In my
01/06/16 post entitled “Jane’s ramble in St. James’s Park:
X-rated allusion dancing in plain sight in Pride & Prejudice!”… http://tinyurl.com/hqwy3f7 …I
showed that P&P, Jane Austen’s most famous, popular and romantic novel,
contains a shocking, covert, extensive allusion to one of the most famous and
scandalous pornographic poems in the English language, written a century before
JA’s birth by John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester.
If
you didn’t read it before, or if you did but have forgotten what you read, I
suggest you read my above-linked earlier post, in which I went into great
textual-analytical detail. Only then will my post today be seen in its full
context as an unexpected amplification of my earlier findings.
I say
unexpected, because I found it while checking to see if Charlotte Bronte had
emulated Jane Austen in alluding to “A Ramble in St. James’s Park” in Jane Eyre. I did so, because some
earlier research of mine showed me that it is well settled in Bronte studies
that Mr. Rochester got his surname from the famous Earl of Rochester, which I had
then extrapolated, to find that Bronte’s proud, brilliant, difficult, romantic
hero Mr. Rochester is based in no small part on JA’s proud, brilliant,
difficult, romantic hero Mr. Darcy.
And
sure enough, I found one very interesting narrative passage in Chapter 9 of Jane
Eyre, in which Jane describes, in unsettlingly sunny terms, her own
experience as one of the uninfected inmates of Lowood—unsettling because of the
wave of consumptive death washing over the place at that very point in the
story!: “…the sweetbriars gave
out, morning and evening, their scent of spice and apples; and these fragrant
treasures were all useless for most of the inmates of Lowood, except to furnish
now and then a handful of herbs and blossoms to put in a coffin. But I, and the
rest who continued well, enjoyed fully the beauties of the scene and season;
they let us RAMBLE IN THE WOOD, LIKE GIPSIES, FROM MORNING TILL NIGHT; WE DID
WHAT WE LIKED, went where we liked: we lived better too. Mr. Brocklehurst
and his family never came near Lowood now: household matters were not scrutinised
into; the cross housekeeper was gone, driven away by the FEAR OF INFECTION…”
So, what
in the world did C. Bronte mean by subliminally echoing “A Ramble in St.
James’s Park”, and the “fear of infection” by VD which the participants in the
Park orgies (like the Earl himself, who died of syphilis) might have felt, and
also echoing the Earl’s well known penchant for exotic disguise, in a tragic section
of her novel filled with the deaths of innocent girls and young women? I don’t
have an answer to that Brontean puzzle today, but I mention all of the above,
because of what I read in the go-to article about the connection between the
real-life Rochester and the fictional Rochester: "John Wilmot and Mr.
Rochester." By Murray G.H. Pittock, in Nineteenth-Century
Literature 41 (1987): 462-9.
Pittock
observed thusly: “George Etherege had depicted the Earl [of Rochester] as the
proud and sardonic Dorimant in his popular and enduring comedy, The Man of Mode.”
I had
heard that title before, but knew nothing else about the play, so I quickly
learned what Wikipedia has to say about Etherege’s most famous play, and its
connection to Wilmot/Rochester:
“The
Man of Mode or, Sir Fopling Flutter, widely
considered the best comedy of manners written in England before the days of
Congreve, was acted and printed in 1676, and enjoyed an unbounded success. This
may be attributed to the belief that it satirises, or at least references, well
known contemporaries of London. Sir Fopling Flutter was a portrait of
Beau Hewit, the reigning exquisite of the hour, Dorimant a reference to the
Earl of Rochester, and Medley a portrait of Etherege himself (or, equally
plausible, of his fellow playwright and wit Sir Charles Sedley); while even the
drunken shoemaker was a real character, who made his fortune from being thus
brought into public notice. Etherege was part of the circle of John Wilmot;
both men had a daughter by the unmarried actress Elizabeth Barry. All three are
characters in the 2005 film The Libertine
based on a play by Stephen Jeffreys.”
So, knowing
that Charlotte Bronte was a closet Janeite of huge proportions … http://tinyurl.com/pwtexvj http://tinyurl.com/nqsd57g http://tinyurl.com/ohd56yk ...I couldn’t help but wonder whether Bronte had been inspired, in part,
to allude to “A Ramble in St. James’s Park”, by her having previously detected
JA’s veiled allusion to that same X-rated poem in P&P? And, if that were
so, I had a hunch that Austen also had Etherege’s famous play on her radar
screen as well. That hunch turned out to be spot–on, as you will now see. First, look at a
key excerpt from my 01/06/16 post:
“Puts an interesting X-rated spin on the following exchange in
Chapter 6 of P&P between Sir William Lucas and Darcy:
"What a CHARMING amusement for young people this is,
Mr. Darcy! There is nothing like dancing after all. I consider it as one of the
first refinements of polished society."
"Certainly, sir; and it has the advantage also of being
in vogue amongst the less polished societies of the world. Every savage can
dance."
Sir William only smiled. "Your friend performs
delightfully," he continued after a pause, on seeing Bingley join the
group; "and I doubt not that you are an adept in the science yourself, Mr.
Darcy."
"You saw me dance at Meryton, I believe, sir."
"Yes, indeed, and received no inconsiderable pleasure
from the sight. Do you often dance at St. James's?"
"Never, sir."
"Do you not think it would be a proper compliment to
the place?"
"It is a compliment which I never pay to any place if I
can avoid it."
"You have a house in town, I conclude?"
Mr. Darcy bowed.
"I had once had some thought of fixing in town
myself—for I am fond of superior society; but I did not feel quite certain that
the air of London would agree with Lady Lucas."
He paused in hopes of an answer; but his companion was not
disposed to make any…”
My personal favorite? “Do you often dance at St. James’s?”
----Sir William, the sly rogue, is hinting to Darcy that he knows Darcy is part
of that large crowd in St. James’s Park when he’s in London! “
END QUOTE FROM MY PRIOR POST
What
I discovered today, after I read through Etherege’s playtext, is that Jane
Austen placed, in the immediately
preceding and the immediately following text in that very same scene at Lucas
Lodge, several allusions to The Man of
Mode!
First,
here is the preceding text in P&P:
“Mr.
Darcy stood near them in silent indignation at such a MODE of passing the
evening, to the exclusion of all conversation, and was too much engrossed by
his thoughts to perceive that Sir William Lucas was his neighbour, till Sir
William thus began….
In
addition to the above, there are two other linkages of Darcy to the word “mode”----both
in the first proposal scene in Chapter 34, and both of them in Eliza’s
rejection speeches directed at Darcy:
"In
such cases as this, it is, I believe, the established MODE to express a sense
of obligation for the sentiments avowed, however unequally they may be
returned.…You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy, if you suppose that the MODE of your
declaration affected me in any other way, than as it spared me the concern
which I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more
gentlemanlike manner."
But
that’s just the appetizer to the “entrée” of my analysis: the following text in
P&P:
“ "My
dear Miss Eliza, why are you not DANCING? Mr. Darcy, you must allow me to
present this young lady to you as a very desirable partner. You cannot refuse
to DANCE, I am sure when SO MUCH BEAUTY is before you." And, taking her
hand, he would have given it to Mr. Darcy who, though extremely surprised, was
not unwilling to receive it, when she instantly drew back, and said with some
DISCOMPOSURE to Sir William:
"Indeed, sir, I have not the least intention of DANCING. I entreat you
not to suppose that I moved this way in order to beg for a partner."
Mr.
Darcy, with grave propriety, requested to be allowed the honour of her hand,
but in vain. Elizabeth was determined; nor did Sir William at all shake her
purpose by his attempt at persuasion.
"You
excel so much in the DANCE, Miss Eliza, that it is cruel to deny me the
happiness of seeing you; and though this gentleman dislikes the amusement in
general, he can have no objection, I am sure, to oblige us for one
half-hour."
"Mr.
Darcy is all politeness," said Elizabeth, smiling.
"He
is, indeed; but, considering the inducement, my dear Miss Eliza, we cannot
wonder at his complaisance—for who would object to such a partner?"
Elizabeth
looked archly, and turned away….”
Did
you spot the textual smoking gun in that passage, which points like a laser
beam straight back nearly a century and a half from 1813 to the following
passages which follow close upon each other in Act 3 Scene 2 of The Man of Mode:
LADY
TOWNLEY: Wit, I perceive, has more power over you than beauty, Sir Fopling,
else you would not have let this lady stand so long neglected.
SIR
FOPLING: [to EMILIA:]. A thousand pardons, madam; some civilities due, of
course, upon the meeting a long absent friend. The ECLAT of SO MUCH BEAUTY, I
confess, ought to have CHARMED me sooner.
EMILIA: The brilliant of so much good language, sir,
has much more power than the little beauty I can boast.
&
DORIMANT:
Grimace and affection. You will see her i’ th’ Mall to-night.
SIR
FOPLING: Prithee let thee and I take the air together.
DORIMANT:
I am engaged to Medley, but I’ll meet you at ST. JAMES’S and give you some
information upon the which you may regulate your proceedings.
SIR
FOPLING: All the world will be in the Park to-night: ladies, ’twere pity to
keep SO MUCH BEAUTY longer within doors and ROB the Ring of all those CHARMS
that should ADORN it.
In
this scene, the hero Dorimant proposes to new wing-man Sir Fopling (“fopling”
is such a great word to describe Sir William Lucas!) to meet at St. James’s,
and he sure does not mean St. James’s Court (winked at via the alias “Courtege”
which Dorimant assumes in the Park), he means St. James’s Park where the Earl of Rochester and half of London “rambled” so
notoriously and orgiastically.
And
surely every Janeite familiar with P&P hears in Sir Fopling’s last quoted
speeches above, about “so much beauty”, and robbing the ring of participants of
charms that ought to adorn them, the unmistakable echo of the following bloated
words of Sir William Lucas:
Ch. 14:
"Has she been presented? I do not remember her name among the ladies at
court."
"Her
indifferent state of health unhappily prevents her being in town; and by that
means, as I told Lady Catherine one day, has DEPRIVED the British court OF ITS
BRIGHTEST ORNAMENT.
&
Ch. 60:
He could even listen to Sir William Lucas, when he complimented him on CARRYING
AWAY THE BRIGHTEST JEWEL OF THE COUNTRY, and expressed his hopes of their all MEETING
FREQUENTLY AT ST. JAMES'S, with very decent composure. If he did shrug his
shoulders, it was not till Sir William was out of sight.
So, to
sum up, as I see all of the above, the veiled allusions to St. James’s Park in
both Etherege’s 1676 play, and in Rochester’s poem from nearly the same time
late in Rochester’s short life, were both
on JA’s radar screen as she wrote P&P --- what does it mean?
Seems
to me that, at the very least, JA meant to have her readers think of Darcy as
both Dorimant and his real-life model, the Earl of Rochester; and then, thirty five
years later, Charlotte Bronte meant for her readers to think of the Earl of
Rochester’s X-rated poem as well.
Cheers,
ARNIE
@JaneAustenCode
on Twitter
No comments:
Post a Comment