Children, Christmas & Jane Austen's advice on parenting

 

In our Christmas scenes on Clothes in Books, this is something unusual - Jane Austen doesn't do the festive season much. But there is this one excellent section....

Persuasion by Jane Austen

published 1817

 

 

[excerpt] Immediately surrounding Mrs Musgrove were the little Harvilles. On one side was a table occupied by some chattering girls, cutting up silk and gold paper; and on the other were tressels and trays, bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies, where riotous boys were holding high revel; the whole completed by a roaring Christmas fire, which seemed determined to be heard, in spite of all the noise of the others. Charles and Mary also came in, of course, during their visit, and Mr Musgrove made a point of paying his respects to Lady Russell, and sat down close to her for ten minutes, talking with a very raised voice, but from the clamour of the children on his knees, generally in vain. It was a fine family-piece.

Anne, judging from her own temperament, would have deemed such a domestic hurricane a bad restorative of the nerves, which Louisa's illness must have so greatly shaken. But Mrs Musgrove, who got Anne near her on purpose to thank her most cordially, again and again, for all her attentions to them, concluded a short recapitulation of what she had suffered herself by observing, with a happy glance round the room, that after all she had gone through, nothing was so likely to do her good as a little quiet cheerfulness at home…

"I hope I shall remember, in future," said Lady Russell, as soon as they were reseated in the carriage, "not to call at Uppercross in the Christmas holidays."

 

comments: I re-read all the Jane Austen novels for a piece I did for the i  newspaper earlier this year, on TV and film adaptations.

Culture at the i Newspaper: Jane Austen Adaptations

JA is not an author particularly associated with Christmas – you have your Dickens for that – but I very much enjoyed this short sharp picture of the family Christmas. Anne and Lady Russell are a timeless vision of two nice, loving, childfree women visiting a house swarming with the next generation, faintly horrified by the noise and fuss and trying their best to be sympathetic and not judgemental.

Anne is described as being very good with children, a favourite aunt, but shows no sign of it here. Perhaps she will be going to have children with her new husband after the end of the book.

Jane Austen herself never married and had no children: one doesn’t like to stereotype, but in this book she and Anne have very clear ideas and certainty regarding how children should be brought up, which is – quel surprise - not how their parents are doing it.

The parents and grandparents of the children also have some disagreements: a grandmother ‘humours and indulges them to such a degree, and gives them so much trash and sweet things, that they are sure to come back sick and cross for the rest of the day.’ 

That could come off Mumsnet verbatim today.

On another track: one of Anne’s friends, Mrs Smith, who is in straitened circumstances, has learned to knit, and also makes ‘these little thread-cases, pin-cushions and card-racks, which you always find me so busy about’, which are then sold on by her nurse. This sounds perilously close to ‘trade’, which is not something Jane Austen ladies have any connection with. Mrs Smith says, not very convincingly, that she sells things in order to have money to give to the poor: like modern-day people who suddenly add ‘it’s for charity’ to their requests for money. I am not convinced, particularly in this case: she and her nurse are dealing with a new person “a mere pretty, silly, expensive, fashionable woman, I believe; and of course will have nothing to report but of lace and finery. I mean to make my profit of Mrs Wallis, however. She has plenty of money, and I intend she shall buy all the high-priced things I have in hand now."

I was quite surprised by all this. It was reminiscent of those down-at-heel gentlewomen in Patricia Wentworth novels who deal in notions and lace, and have rather tragic-sounding businesses. (‘We are in quite reduced circumstances… so I joined a friend in a fancywork shop at Streatham’.)

Persuasion is a great novel, very compelling, although Anne is always prone to being very forgiving of herself while extremely judgemental about everyone else. But it would take a heart of stone not to be delighted with her happy ending…

Pictures of children playing from the NYPL – from 1818, so a little later than the action of the book which, datewise, and unusually for Jane Austen, is spelled out very specifically. This scene happens at Christmas 1814. And is (matching one’s own vague thoughts) quite unusual, in that academics say we have very little info about how Christmas was celebrated then, with very few fictional descriptions.

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In my researches earlier in the year I spent a lot of time looking at adaptations, so I will round off with that.  I watched four different Persuasions: 1970, 1995, 2007, 2022.

And there is one version that kept being mentioned by what I would call true Jane Austen fans, people who are deep in the books and have high standards. Those people always said: the Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds TV film from 1995 is the best JA film of all. It is very natural-looking – using real light and with no make-up apparently, and it is an excellent film. I can understand why people choose this composed calm version, and I respect that it is so beloved of the real fans.

I adored the modern – much-criticized – Netflix version,released in 2022: the one that had one reviewer saying ‘Everyone involved should be in prison’. I thought it was funny and clever and innovative.

The 1970 Persuasion looks like the cast of Howard’s Way in Regency clothes, shot in a Berni Inn. The 2007 version features Sally Hawkins, and is perfectly competent and watchable.

Pick your own… my theory is that we all get the Jane Austen version to suit our times. More info in my newspaper article.