<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s address the education of females in the late 18th and early 19th centuries – how society in general approached it, what books were available on the topic, and how JA responded to it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When JA allows Darcy to mention that, to all of the Bingley tribe’s common\nplace “accomplishments” something else was to be added — substantial\nreading. Was she representing her attitude or that of society in general?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the early part of the 18th century girls\u2019 education was very rooted\nin domesticity. Look at this quote from John Evelyn, where in a letter to his\ngrandson dated 1704, he tells him that girls should be brought up to be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026humble modest, moderate, good housewives, discreetly frugal, without high\nexpectations which will otherwise render them discontented\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was typical of the general attitude. Gradually the list of topics a\ngirl was expected to master was extended by a set of\n“accomplishments” — more in line with the Bingleys\u2019 thinking:\nsewing, embroidery, management of their household, writing elegant letters with\nan elegant hand, walking and dancing elegantly, singing, drawing, playing the\nharpsicord, reading and writing French.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bingley sisters were educated at an expensive seminary where great\nimport appears to have been placed on such, when viewed in isolation, trivial\naccomplishments –see Miss Bingley\u2019s description of such an ideal. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However as they became almost universal accomplishments — due to the growing middle class being able to afford to send their children to schools where such topics were taught — these limited options lost some of their social cachet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Towards the end of the 18th century there was a move towards an education based on moral education and intellectual stimulation. See Maria Edgeworth\u2019s “Practical Education\u201d. Her ideas were influenced by Rousseau’s theories of childrearing — where it was assumed that children were rational human beings, and that they should be taught by example and be reasoned with rather than punished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The syllabuses recommended by Practical Education included such topics as\nchemistry, mineralogy, botany, gardening – a very suitable occupation as it\ncombined academic study with exercise outdoors. Children were encouraged to\nplay with toys;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026that afforded trials of dexterity and activity such as tops kites, hops\nballs, battledores and shuttlecocks, ninepins and cup and ball.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maria Edgeworth was also keen on children avoiding bad company —\nparticularly that of servants, who could influence them by their vulgar\nmanners…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If children pass one hour in a day with servants it will be vain to\nattempt their education.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the stance that was taken by Hannah Moore too. Her book\n“Strictures on the Modern System of Female Education” was published\nin 1779. She believed that girls should be given a rigorous academic education,\nbut that the emphasis was still to be on maintaining propriety. The aim of her\neducational book was to produce well- mannered, lively and intelligent\ncompanions for husbands and children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is Hannah Moore\u2019s view of female education:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA lady may speak a little French or Italian, repeat passages in a\ntheatrical tone, play and sing, have her dressing room hung with her won\ndrawings, her person covered with her own tambour work, and may\nnotwithstanding, have been very badly educated. Though well-bred women should\nlearn these, yet at the end a good education is not that they may become\ndancers, singers players or painters but to make them good daughters, good\nwives, good Christians.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This passage brings to mind so many of JAs character, doesn\u2019t it? Charlotte\nPalmer, the Bingley sisters and perhaps most importantly, Maria and Julia\nBertrum who despised Fanny Price for her lack of trivial\n“accomplishments”, yet when the crucial crisis of their education\narose – making moral choices – they both failed, whereas Fanny succeeded and\ntriumphed. Interesting isn’t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s also interesting that the importance of moral education was also\nadvocated by John Locke in his work “Some thoughts Concerning\nEducation”, (published initially in 1693, but by 1777 there had been 25\neditions of his work), and which was without doubt very influential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He advocated a private education within the home – not attendance at school,\nwhere children\u2019s morals might be corrupted by association with children and\nmasters of a lesser moral calibre. And this indeed became a common factor in\neducation of girls during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we consider the Bertram girls again, we can see that JA was advocating that the person in control of their education was at fault. Mrs. Norris was most definitely morally flawed. Her superintendence of their education led to their extreme failure. So, I do think that JA agreed with this aspect of Loke and Moore’s teaching, in that the morals of the person controlling a child were of paramount importance. I am not so sure she disliked servants so much, however, bearing in mind her friendship with Miss Sharpe, governess to Edward Austen-Knight\u2019s children. I think, and it is my own assumption, that JA respected the moral stance of anyone, servant or no, provided it was one governed by principals she respected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When it comes to schools I think JA is rather ambivalent. She is scathing of\nthe grand seminaries the Bingleys attended, but is comfortable, to a degree,\nwith establishments like Mrs. Goddard\u2019s, which are unpretentious and honest in\ntheir aims.
\nSo did JA read any of this? What did she read? All we can safely say is that,\nby a critical reading of her work she appears to have been influenced by this\nshift in thinking. She places far more importance to moral education than the\nacquisition of useless knowledge and graces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See also Henry Churchyards JA Information Page linked here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let\u2019s address the education of females in the late 18th and early 19th centuries – how society in general approached it, what books were available on the topic, and how JA responded to it all. When JA allows Darcy to … Continue reading