The Jane Austen Handbook (4 page)

• 
Take the waters
. Those in Bath for their health will drink or bathe in the hot mineral waters of the baths, but even the young and healthy will benefit from drinking a glass each day.

• 
Promenade at the Pump Room or at the Royal Crescent
. Everyone goes to the Pump Room, ostensibly to drink the waters, but really to see and be seen. If no one worth seeing is in attendance, try strolling along the Royal Crescent for fine views over green fields (and if you’re lucky, a fine view of a particular gentleman).

• 
Shop
. The shops are not as good as those in London, but one can step out of doors and get a thing in five minutes, from clothing to pastry to millinery to the very latest publications.

• 
Attend the balls
. The Assembly Rooms (Upper and Lower) are open to all who have paid the subscription. There is a regular schedule of balls at each establishment, and a young lady need not fear being without a partner, as the masters of ceremonies stand ready to introduce likely
young men. There are cards and tea for those beyond their dancing days.

• 
Attend the theater
. The Theatre Royal boasts shows as good as in London; indeed, sometimes even the great actors and actresses are in residence.

• 
Attend concerts
. There are weekly concerts at the Upper Assembly Rooms on Wednesdays, featuring small instrumental ensembles, singers, or soloists, sometimes sponsored by wealthy patrons. You might hear some beautiful Italian love songs and meet a handsome music lover.

• 
Attend private parties
. These can be rather boring; nothing but cards and conversation with insipid persons of more consequence than wit. However, with a little contrivance, one might manage to have a tête-à-tête with someone much more interesting.

• 
Take a country walk
. Bath is a small city, compact and walkable, and it is surrounded by very fine country. One can walk (mostly up very steep hills) to Beechen Cliff for a fine view over the city, explore the country villages in the area surrounding Bath, or just wander through the green and lovely Sydney Gardens.

• 
Take a ride in an open carriage
. Bristol (and Blaise Castle) is only a short drive away, though one must remember that a clean gown has not five minutes’ wear in an open carriage, and young men and women seen riding together in open carriages can be quite a shocking thing.

• 
Check out the circulating libraries
. A young lady can find works of the most horrid nature there, just fit for a heroine!

DID JANE AUSTEN REALLY HATE BATH?

In 1801, Jane Austen left the Hampshire village of Steventon, the home she had known for twenty-five years, and moved to Bath with her parents and her sister. Her father died in 1805, and in 1806 the Austen ladies left Bath, as Jane said later in a letter to Cassandra, “with what happy feelings of escape!” She never returned, though Bath is the setting for a great deal of her last completed novel,
Persuasion
, written in 1816.

It has become an accepted truth among Austen scholars that Jane Austen did not like Bath. The view stems from a few lines in her surviving letters and the portrayal of Bath in
Persuasion
as a stifling place of petty snobberies. Like Jane Austen,
Persuasion
’s Anne Elliot is forced to move from her beloved country home to Bath; like Anne, Jane must have always associated Bath with the death of a parent. Jane wrote little during her years there, which many attribute to her dislike for the place.

However, Jane Austen rarely dealt in extremes. If Jane did not love a place, it does not necessarily follow that she must
hate
it. Perhaps she did not write anything during those years because she was busy with the many activities that life in a town offers, or because she suffered low spirits from the death of her father. There is no doubt, however, that Jane loved the tranquil Hampshire countryside to which she returned in 1808. It was there, in the village of Chawton, that she revised and wrote the six novels that are her legacy.

• 
Walk the grounds
. Most grand houses have shrubberies or pleasure grounds or even prettyish little wildernesses to provide exercise for ladies. The more adventurous might roam the countryside, their petticoats six inches deep in mud.

• 
Visit friends
. Paying calls is more difficult in the country because of the distances between neighbors, but wheedle the carriage or go on horseback if you must to keep up with the latest gossip and news.

• 
Walk into town
. If you are so fortunate as to have a town nearby, it can be an invaluable place to pass time, make purchases, and meet interesting strangers.

• 
Produce home theatricals
. A group of friends staying in the same house might decide to act out scenes from a play or perhaps the whole thing. Not only are such theatricals a pleasant way to pass the time, they also provide opportunities for private rehearsals, possibly with the object of your interest. Do not listen to do-gooders who try to persuade you that such activities are improper.

• 
Read the books you bought in the city
. Long, rainy days or boring evenings are best passed with the latest publications, whether novels such as
The Mysteries of Udolpho
by Anne Radcliffe, an epic poem such as
Marmion
by Walter Scott, or books of information such as Boswell’s
Life of Johnson
or Goldsmith’s
An History of the Earth
.

• 
Attend neighborhood balls
. Unless circumstances are particularly untoward, you may expect your neighbors to hold a series of balls, especially during the full moon when traveling at night is easier. If a neighbor needs encouragement, do not be afraid to tease him into having a ball.

• 
Tour fine houses richly furnished
. Country hospitality allows travelers to drop in and request a tour of any grand estate. The housekeeper will most likely know the house better than the owners and will be pleased to show you around. Give her a tip for her trouble.

• 
Improve your estate
. Build a hermitage or a Grecian temple, root up all the trees in the avenue, tear down unsightly cottages, add shrubbery or a gravel walk, replace an old casement window with a larger bow window to improve the view from the house—with a little imagination, every house can be improved!

• 
Bathe
. Most seaside resorts have bathing machines, like little wooden huts on wheels. One enters on the beach side and changes into a flannel shift for bathing as the machine is rolled into the sea. Open the door on the seaside and the attendant will “dip” you into the waves. In moderation, this is a beneficial activity, but be careful not to tire yourself.

• 
Shop
. The best resorts have very good shops, but do not expect much in the way of selection.

• 
Walk on the beach
. Walking is excellent exercise, and the salt air is beneficial for those suffering from weaknesses of the lungs.

• 
Promenade on the Cobb or the Marine Parade
. Tie the strings of your bonnet tightly so it is not carried away by the ocean breeze.

H
ENRY
T
ILNEY
:
“As far as I have had opportunity of judging, it appears to me that the usual style of
letter-writing among women is faultless, except in three particulars.”

C
ATHERINE
M
ORLAND
:
“And what are they?”

H
ENRY
:
“A general deficiency of subject, a total inattention to stops, and a very frequent ignorance of grammar.”
—N
ORTHANGER
A
BBEY

1. Start with a large sheet of paper. Write the date and your current address at the top of the sheet.

2. Write neatly on one side of the sheet.

3. When the sheet is filled, turn the paper 180 degrees. Continue to write, upside-down, between the lines you wrote previously.