Jane Austen Quote of the Day

On the subject of marriage

"'I pay very little regard,' said Mrs. Grant, 'to what any young person says on the subject of marriage.  If they profess a disinclination for it, I only set it down that they have not yet seen the right person.'"

Mansfield Park, volume 1, chapter 4

Provided she could marry well...

"Miss Crawford was glad to find a family of such consequence so very near them, and not at all displeased either at her sister's early care, or the choice it had fallen on.  Matrimony was her object, provided she could marry well, and having seen Mr. Bertram in town, she knew that objection could no more be made to his person than to his situation in life.  While she treated it as a joke, therefore, she did not forget to think of it seriously."

Mansfield Park, volume 1, chapter 4 (emphasis mine)

I want to condemn Mary Crawford for this sentiment, but no doubt it was the way (nearly) everyone thought then. And I wonder -- how much have we really changed?  Although my definition of marrying well and Mary Crawford's are completely different.

A match-making sister

"She had not waited her arrival to look out for a suitable match for her; she had fixed on Tom Bertram; the eldest son of a Baronet was not too good for a girl of twenty thousand pounds, with all the elegance and accomplishments which Mrs. Grant foresaw in her; and being a warm-hearted, unreserved woman, Mary had not been three hours in the house before she told her what she had planned."

Mrs. Grant matchmaking for her sister Mary
Mansfield Park, volume 1, chapter 4

Of course, Tom Bertram was a fool, in addition to being the eldest son of a baronet.  (And, of course, Mary proves to have her own foolish tendencies as well.)

The image is from the new version of MP starring Billie Piper, which will run on the Masterpiece Theatre Complete Jane Austen Season starting in January.

Can money make a man smart?

Apparently so!

"If this man had not twelve thousand a year, he would be a very stupid fellow."

What Edmund Bertram thinks to himself about Mr. Rushworth
Mansfield Park, volume 1, chapter 4

I am running quite late today.  My dear friend Margaret and her cousin are in town from England, so I spent the day with them at the National Cathedral and Dumbarton Oaks garden--two of my favorite spots in D.C.  It was lovely.

The 'thoroughly benevolent' Mrs. Norris

More from Mansfield Park this week -- and more on the theme of knowing ourselves, and considering our actions.  Horrible Mrs. Norris!

"Mrs. Norris had not the least intention of being at any expense whatever in [Fanny's] maintenance.  As far as walking, talking, and contriving reached, she was thoroughly benevolent, and nobody knew better how to dictate liberality to others: but her love of money was equal to her love of directing, and she knew quite as well how to save her own as to spend that of her friends. ...

"Under this infatuating principle, counteracted by no real affection for her sister, it was impossible for her to aim at more than the credit of projecting and arranging so expensive a charity; though perhaps she might so little know herself, as to walk home to the Parsonage after this conversation, in the happy belief of being the most liberal-minded sister and aunt in the world."

Mansfield Park, volume 1, chapter 1 (emphasis mine)

Men of large fortune

"But there certainly are not so many men of large fortune in the world as there are pretty women to deserve them."

Mansfield Park, volume 1, chapter 1

Oh, how true!