This is an explanatuion of how the French revolution affected
the views of Jane Austen with regards to British Colonialism,
specifically in the British West Indies (Antiguan plantations).
Details about the French Revolution are not a focus.
The Gordon Riots of 1778 were frightening, at least to many in England.
This was soon followed by the French Revolution in 1789. These violent
social upheavals terrified the upper classes. William Pitt the Younger
was terrified enough to crack down with his "Terror": rooting out
sedition where he found it, looking even harder to find sedition where
it wasn't (witch hunts - the Witch hunts of 1692 were still in memory).
Many people in England were suspicious of French émegrés that
sought refuge in England during the French Revolution. Were these truly
émegrés or were they perhaps French Jacobin spies
click here to see
seeking to overthrow the English government? Furthermore, these spies might
be papists! Everyone came under suspicion. There
was open fear, there was hidden fear. Irrational fear was no longer so
irrational.
As the French Revolution progressed, the slaves in the French West Indies
revolted. England had to fear for their slaves in the British West Indies,
specifically in Antigua. First the British intervened, then lost(!) at a
high cost in soldiers and moneies. Lost battles by England in Haiti were
followed by lost battles by the French in Haiti! If European armies lost,
maybe the untrusted populations back in England might recall the Gordon
Riots and conclude that they could successfully overthrow the government
too (especially with those spies every where). 1
Not only were home populations restive and Colonial slave populations were
restive, but even Bluestockings women were challenging the English government!
This coud only increase the fears of the divided English populations! Thus
Pitt's government might panic!
In this climate of fear and panic, this was not the time for wealthy or aristocratic
families to start public discussions about slavery and its effect socially in
England. Public discussions about ANY of these issues might land one in prision!
Jane Austen lived near cinque-ports (if France were to invade England, this was a
very likely invasion route: coastal towns in Kent, Sussex and Essex: Sandwich, Dover,
Hythe, Romney, and Hastings, just across the channel to France and Amserdam).
Click to see. Anyone
that might oppose the Pitt government that might be a French spy would be suspect
just for living near cinque-ports! Either don't discuss political issues, or discuss
these issues with the greatest of circumspection. Thus Jane Austen did not openly
discuss these issues, except with her trusted sister Cassandra. Some of Jane
Austen's letters to Cassandra discussing such questions survive. However, Cassandra
destroyed most of Jane Austen's correspondence. It is obvious that Jane Austen
strongy objected to pluralism and absenteeism and the effects on planter slave
owners and families. Such objections are tantamount to opposing slavery and what
slavery had done to the English slave owning class.
There was much in French culture that was either rejected or at least was "objectionable"
in England. Thus
Mary, lacking Fanny's appreciation of the house and grounds of Sotherton, wanted
to continue the walk, as if restless and unsettled and searching after novelty."
2
"At this, 'Mr. Knightly grew angry.' To be 'amiable' was to be genuinely but
quietly concerned for others, as from a distance; to be 'aimable' was to give
an impression of concern and to be superficial and false. To be mannered in
one sense was too be direct and forthright, in the other indirect and mysterious.
One pattern of conduct was English, the other French." 3
"When Charles and mary moved into a farmhouse they converted it into a cottage,
adding a 'veranda, French windows, and other prettinesses', in other words
'improving' it according to their taste. By making those changes they added a
false and artificial element to the village, affecting its character negatively."
4
"Living through the period of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, Austen
witnessed a breakdown of the stable, ordered, civilised world of the eighteenth century.
A product of the old society, she saw a new society come into being."
5
Included in the French Revolution are the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon's fleets
were disposed to attack through the English channel, to invade through the Cinque
Ports. Thus the threats (and spies) affected Jane Austen and her novels.
6
1
Roberts, Warren; "Jane Austen and the French Revolution", p. 24
2
ibid, p. 36
3
ibid, p. 41
4
Ibid., pp. 48, 58 Novelty, cosmetics, etc.: superficialities are seen as
French and parvenu, not English. The beauty in old gardens, the
architecture, etc. are not valued. Thus "The natural beauty and moral
character of the house and grounds made her feel that 'to be mistress
of Pemberley might be something!' "
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