To Austen-l
Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2002
Reply-To: Jane Austen List From: "Jill L. Spriggs" The more time Cecilia spent in the Harrel establishment, the less congenial it
became. With unease she saw the insidious influence of the spendthrift Sir
Robert Floyer, and her friend Priscilla's disregard of their headlong pursuit
of perdition. Mr. Arnott was always there, moping about.
She had mistaken the childish friendship of Mrs. Harrel to be
something more durable, and Cecilia found herself in a veritable Vanity Fair
of superficiality and materialism. Her longing for escape would unfortunately
render her vulnerable to an unwise attachment.
Cecilia was struck with a radical idea'
Another aside; in Frances Burney's novels I notice that girls are rarely
pushed forward to show off their mastery of the pianoforte, or the lute, or
the harp, or whatever. Was it only years later this became common practice?
Or was Frances' childhood so rich with the performances of professional
musicians that no ordinary amateur, like perhaps Fanny, would presume to
entertain such luminaries as frequented her father's home, with her girlish
efforts?
Cecilia's strong sense of public responsibility must have been from early
indoctrination by her uncle the Dean. How many young girls in her position
would feel a " ... strong sense of DUTY, a fervent desire to ACT RIGHT [as
the] ruling characteristics of her mind ..." I am sure Sir Robert had no
such aspirations, and would be appalled when he learned of the bent of his
intended's mind.
Cecilia realized that it would be most difficult to put her resolutions into
effect in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harrel. She decided to call upon her two
other guardians and decide which home would be more congenial for spending the
remainder of her minority. Before she could put her intentions into action,
she was temporarily diverted by the presence of a visitor, welcome, for a
change.
Mr. Monckton could no longer remain away from the object of his passion, and
had to see what changes had already been wrought in his beloved. He rapidly
saw that Cecilia had already conquered the heart of Mr. Arnott, but was
relieved to see that not only was it not reciprocated, but Cecilia " ... had
so little watched Mr. Arnott as to be unconscious she had inspired any [love].
" Mr. Monckton had no opportunity for a personal chat with Cecilia, but hoped
for the best later in the day, when he had been invited for dinner. Cecilia
also was eager to communicate with him about her pet project, but opportunity
was not to come. She was the center of attention of both Mr. Arnott and Sir
Robert Floyer, who Mr. Monckton saw also was a competitor for Cecilia's hand.
He saw no danger from that quarter; Cecilia's disgust at Sir Robert's
scrutiny was obvious. Maybe the next day, at the rehearsal of a new opera, he
would have more opportunity.
Jill Spriggs
This is written in response to Jill's "A Project."
Perhaps Cecilia's plans for filling her hours with a program of study
is a satire in the way at the close of S&S Marianne's plans for
her program of study were. Both derive from Johnson making fun
of people's pride, of how the "best laid plans" never get anywhere,
about our false ideas of our own virture. Of course the difference
is Cecilia is surrounded by such awful people, we can understand.
The 3 guardian plot is artificial. It is very
hard to string incidents in a plot along. The picaresque novel
relies on putting the character into journey mode. The epistolary
inner novel relies on intense psychological conflict and meditation.
It's as if Burney is nervous and wants to make sure she has
something to do next. It reminds me of a teacher with a lesson
plan to give her courage. Events should emerge from characters
and as the result of the characters' natures. Perhaps we will
see Burney begin to do this together with this 3 guardian
set up; also perhaps in Camilla she was able to drop this
pre-conceives tripartite symmetry.
Ellen Moody
June 14, 1998
Re: Burney: Cecilia, Chs 7-11: The Significance of Money
As I read this week's chapters I tried to think of what I thought
was the theme running through them that was most significant.
I came up with money. Cecilia is feted, chased, and treated
with real defence because she is an heiress.
Our subtitle is Memoirs of an Heiress. And she will inherit
a great deal of money, 10,000 pounds with a yearly income
of 3,000. We are given to understand she is beautiful, but
none of these men would be after her is she had not
this income--except pehaps Monckton who is a desperate figure,
genuinely enamoured and has already sold himself for
enough years to get his hands on his wife's income to
support him in a future marriage.
The sum tells us something further: it is
a fairy tale amount. In S&S Austen gives Miss Grey and
Miss Morton fabulous sums; it is also highly unusual for
a commoner to have the income of a Darcy. In reality,
the probability would have been he would have bought
himself or been "honored" by a title.
Money is central to the developing story of the Harrels
and Sir Robert Floyer. It is clear Mr Harrel is very like
the characters in Vanity Fair who exist without
adequate income by (paradoxically) getting so deeply
into debt based on the tradesmen's own precarious
state (Mr Hill was himself desperate for a job) which
will lead them to wait on in hopes of being paid. Mr
Harrel is head over heels in debt. Mrs Harrel's life
depends upon her money. Her parties are honeyed
by money. We have already heard of how Miss
Larolles loves going to auctions where bankrupt
people have to sell all. Sir Robert Floyer, gambler,
is leading Mr Harrel to overspend--shades of
Mr Elliot and Mr Smith's relationship. We might
think of what Mrs Smith once was, and Austen
hints she was not guiltless.
The story of the Hills caught the readers at the
time. According to a note in my edition, the
frontispiece of a book showed Cecilia giving
money to the frantic Mrs Hill. These are characters
out of Dickens.
I was fascinated by the opera rehearsal (and shall
try to write a separate posting on this tomorrow
evening), but the only reason Cecilia gets to
go is she has money and therefore connections.
A related more abstract observation: it strikes me
that underlying Burney's insistence on money as
a central mover of what we see, is her attempt not
to be hypocritical. She is not altogether successful
because she idealizes her heroine. But apart
from Cecilia, and perhaps Mr Arnott--who is
very attractive in his gentleness and also helpless
to change his brother-in-law one iota--not a character
is seen through any emotionalism. Perhaps this
is a problem. It's all too hard. What succeeds
in Johnson's journalism as a "character" in a
clearly satirical or allegorical sketch of satire
does not carry into the novel that well. We want
real characters. But they are slowly emerging
from the chrysalis of Burney's antithesis
and sardonic appraisal of motives. I thought a
number of the scenes more effective because
we are getting to see a definite story develop.
Ellen Moody
Re: Cecilia, Chs 7-11: Epistolary/Dramatic Analogies
This novel shows the same tracking of time
we find in Austen's
books. As a new chapter opens, we are told
the next morning, the next day; within chapters
we are told a visit occurs a specific number of
days after some other events; hours are counted;
events are rooted in morning (before dinner),
evening, and after supper. There are a number
of explicit references which the notes tie down
to a specific year. One suggests that the
almanac being used in 1779. That's interesting
because it suggests that upon the success
of Evelina (1778), immediately Burney began
this huge book. Critics and biographers talk
of how she hoped for her play to be staged,
and how both her father and Crisp encouraged
her to write one because they saw little
cash registers in one another's eyes as
they viewed what could have been made from
Evelina with a proper negotiation beforehand.
But if she did begin a play, perhaps she also
began a novel?
Why track time? To create verisimilitude. To be
able to create intensity through slipping in
a number of intense incidents which expand
time to the psychological experience of
them (which has nothing to do with the calendar).
To fix the scenes in the diurnal reality of the
reader. To give pace and rhythm. One
of the problems with earlier fiction is it does
none of this. It jumps ludicrously across
years, piles in incidents, doesn't give the
sense of felt life careful arrangement of
felt time does.
And of course it derives from Richardson.
Ellen Moody
From: "Jill L. Spriggs" The nature of Cecilia's pursuers was quite different from those of Evelina.
Cecilia was never left unprotected and vulnerable as was Evelina, so her
harassers seem to be of more the avaricious type, rather than the horny.
Every man in her circle, with the exception of Mr. Arnott, were lusting after
her money; Sir Robert, Mr. Morrice, Mr. Monckton, Mr. Gosport, even her so
called guardian, Mr. Harrel had his own designs on the money. I do wish that
Frances had departed from her habit of creating devastatingly beautiful
heroines. I feel Cecilia would have been even more effective if she were
plain. Unfortunately, we would have to wait for Jane Eyre for that.
Mr. Monckton again was thwarted in his desire for a tete a tete with Cecilia.
Would he have been as transparent if we had not been informed by the author?
I think so; and wonder at the fact that apparently Mr. Monckton's passion has
gone unrecognized thus far.
Jill Spriggs
To Austen-l
June 15, 1998
Re: Burney: Cecilia, I:8: An Opera Rehearsal: Artaserse, 1779
To Jill's postings on the assembly and breakfast, I'd like to add
one on the opera rehearsal. I was fascinated. This probably
comes from my husband's love of opera and my having for
a very long time now gone with him to all sorts of operas,
listened to them on radio and through recordings, and watched
them on TV. I have, however, never seen one rehearsed. I
wondered if wealthy people with connections still get to
see such a thing. I assume the patrons of the opera do.
Why not their "friends?" Last night my husband and I went
to a very great performance of Hamlet done by the Royal
Shakespeare Company here in Kennedy Center in DC;
when I called almost immediately after it was advertised I
found I could only get tickets starting from Row M back.
It seems somehow the seats from A-N were not available
to the general public as yet.
It is the mention of which opera is rehearsed that enables
Doody to say the almanac Burney used is that for the year
1779. It's Artaserse. A footnote tells us the composer
was one Bertoni and the librettist Metastasio. Having read
a few 17th century French heroic romances in my time
(Clelia, Cassandra) I know what the plot must be like;
actually late 19th century French operas are often heroic
romances set to music (e.g., Thais). Doody says the
action of Cecilia "runs through 1779" and "she is
faithful to the current events of that year."
Much of this chapter could have occurred in Evelina.
As with Evelina Burney concentrates on the audience,
not any particular play or musical event. We have
that same (?) gloomy man-hater, Mr Gosport's satiric
observations. Maybe readers would have enjoyed
Cecilia being chase by young men as Evelina was,
but here the issues brought up are not young
man snatching at one but things like sycophancy
(which seems to much exercise Burney thus far
in this book). There is also a much longer attempt
to characterize what makes good music and
to put into words the experience of the music
(Oxford 1988 Cecilia, Ch 8, pp. 64-5).
Unhappily we get nothing like this is Austen. I rather
think she supposed it a digression. Remember how
we are told Catherine was deeply involved in watching
a play in Bath until she saw Tilney in the audience;
then she couldn't keep her mind on it. It doesn't
matter what the play was. But she was also making
a virtue of necessity. The fact is she didn't experience
this kind of thing. She didn't have the acess Burney
had to the upper class world and its luxuries and art
forms.
Ellen Moody
From: "Jill L. Spriggs" I am going to post on the chapters out of order because I find the plight of
Mrs. Hill was dealt with in these chapters in an unusually sensitive manner,
especially when one has read (I must confess, only part of) The Wanderer, in
which the protagonist was driven to desperation by the slowness of the wealthy
to pay for services and goods supplied by the working class. Burney seemed to
have been more aware of the plight of the poor than most, and the vividness of
her descriptions makes me wonder how her knowledge was gained. It was through
Cecilia's eyes we become more and more aware of the callousness of the
wealthy, especially for those too poor to have recourse to the law. First we
had Miss Larolle's ghoulish fascination with the auctioning of the possessions
of persons more advanced on the road to perdition, then Mrs. Harrel's
disregard for the pleas of the starving woman, not a beggar, but a supplicant
for wages owed. Mr. Harrel's reaction when Mrs. Hill told him of the loss of
her only son, "So much the better, there's one the less of you ..." reminds me
of Scrooge's reaction to a request for funds for the poor, in essence, let
them die and decrease the surplus population. How are these examples of
heartlessness different from a more contemporary proposal for orphanages for
the children of people on welfare?
But I am revealing my own prejudices ...
Jill Spriggs
From: Nancy Mayer Some of the callousness to people like
Mrs. Hill comes from the belief of
many that they were placed in
positions of power and money due to
some virtue on their part and that the
poor were punished by God for some
shortcoming.
Another source is the opinions that
were presented later by Adam Smith
"They do not need more money for if
they have it they will only breed like
rabbits."
( Whether Smith was alive or not at
the time in which Cecilia is set is
immaterial as the ideas were there.)
Third is the upperclass idea of
honour. It was a matter of honour to
pay one's gambling debts immediately
but no one paid the tailor. Tradesmen
were expected to be so thankful for
having the lordly one;s patronage that
they would wait for payment. When the
rich did not pay their bills the poor
went bankrupt starved or were thrown
into prison.
Last is the fact that people like Mrs.
Hill had no champion. There was no one
to force Harrell to pay her the money
owed. Small minded mean bullies have a
way of finding the ones they can cheat
and intimidate.
Subject: Cecilia, I:I:VII, A Project: Best Laid Plans and Plots
" What chiefly damped her hopes of forming a friendship with any of the
new acquaintance to whom she was introduced, was the observation she herself made
how ill the coldness of their hearts accorded with the warmth of their
professions; upon every first meeting, the civilities which were shewn her,
flattered her into believing she had excited a partiality that a very little
time would ripen into affection; the next meeting commonly confirmed the
expectation; but the third, and every future one, regularly destroyed it.
She found that time added nothing to their fondness, nor intimacy to their
sincerity."
"She purposed, for the basis of her
plan, to become mistress of her own time, and with this view, to drop all idle
and uninteresting acquaintance, who while they contribute neither to use nor
pleasure, make so large a part of the community, that they may properly be
called the underminers of existence: she could then shew some taste and
discernment in her choice of friends, and she resolved to select such only as
by their piety could elevate her mind, by their knowledge improve her
understanding, or by their accomplishments and manners delight her affections.
[sounds promising, if only it were as easy as it sounds!] This regulation, if
strictly adhered to, would relieve her from the fatigues of receiving many
visitors [that part is true], and therefore she might have all the leisure she
could desire for the pursuit of her favourite studies, music, and reading."
Subject: Cecilia, V. I, B. I, Ch. 8, An Opera Rehearsal
To: AUSTEN-L@VM1.MCGILL.CA
Subject: Cecilia, Volume I, Book I, Chapters 9, 10,
and 11; The Plight Of The Working
To: AUSTEN-L@VM1.MCGILL.CA
Subject: Cecilia: Mrs. Hill's money The Plight Of The Working
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