kathleen lundeen, a modest proposal.pdf

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A M O D E S T P R O P O S A L ?

P A R A D I S E F O U N D I N J A N E A U S T E N ' S

B E T R O T H A L S C E N E S

I N his otherwise enthusiastic review of 1859, G. H. Lewes contends

that Jane Austen is deficient in rendering human passion: 'She has

little or no sympathy with what is picturesque and passionate. This

prevents her from painting what the popular eye can see, and the

popular heart can feel." Though many readers today would argue that

Lewes's criticism puts into question his subtlety as a reader ratherthan Austen's artistic competence, the lack of demonstrativeness in

her proposal scenes is a lingering dissatisfaction among commentators.

Mary Alice Burgan, one of many critics who has found the proposal

scenes inadequate, contends that the amount of narrative embellish-

ment as well as the degree of emotional intensity in these scenes reflect

Austen's developing skill in the portrayal of human i n t i rn a ~ y . ~n a

more recent essay, Janis Stout vindicates the proposal scenes in the

later novels from claims of emotional frigidness and artistic defect,

arguing that Austen knew the inadequacy of language to expressstrong feelings and kept those scenes deliberately spare.3 But, in

league with other commentators, she expresses reservations about

Austen's handling of those events in the earlier novels. In a re-examin-

ation of these scenes I shall argue for the thematic fittingness of the

main betrothal scenes in all six of the novels, and I shall propose that

Austen's artistry in three of the later novels may have been inspired by

a surprising source.

Austen's novels are often grouped according to the heroine's

relation to the satire: in ATorthangerAbbey,Pride and Prejudice, andEmma the heroine is at the centre of the satire, while in Sense a n d

Sensibility, iWansfield Park, and Persuasion she is, for the most part,

' Lewes's review appeared as an unsigned article, 'The Novels of Jane Austen', inBlackeuood's Edinburgh .l.lagazine, 86 (July 1859), 99-113; it is repro duced in part in J a n eAusten: The Critical Hen'tage, ed . B. C. Southam (Londo n , 1968), 148-66. T he l ines I cite areon p . 159of Southam's edition.

Burgan, 'Feeling and Control: A Study of the Proposal Scenes in Jane Austen's MajorNovels', in Th e Eng lish ,\'ozel in the .Tineteenth C en tu ry , ed. George Goodin (Urbana, 1972),

25-5 1.

Stou t, 'Jane A usten's Proposal Scen es and th e Limitations of Language', Studies in theS o c e l , 14 (1982),31626.

RES New Series, Vol. XLI, No. 161 (1990) 0Oxfotd Ik~oersz t? .Press 1990



66 L U N D E E N

on the periphery. If one focuses instead on the heroine's relationshipwith the m an sh e will m arry, the novels fall into two different groups .In the two earliest novels, ATorthanger Abbey and Sense a n dSensibility, as well as in Mansfield P a r k , the main proposal occurs inthe afte rm ath of the novel's climax, while in Prid e a n d Pre judic e,E m m a, and Persu asion, this event is the climax. As one might expect,the principal conflict in the novels containing a climactic proposal isbetween the heroine and he r hus ban d-to-b e; in the other three novelsthe heroine is in contention with som e other aspect of her world. T h etension between lovers which culminates in a proposal may besym ptom atic of th e heroine's own need for gro w th, but th e initialfriction betw een th em makes the proposal a reconciliation, a domestictruce. Although thematic differences between the two groups ofnovels provide a satisfactory explanation of why the scene is eitherplayed u p o r played do w n, one senses that the increased significance ofthe betrothal scene indicates a changing artist as well as a changinghero ine, a subject I shall pu rsu e in my discussion of t he later novels.

In N ortha nge r Abbey A usten defines the heroine's opp one nt lesssub tly tha n she does in her later works: Catherine hlorland is at oddswith th e world itself. H er surre nde r to the world of une ventful eventsis the climax of the nov el, and it precip itates her unio n with H en ry.Before they unite , Catherine is mysteriously exiled from Northang erAb bey, temporarily suspen ding her relationship w ith He nry. W hen heunexpectedly arrives at the Morlands' home, the demand for expla-nation intensifies the demand for resolution of their relationship.Hen ry's awkw ard position as the son of the uncom prom ising Gen eralTiln ey (w ho has banished Catherine from his hom e) is com poundedby the stifled atm osph ere which envelops such a social situation . A ftera few perfunctory remarks, Henry asks Catherine to accompany himto the Allens' h om e, ostensibly to show him th e way. C harac teristic ofall of Austen's novels, the outd oors allows the rela tionsh ip, as well asthe pa rties of t ha t relationsh ip, to breath e. A usten im plies a corre-lation between emotional freedom and nature, a resonance of theRomantic consciousness which insisted upon such a c ~ n n e c t i o n . ~

I n spite of t he d ram a and suspense imm ediately preceding He nry'sproposal to Catherine, the narrator reports the proposal and accept-ance in an unemo tional, business-like manner. Not only does she omitthe dialogue between th e lovers, but she summ arizes the event in thepassive voice so that it seems remote and incidental: 'She was assured

Catherine Searle explores the significance of the outdoors in Austen's novels and shows how

it reveals moral character, especially the degree to which one can think and act judiciously.

('Outdoor Scenes in Jane Austen's Novels', Thought , 591235 (1984), 419-31.)



674 M ODEST PROPOSAL?

of his affection; and that heart in return was ~olic i ted. '~n each clause

the agent has been removed, diminishing the intensity of the encoun-

ter. The anti-climactic tenor of the scene is reinforced by thenarrator's explanation of Henry's motivation for 'making an offer' to

Catherine: 'I must confess that his affection originated in nothing

better than gratitude . . . that a persuasion of her partiality for him

had been the only cause of giving her a serious thought' (p . 243). The

narrator admits the unusual nature of the proposal, implying that the

refutation of conventional literary stan&rds is deliberate: 'It is a new

circumstance in romance, I acknowledge, and dreadfully derogatory

of an heroine's dignity . . . ' (p. 243). Inasmuch as Catherine's

re-entry into the actual world constitutes the pivotal moment of thenovel, the unromantic, low-keyed betrothal is fitting. Had this scene

even a whiff of romance in it , her emergence from fantasy to reality

would have been suspect.

In Sense and Sensibility, Austen inverts the central drama of

Northanger Abbey. Elinor Dashwood, imaginatively sober and clear-

sighted, must continually adjust to a melodramatic world. The

numerous surprises in the story-her sister's dramatic rescue by a

dashing stranger, the unexpected appearance of several people,

bizarre revelations of character and circumstance, unanticipatedcomplications in her love-life-require the heroine to maintain

emotional equilibrium amidst a turbulent social landscape. Though

she and her would-be lover are not united until the end of the story,

their mutual affection is recognized much earlier. Elinor's main source

of conflict resides not in Edward, but in the frenzied world around

her. The tensest moment in the novel-the eye-witness report of

Edward and Lucy's supposed marriage-competes as the climax of the

novel with the moment which offers the greatest relief. When Elinor

discovers that Edward's brother, not Edward, has married Lucy, thedrama is over. This final crisis and its resolution are anticipated by

earlier events in which high-pitched emotionalism-sparked by dra-

matic, but deceitful appearances-subsides in the face of truth.

An emotionally charged, drawn-out betrothal between the heroine

and her lover would be highly inappropriate, given the moral thrust of

the novel, the tempering of sensibility by sense. Edward's proposal to

Elinor, reported by the narrator in a brisk, somewhat hurried fashion,

is even remoter to the reader than Henry's in Northanger Abbey.

Anticipating her reader's expectations, she remarks, 'How soon had hewalked himself into the proper resolution, however, how soon an

opportunity of exercising it occurred, in what manner he expressed

The Sov e l s o fJ an e Aus te n , ed. R . W. Chapman, 3rd edn . (Oxford , 19324) , v. 243. Al lcitations are to this edition.



L U N D E E N

himself, and how he was received, need not be particularly told'(i. 361). Why these specifics 'need not be particularly told' can beexplained by Edward's earlier romantic folly: his premature engage-m ent to Lu cy nearly earn s him a life of bo redom and frustration. T h enarrato r kindly spa res the read er the emb arrassm ent of w itnessingEd wa rd's declaration of love, a declaration wh ich m ight risk a 'here wego again' from the reader. One presumes that Edward's proposal toElinor, though undoubtedly warm, is nevertheless circumspect in thelight of his past.

T h e narrator con tinues her report with a rapid sum m ary of even ts:'T h is only need be said;-that when they all sat down to table at fouro'clock, about three hours after his arrival, he had secured his lady,engaged her mother's consent, and was not only in the rapturousprofession of the lover, but in the reality of reason and truth, one ofthe h app iest of m en' (p . 361). T h e omission of th e actual proposal iswell com pen sated for by a lengthy a nd detailed de scription of Elinor'sand Edward's emotional states following her acceptance of his hand.By defe rring the discussion of the ir feelings un til th e wake of theproposal, A usten safeguards that event from becoming an un suitableclimax to the novel. Though the narrator does not elaborate on theparticulars of the proposal, she notes that Edward, upon arriving atBarton to propose to Elino r, was 'in need of enco urag em ent and freshair' (p. 361). Coupling such psychological and physical conditionssuggests that one may invite (or even require) the othe r. O nce again,the o utdoors pe rmits freer em otional expression.

Mansfield Park is the only one of Austen's completed novels inwhich the narrator neither states nor implies the importance of theoutdoors during the betrothal scene. Nevertheless, omission of con-crete detail suits character and theme. Th rou gh ou t most of the storyFa nn y Price is romantically sepa rated from he r wou ld-be lover as wellas spiritually detached from her environment. The delayed consum-mation of her relationship with E dm un d is not self-imposed, how ever;she is guilty of n either E lizabeth Be nnet's pride an d short-sig htedn essnor E m m a W oodhouse's self-centredness nor Anne Elliot's m ispercep-tion. Edmund and Fanny's coming together results from his matu-ration, not hers. Though she does not unite with Edmundromantically until the end of the novel, throughout she possesses aclose relationship to him. Indeed, their bond never substantiallychanges. T h e narrator's observation th at 'her warm and sisterly regard

for him would be foundation enough for wedded love' (iii. 470)confirms their m arriage to be a deep ening of th eir friend ship rath ertha n a different breed of relation ship. T h e anti-climac tic proposal isclearly consonant with their kinship. Since their marriage blossoms




out of a strong familial attach m ent to each other, a high-pitchedromantic climax would seem u nna tura l, and it would also usurp theemphasis placed on friendship as the foundation of their union aslovers.

T h e narrato r dim inishes the significance of th e actual betroth alscene by not dignifying it with a set time: 'I purposely abstain fromdates on this occasion, that every one may be at liberty to fix theirow n, aware that th e cure of unconq uerable passions, and th e transferof un changing attach m ents, mu st vary m uch as to time in differentpeople' (p . 470). At this 's ignificant' mom ent, F anny and E dm undlose their individuality and become an 'Everycouple'. Though thenarrator reduces the importance of the proposal by arbitrariness, sheimplies that Edmund and Fanny's romance develops according toclockwork, without the spontaneity which generally characterizeslovers' discovery of each othe r: ' I only intre at every body to believethat exactly at the tim e when it was quite natural tha t it should be so,and not a week earlier, Edmund did cease to care about MissCrawford, and became as anxious to marry Fanny, as Fanny herselfcould desire' ( p . 470). D istrust of me re romantic imp ulse is und er-stand able in light of E dm un d's earlier error of judg em ent.

T h e narrator glides from Edm und's intent to marry Fa nny to theirmarriage without any mention of a proposal. Such an elision protectsEdmund and the reader from embarrassment (as in the case ofEdward) and preserves the wary attitude in the novel towards lovers'promises. T h e several instanc es of broken vows (m ost glaringly,Maria Rushworth's adultery) and changed romantic feelings exposethe weigh tlessness of fair word s an d dim inish th e significance of aproposal scene. Henry Crawford's protracted proposal to Fanny-intensified by each mention of the subject and amplified by SirT ho m as , M ary, and Edmund-dominates several chapters of thenovel and ex hausts the reader as well as Fan ny. T h is wearisome,unsuccessful effort is counterbalanced by the narrator's brief encap-sulation of Edmund's successful proposal. Edmund and Fanny'sbetrothal simply announces the m utua l consent of their hearts. In thenarrator's description, the formal aspects of the proposal recede infavour of th e substanc e of the ir affection. '[E dm un d] was very steadilyearnest in the pursuit of the blessing [of marriage to Fanny], and itwas not possible that enco uragem ent from her should be long wanting'(p . 471).

Em m a W oodhou se, the antithesis of Fan ny Price, waives thehu m ble right to be mistress of herself by attem ptin g to becomemistress of her wo rld. I n spite of her matriarchal efforts, sh e is rarelyin harmony with her w orld; in dee d, she almost singlehandedly creates



70 L U N D E E N

the conflict in it. Her misdirected energy, however, is merely anoutward manifestation of her unadmitted desire for mature love.W hen she finally acknowledges her attraction to Knigh tley, th e chaossubsid es, and with his judicious inte rven tion, th e rema ining confusionis resolved, and all relationships are brought into proper alignment.

As in Northanger Abbey and Sense and Sensibility, the loversrequ ire a natural landscape in w hich to express their dee p affection foreach other: Knightley proposes to Em m a on a walk. A long prelude tothe proposal builds anticipation, and the couple's misreading of eachother heightens the tension of their encounter. Emma's cool andcomposed invitation to Knightley to confide in her is, with somehesitatio n, ac cepte d. H is confession, a series of fragm ented nonsequiturs, reveals his vulnerability in responding to Emma as herlover instead of as a surrog ate father. I n reaction to Emm a's sug -gestion that he speaks to her 'as a friend', Knightley blu rts ou t, 'As afriend! . . . E m m a, tha t I fear is a word-No, I have no wish-Stay,yes, why shou ld I hesitate?-I have gone too far already for conceal-ment.-Emm a, I accept you r offer . . . ' (iv. 429). His proposal issimultaneously direct and unstated: 'my dearest, most belovedEmma-tell me at once . Say "N o ," if it is to be said' (p . 430). T h ereade r is not p erm itted t o hear Em ma's response, and this silence is allthe m ore dram atic given Em ma's verbal confidence u p until thism om ent. H er inability to articulate her response to Knightley's offerin a sm ooth , eloquent man ner proves the d ep th of her feelings.

T h e main elem ents of the proposal in Emm a-the physical setting,a pastoral scene; the principal action, a private stroll; the emotionaltenor, restrained and dignified passion; and the author's proximity,she is nearly o ut of ear sho t, allowing th e lovers som e privacy-revealits uncanny resemblance to Book IV of Paradise Lost, when Satanfirst encou nters Adam and Eve in the G arde n of E den . Sata n, ahidden observer of the most perfect romance in all of westernliterature, enviously scrutinizes the unfallen lovers during his visit tothe newly created earth :

T w o of far nobler sha pe erect an d tall, Godlike erect, with native Ho nor clad I n naked Majesty seem'd L or ds of all, And w orthy seem 'd, for in thir looks Divine T h e image of th ir glorious Maker shon e,

T ru th , Wisdom, Sanct i tude severe and pure, . . . though both Not equ al, as thir sex not equal seem'd; Fo r contemplation hee an d valor form'd; Fo r softness shee and sweet attractive Gr ace, . . .




Yielded with coy submission, modest pride, An d sweet reluctant amorous d elay. . . . So hand in han d they pa ss'd, th e loveliest pair T h a t ever since in love's em braces met . .

In The Spectator Joseph Addison examines the delicate strandswhich woven together comprise the emotional fabric of this scenebetween the sinless lovers:

T h e S peeches of these two first Lovers flow equally from Passion andSincerity. T h e Professions they m ake to one an other are full of W arm th; butat the same t ime founded on T ru th . I n a word, they are the G allantries ofParadise. . . .

A Poet of less Jud gm ent an d Inve ntion than this great Aut hor , would havefound it very difficult to have filled these tender parts of the Poem withSen tim ents proper for a State of Inno cen ce; to have described the wa rm th ofLo ve, and th e Professions of it , without A rtifice or H ype rbole ; to have ma dethe Man speak the most endearing things, without descending from hisnatural Dign ity, and the Wom an receiving them without d eparting from theMo desty of her Ch aract er; in a wo rd, to adjust the Prerogatives of Wisdomand Beauty, and make each appear to the other in its proper Force andLoveliness.'

Addison's commentary closely describes the climactic proposal scenesin Austen's later novels, suggesting that she may have modelled thesescenes on Milton via The Spectator (which she is said to have readwith enthusiasm) if not directly.8 Though the narrator in NorthangerAbbey scorns The Spectator for its statement of 'improbable circum-stances, unnatural characters, and topics of conversation, which nolonger concern any one living; and their language, too, frequently socoarse as to give no very favourable idea of the age that could endureit' (v. 38) , the context in which the remark is made deflects the

criticism from the newspaper to the frivolous girls who read it.9 Buteven if Austen did share her narrator's view, as an avid reader of TheSpectator she could have been influenced by it just the same.

The betrothal scene in Pride and Prejudice, the first of the threenovels in which this event brings the story to a climax, most closelymirrors Addison's description. Whereas Darcy initially (and unsuc-cessfully) proposes to Elizabeth indoors, his second (and this time,accepted) proposal to her occurs when they are out on a walk. Therelationship between the two has expanded from narrow prejudices to

PL IV . 288-322. The Spec ta tor , ed . Dona ld F . Bond (Oxford, 1965), iii. 175-6.

* In her biography of Austen, Elizabeth Jenkins notes, 'Henry Austen said that his sisterloved to read th e volumes of t he Spec tator . . .' v a n e i lu st en (N ew York, 1949), 39).

See ibid.



72 L U N D E E N

generosity, corresponding to the shift in physical setting from aconfined parlour to the open air. Though they preserve the proprietyof the parlour when outdoors, they relate to each other with more easeand freedom in the natural setting. In the pastoral tradition thisnatural landscape serves as a refuge for the lovers. It is, indeed, anEden of the heart.

In striking contrast to his earlier proposal, Darcy is calm, humble,dignified: 'My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one wordfrom you will silence me on this subject for ever' (ii. 366). Though inquiet sincerity he conveys his depth of feeling for Elizabeth, he does sowith a welcomed restraint. In all of her novels, Austen manaeuvres themost passionate moments with utmost delicacy, never violating thepropriety of her characters nor her own novelistic decorum. o Allowing her readers to hear Darcy's proposal enables them to measure thedistance he has travelled in humility. Not permitting them to hearElizabeth's response encourages them to consider her emotionalblossoming. Her reply to Darcy's first proposal-a loquacious rejec-tion-befits the proud, self-sufficient woman who believes she canoverride her own desire for intimacy. Her lack of articulateness whenhe proposes a second time reveals her humble surrender to suchdesire.

Elizabeth's conflicts in the course of the novel are by and largestimulated by her own hasty assessments of other people, not the leastof whom is Darcy. Humbled by his quiet act of chivalry in securingthe marriage between Wickham and Lydia and moved by his genuinegoodness as demonstrated at Pemberley, she responds to his secondproposal with the endearing artlessness of a person in love. As in thecase of Emma, the narrator protects her from even gentle mockery bynot disclosing her actual answer; she does, however, reveal thefeminine modesty through which her response is filtered :

Elizabeth feeling all the more than common awkwardness and anxiety of hissituation, now forced herself to speak; and immediately, though not veryfluently, gave him to understand, that her sentiments had undergone somaterial a change, since the period to which he alluded, as to make herreceive with gratitude and pleasure, his present assurances. ( p . 366)

Elizabeth does not assert herself confidently but 'force[s] herself tospeak'. She does not expose her feelings directly but '[gives] him to

understand'. Further distancing herself from her feelings she explainsthat it is 'her sentiments' (rather than herself) which have changed.

'0 Stout, in 'Jane ilusten's Proposal Scenes', carefully demonstrates ilusten's artistic consist-

ency in her analysis of the betrothal scenes.



A M O D E S T P R O P O S A L ? 73

Finally, she speaks of 'receiving' (more graciously passive than

'accepting') his 'assurances' (less bold th an 'offer ' or 'proposal '). T h etension in this scene i s pr imari ly produced by El izabeth 's need toconfess her affect ion and her inst inct ive withdrawal from displayingan unchecked passion.

Austen 's apparent dis tancing through st ra ight narra t ive actual lypermits the reader a more act ive emot ional involvement than woulddialogue. An explici t rend erin g of th e conversat ion between th e lovers

would ru n th e r isk of embarrassing the reader , reducing the scene tot r i te melodrama. Austen 's narra t ive technique honours the reader ' sprivacy as well as that of the couple. She can enjoy the int imaterendezvous wi thout anyone, including the narra tor , knowing. ( InEmma a n d Persuasion the emotional impact fol lowing the f inal

proposal and acceptance is control led in a similar fashion.) Bymediat ing between the lovers and the reader , the narra tor i s able topresent t he couple 's int im acy with dignified restra int :

T h e happiness which [Elizabeth's] reply produced, was such as [D arcy] hadprobably never felt before; and he expressed himself on the occasion assensibly and as warmly as a man violently in love can be supposed to do. HadElizabeth been able to encounter his eye, she might have seen how well the

expression of heart-felt delight, diffused over his face, became him ; but,though she could not look, she could listen, and he told her of feelings,which, in proving of what importance she was to him , made his affectionevery moment more valuable. (p . 366)

I n th e comp leteness of t heir new found l ife as a couple the rest of l ifequiet ly recedes, evoking the undistracted egoism of Adam and Eve:'Th ey walked on , wi thout knowing in what d i rec tion . T he re was toomuch to be thought , and fe l t , and sa id , for a t t ent ion to any o ther

objects' (pp. 366-7).Whereas Austen appears to have model led her c l imact ic proposalscenes in Emma a n d Pride and Prejudice on Addison's commentaryon Mi l ton , the scene in which C apta in Wentw or th an d An ne El liot a rereunited as lovers more closely resembles Paradise Lost itself. Likethe couples in Pride a nd Prejudice a n d E m m a , they vow thei r love toeach other while o n a walk, b ut th ey ar e completely o ut of earsh ot , asa re Ad am a nd Eve when Sa tan fir st observes them . T h e narra tordescribes the sublimity of their romance with rel igiously suggest ive

dict ion, t ransla t ing them mom entar ily to Ed en:

soon words enough had passed between them to decide their directiontowards the comparatively quiet and retired gravel-walk, where the power ofconversation would make the present hour a blessing indeed ; and prepare for



L U N D E E N

it all the immortality which the happiest recollections of the ir own futurelives could bestow. (v. 240)

T h e na r rat ive which fo llows suggests tha t Wen twor th a nd A nne haverecovered a los t paradise . Had Adam and Eve been given a secondchance , the ir reunion m ight have been descr ibed in like man ne r :

There they exchanged again those feelings and those promises which hadonce before seemed to secure every thing, bu t w hich had been followed by somany, many years of division and estrangement. Th ere they returned againinto the past, more exquisitely happy, perhaps, in their re-union, than whenit had been first projected; more tender, more tried, more fixed in aknowledge of each other's charac ter, tru th , and attachme nt; more equal to

act, more justified in acting. (pp. 240-1)

I n Austen 's cancelled chap ter of Persuasion Wen twor th proposes toAn ne indoors . T h e pre lude to his proposal is a te rr ibly awkward scenebe tween the couple in which Wentwor th conf ron ts Anne wi th therum our th a t she an d M r El liot a re to be mar r ied . He r re fu ta t ion of thegossip provides the clearing that allows him to offer her his hand inma rriage. H is offer , however, is a n undignif ied bu rst of em otion.Anne 's performance in this scene is equal ly unat t rac t ive ; she deniesher a t ta chm ent to El l io t but never asser ts her love for W entw orth , asshe so c lever ly does in the revised chapter . Though in the revisedchapter her self-assertion is indirect both in content (she addressesherself to the issues of constancy impersonally) and in conveyance(she sends he r message to Wentwor th th rough a convenien t th i rdpar ty , Cap ta in Ha rvi l le ) , she never the less presents herse lf as a par tnerin an egalitar ian relationship. W entwo rth 's proposal to Anne in a lettersuggests that while indoors, deep feelings can only be expressedthro ug h the wri t ten (s i lent) word. I t a lso al lows the reade r , in l ieu ofW entw orth , to witness Anne 's response , es tabl ishing a n int imatere la t ionsh ip be tween A nne an d the reader a t th i s c ri ti ca l mom ent .

Anne 's want of h um an int imacy throughou t most of th e novelintensif ies the proposal scene, and the union of the lovers producesgreater relief at th e en d of t his novel than at the close of A usten's o the rnovels. T h e dra m a of Wen tworth 's le tte r , th e anticipation of hishear ing her response , an d the exci tement a t the ir for tui tous mee t ing,appropr ia te ly lengthen t he c l imax of th is long-awaited reunio n. (A nn eand Wentworth have been wai t ing for seven and a ha lf years , thereader for over 200 pages.) Though in the beginning of the novelAnn e, l ike Fa nn y Pr ice , appears to be out of s t ep with both her loverand he r envi ronment , the unfami l ia r sur roundings a re a becomingse t t ing for he r f lu id , adaptab le n a ture ; she , more than anyone el se ,moves from place to place and crisis to cr isis with remarkable grace.



75M O D E S T P R O P O S A L ?

Her central problem is her estrangement from Wentworth, justifyingthe trem endou s climax which marks their reunion.

When the principal lovers in Austen's novels arrive at the thresholdof com m itm ent, they are alone only in the m ost literal sense. Th ei rpast foibles are ghostly witnesses at their betrothal which guard themfrom the passionate oblivion which would later render them fools.Althoug h Au sten does not grant her cha racters unin hibite d expressionin these scenes, she does something better. She allows them self-knowledge which redeems human affection from narcissism. In themain proposal scenes of Pride a n d Prejudice, Em m a, an d Persuasion,Austen transposes the narrative into a new key. She resolves the

dissonant ch ords of confusion a nd composes a scene in which herlovers recover not only each other but, for a moment, lost paradise aswell. Satire is stilled, and in its place is a reverence for life throughwhich the author celebrates the human spirit and its remarkablecapacity for rebirth .

kathleen lundeen, a modest proposal.pdf

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