It almost seemed to me like he didn’t really want to see his father, which could also be since he didn’t really grow up with him and they probably didn’t have that close of a relationship.
*nods* Emma gets him to admit this (sort of) in volume 2, ch. 12/ch. 30 right before he returns to Enscombe.
" 'As you do us such ample justice now,' said Emma, laughing, 'I will venture to ask, whether you did not come a little doubtingly at first? Do not we rather surpass your expectations? I am sure we do. I am sure you did not much expect to like us. You would not have been so long in coming, if you had had a pleasant idea of Highbury.'
He laughed rather consciously; and though denying the sentiment, Emma was convinced it had been so."
Re throwing off poorer relations, there are several times in JA's letter where she mentions to her sister how much her brother Edward (the rich one) gave his mother in occasional presents. They tended to be around £5-10 at a time, and this happened about every year or so. Now, granted £5-10 was a goodly amount back then, but the fact that these were occasional presents seems to have bothered JA, almost as if she felt he, who could, ought to be doing more for his mother. After Papa Austen died in 1805, they moved out of Bath and basically made a tour of several relatives for about a year, staying with one family for a few months before moving on. Then, they finally settled in Southampton with brother Frank, one of her navy brothers, and his wife and kids. Cramped quarters doesn't begin to describe it, so that Jane and Cassandra took turns staying in Kent with Edward (mostly Cassie), and London with brother Henry (mostly Jane; he was married without children). They did this for 3 years before Edward finally offered them one of two homes: one in Kent near him, or the cottage in Chawton in Hampshire. And they chose the one farther away, which, though in their home county, still seems a little weird in that they chose not to live near Edward 12 months out of the year rather than for a few months whenever he came down to Chawton. The Chawton house was also used as a temporary home for the navy brothers when they didn't have a ship. So, yeah, I'm not sure Jane wholly approved of brother Edward (and this is based on more than just the house thing).
Hmmmm, I read that quote as to mean that Emma thought that Frank thought that society in Highbury would be beneath him, or what he was used to; as if he thought he might be bored. I'll have to read the passage again.
Were men really swine back then or was all this repression of women really due to finances?
I took it to include his father since Mr. Weston is part of Highbury as well. This, despite the fact that he and his father met almost every year in London, no? And I'm sure there was some correspondence.
I think it's the money thing--laws were not written to include women, so men were patriarchs by default unless they shirked it. Not everyone likes being forced to do something, like you said.
*nods* Emma gets him to admit this (sort of) in volume 2, ch. 12/ch. 30 right before he returns to Enscombe.
" 'As you do us such ample justice now,' said Emma, laughing, 'I will venture to ask, whether you did not come a little doubtingly at first? Do not we rather surpass your expectations? I am sure we do. I am sure you did not much expect to like us. You would not have been so long in coming, if you had had a pleasant idea of Highbury.'
He laughed rather consciously; and though denying the sentiment, Emma was convinced it had been so."
Re throwing off poorer relations, there are several times in JA's letter where she mentions to her sister how much her brother Edward (the rich one) gave his mother in occasional presents. They tended to be around £5-10 at a time, and this happened about every year or so. Now, granted £5-10 was a goodly amount back then, but the fact that these were occasional presents seems to have bothered JA, almost as if she felt he, who could, ought to be doing more for his mother. After Papa Austen died in 1805, they moved out of Bath and basically made a tour of several relatives for about a year, staying with one family for a few months before moving on. Then, they finally settled in Southampton with brother Frank, one of her navy brothers, and his wife and kids. Cramped quarters doesn't begin to describe it, so that Jane and Cassandra took turns staying in Kent with Edward (mostly Cassie), and London with brother Henry (mostly Jane; he was married without children). They did this for 3 years before Edward finally offered them one of two homes: one in Kent near him, or the cottage in Chawton in Hampshire. And they chose the one farther away, which, though in their home county, still seems a little weird in that they chose not to live near Edward 12 months out of the year rather than for a few months whenever he came down to Chawton. The Chawton house was also used as a temporary home for the navy brothers when they didn't have a ship. So, yeah, I'm not sure Jane wholly approved of brother Edward (and this is based on more than just the house thing).
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Were men really swine back then or was all this repression of women really due to finances?
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I think it's the money thing--laws were not written to include women, so men were patriarchs by default unless they shirked it. Not everyone likes being forced to do something, like you said.
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