at the Abbey and is caught in the act of snooping by Henry.  She is mortified when confronted although he had some responsibility in contributing to her overactive imagination.  Both Henry and Eleanor deeply felt deep regret over their father’s belligerent behavior banishing young Catherine and sending her home unescorted. 

Henry redeems himself admirably when he pursues her to ensure she arrived safely which leads to their engagement.  Perhaps the deepest regret of all was experienced by Isabella Thorpe whose flirtation with Captain Tilney led to the breakoff of her engagement to James Moreland.  A broken engagement was quite scandalous at the time and was far more hurtful to a woman’s reputation than to the man involved.  Despite her efforts at reconciliation by writing to Catherine to advocate for a renewal of the engagement, it was too late.  Lucky escape for James indeed.

Persuasion

The foundation of this novel is a story of regret.  Anne Elliot at the age of 27 had been living with regret for nine years following the breakup of an engagement to Captain Wentworth because her father disapproved of the match.  When they met and fell in love he was just starting out in his naval career; when they meet nine year later, he is rich, successful, and resentful.  He flaunts his freedom with his attentions to the eligible Musgrove sisters, barely acknowledging their former relationship.  Anne simmers in a stew of loss, regret, and unresolved feelings because she never stopped loving him. 

An accident in Lyme upsets the balance followed by an unexpected engagement of the stricken Louisa Musgrove to Wentworth’s friend, Captain Benwick.  Wentworth follows Anne to Bath having realized that feeding his resentment masked his true feelings for her, only to find competition in the form of the very eligible William Elliot, heir to her father’s estate.  Redemption came in the form of the world’s most romantic love letter that leaves us swooning to this day.  He had nothing to worry about because Anne never intended to marry William Elliot; her heart belonged to one man only and they were able to put their regrets about the past behind them.

If Jane Austen really believed in the “inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense”, she still made room for the resiliency of the human heart to overcome obstacles, recognize shared values, find true love even though pride and prejudice may obfuscate the way.