In a memorable passage of Persuasion, Anne Elliot, who has been staying at Uppercross, goes for a stroll with Louisa, Henrietta, Mary, and Captain Wentworth.  Austen describes the landscape: There were “narrow paths across the fields” (56).  It was a November day, and “…the view of the last smiles of the year upon the tawny leaves and withered hedges….” (56).  The group is headed toward Winthrop, where Charles Hayter lives, two miles from Uppercross.   They pass through farmland and traverse hills. 

This is a place in which, while exploring and discovering nature, the characters learn things about one another in their talks.  Sometimes the characters are hidden by bushes or trees, but their voices can still be heard.  The landscape provides a way for Louisa and Wentworth to be physically near each other: “…where many divisions were necessary, or even where they were not, they walked side by side….” (60).  While the two can be near each other at Uppercross, of course, the house is limiting—it would not be appropriate for them to sit close together and discuss their feelings and opinions about anything personal.  Out walking, on the other hand, they are away from the prying eyes and ears of the house.  When they walk off together “to try for a gleaning of nuts in an adjoining hedge-row,” nature provides privacy for them (to an extent—Anne can still hear their conversation) (58). 

This passage gives a good taste of both literal and social landscape.  Austen paints a clear picture of the West Country’s beauty, and it is clear from her description that Uppercross affects Anne more positively than does the “white glare” of Bath.   The green, open space feels more liberating than the compact streets of Bath, and Anne is grateful not to be surrounded by the pompousness exhibited by the people of Bath.  The houses at Uppercross are not elaborate like those of Kellynch Hall, where mirrors adorn the walls and stately furniture crowds the rooms, but they are comfortable.  The family living at Uppercross, the Musgroves, have come into modest wealth through farming and are gracious and happy to have visitors.  The house feels full and inviting to Anne, whereas Sir Walter’s snobbery creates a cold atmosphere at Kellynch.  Winthrop is even simpler than Uppercross, suggesting that its residents are not interested in appearances and materialism like Sir Walter: “Winthrop, without beauty and without dignity, was stretched before them; an indifferent house, standing low, and hemmed in by the barns and buildings of a farm-yard” (57).  From this information, the reader learns that the inhabitants of this area are by no means royalty but are ordinary people living a calm life.  Some, like at Uppercross, have made their money through farming.  This further emphasizes the class separations in the novel as we see Anne move from Kellynch and Bath—populated by superficial, class-minded people—to Uppercross and Lyme Regis—where she finds company less inclined to seek a higher social rank.

Walking was a popular pastime for ladies living in such places.  In Jane Austen and Her Times, G. E. Mitton writes that “there would be general superintendence of the gardener, and many a lingering walk by the borders and glower-beds on sunny mornings” (48).  The purpose of walking in Bath is to see and be seen, to notice the latest fashions, and to “size up the competition”, so to speak.  Ladies dress in their best before leaving the house.  Walking around Uppercross and Winthrop, on the other hand, has much more to do with conversation and company.  Country life could become dull from time to time, and walks were a type of diversion.  Mitton explains, “At that time the state of the roads cut off the dweller in a small village from any neighboring town” (51).  People were relatively isolated from their neighbors.  As Barbara Britton Wenner says, “Walking around the countryside of Uppercross must have been a liberating feeling for a woman who expected always to have the narrow view of Hannah More’s garden” (92).  While Charles Musgrove was content to hunt all day, Mary grew bored and longed for variety.  When Louisa and Henrietta announce that they are going for a “long walk,” Mary acknowledges this as an invitation and insists on accompanying the group (55). 

The walk demonstrates that people often kept their true thoughts to themselves but did not hesitate to talk about one another behind their backs.  When a large group breaks into smaller groups or couples, individuals feel more inclined to address their real feelings about one another.  Since a person is no longer forced into the company of someone he or she dislikes, he or she is presented with the opportunity to voice that dislike.  When they are all together, they discuss the weather or the day’s events; when they split into smaller groups, they discuss rumors of who is in love with whom or whether certain connections are appropriate.  This open atmosphere contrasts with the limitations of the stuffy drawing room, where people are obliged to smile at one another and exchange shallow conversation.  The superficiality of the upper-middle class is thus evident.  The phony dialogue of the drawing room is a far cry from the engaging, intellectually stimulating conversation Anne encounters in her exchanges with the Captain Wentworth’s navy friends in Lyme Regis.

Continued…

© Copyright Emily Kliever 2007