Morals and Manners in Jane Austen

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SCHILD                                                Saturday 5th January 2008

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Manners and Morals

For Jane Austen, manners are more important than morals.  Discuss.

        Manners are the prevailing customs, ways of living and habits of a people, class or period while morals are principles or habits based on ideas of right and wrong.  In the early 19th century, the period in which Jane Austen’s novels are set, it was important to follow the established “good” manners.  Well-mannered members of the gentry and the aristocracy spoke and acted with modest confidence, used proper language, were well educated, maintained emotional control and were considerate to others. They also followed the protocol concerning social status such as the way they addressed each other, bowing and curtseying etc.

        Manners are constantly present in Jane Austen’s novels.  Whenever a character is described their manners are invariably mentioned, for example, in Persuasion when Anne meets Captain Harville for the first time he is described as “not equaling Captain Wentworth in manners, [but] a perfect gentleman, unaffected, warm and obliging”.  The continuous occurrence of descriptions of manners gives the reader the impression that, for Jane Austen, good manners are vital.

Indeed, Jane Austen’s characters generally follow the protocol or social code of her time.  Throughout her novels, characters refer to each other as Mr. and Miss, even when they know each other well.  For example, Mrs. Smith calls Anne “Miss Elliot” while Anne refers to her as “Mrs. Smith”, despite their having known each other for a long time and being good friends.  Characters also bow and curtsey to acknowledge each other and speak correctly and with decorum: The manners of Jane Austen’s time are constantly present in her novels which can lead us to believe that she thinks these manners are important.  However, while her characters do mostly follow the “code” of society, she does sometimes mock its rigidity or some people’s interpretation or use of it.  For example, in Persuasion, “it was Mary’s complaint, that Mrs. Musgrove was apt not to give her the precedence that was her due”, this is not considered to be “very becoming of her”.  Through Mary, Jane Austen mocks some of the importance accorded to rank by the manners of the time while also deriding the “Elliot Pride”.

Those who do not follow the rules which belong to the “code” of society are generally unadmirable characters that are disliked by other characters and the reader.  Two examples of such characters are Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice and Mrs. Elton in Emma.  Mr. Collins commits a serious social mistake when he introduces himself to Mr. Darcy because he is of lower rank.  Elizabeth herself describes his actions as “an impertinent freedom”, while he is met with an “air of distant civility” and finally “contempt” from Mr. Darcy.  Mrs. Elton also breaks decorum through being overbearing, constantly bragging, and like Mr. Collins, not honouring rank (she calls Mr. Knightley simply “Knightley” as though she were his equal) .  Emma describes her as “absolutely insufferable! […] A little upstart, vulgar being”.  These two characters illustrate the importance of good manners for a character to be liked.  

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A character’s manners or attitude to manners can also show their moral nature.  In the examples already given Mr. Collins and Mrs. Elton are both bad-mannered but do not think they are.  Indeed, after Mr. Collins introduces himself to Mr. Darcy he tells Elizabeth that “Mr. Darcy seemed much pleased with the attention”.  This evidences both Mr. Collins’ lack of intelligence and his pride or bad morals: He does not consider that Mr. Darcy may not have been pleased by his introduction.

Indeed, the fact that bad manners often belong to dislikeable people is shown in Persuasion by the ...

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