Landscape

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[“Before” illustration. Wembly Estate] Repton, Humphrey (1752- 1818). Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening, Collected from Designs and Observations Now in the Possession of the Different Noblemen and Gentlemen, for Whose Use they Were Originally Made… London, Printed by W. Bulmer and Co., 1794.

Humphry Repton was the premier English landscape gardener of Austen’s time. In Austen’s novels, the worthiness of male landowners is closely tied to their care of estates, most memorably through Elizabeth Bennet dating her love of Darcy “from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley.” This connection between houses and householders extends beyond Austen’s novels to the historical reality of Georgian England. With limited opportunities to assess men’s characters, a premarital visit to a suitor’s home represented not only an opportunity to ascertain his financial stability, but also his willingness to entertain a future wife’s opinions and desires.

In Mansfield Park, Fanny Price and Mary Crawford are both very interested in Edmund Bertram as a marital prospect and have correspondingly strong interests in, and diverging visions of, his future parish. Similarly, the subject of Mr. Rushworth’s estate at Sotherton is raised frequently in connection to his engagement with Maria Bertram.

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Jane Austen (1775–1817). The Novels of Jane Austen… Vol. 1. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Blanchard, T.K. & P.G. Collins, Printers, 1838.

In this passage from Mansfield Park, Mr. Rushworth repeatedly mentions his desire to hire Repton to improve the grounds at Sotherton. He describes how cutting down some trees “opens the prospect amazingly,” and anticipates that under Repton’s guidance, Sotherton’s avenue will be cut down. As expressed in Sketches and Hints, Repton’s own views on avenues are not without qualification. He acknowledges that “the long perspective view of a stately avenue” brings pleasure through “love of order, of unity, antiquity, greatness of parts, and continuity.” On the other hand, he argues that each avenue looks so much like another that “by the effect of avenues, all novelty or diversity of situation is done away,” and that they act as curtains, hiding, “what is infinitely more interesting than any row of trees.”

During this same conversation, Fanny voices her regret at the anticipated loss of the avenue with a quote from The Task by William Cowper (1731-1800). One of his most famous poems, The Task articulates the value of a life of quiet retirement in the country. By quoting it, Fanny demonstrates her own values and preferences, ones regrettably not shared by Mr. Rushworth or Maria.

Condition of Women

The Picturesque