Where does Mr. Darcy’s money come from, anyway?
If you have wondered from whence came any of the mysteriously lovely dosh of all the rich folks in Jane Austen’s novels, wonder no longer. Alert Janeite Laura sent us a link to an article in the Economist about economics in Jane Austen’s time: income from landed property, income from the Funds, it’s all covered here.
Miss Austen was neither mercenary nor a snob. She was a daughter of her times. At the turn of the 19th century, wealth merited much discussion. Landed wealth, which dominated the 18th century, was being supplanted by monied wealth, which came to dominate the 19th. Between 1796, when Miss Austen began “Pride and Prejudice”, and 1817, when she died while writing “Sanditon”, land and money (or “funds” as Miss Austen’s peers called their investments) stood in rough and uncomfortable equality. In this shifting balance lay the foundations both of the Anglo-Saxon world’s commercial prosperity and much of the drama and humour of Miss Austen’s books.
January 9th, 2006 at 10:24 am
The NY chapter of JASNA had a speaker a few years back who discussed economics and finance of JA’s day. It was fascinating.
January 9th, 2006 at 4:05 pm
why can’t they just accept that he was just rich?? why does mr. darcy’s wealth have to be explained?
January 9th, 2006 at 5:12 pm
I read this last week sometime - it was pointed out to me by my dearest boyfriend who has developed an eye for Jane Austen references.
I actually thought it was a good and well researched article, both from finance/economics and Janeite perspectives. I’m clearly not the only person out there who is interested in both!
January 9th, 2006 at 11:04 pm
why can’t they just accept that he was just rich?? why does mr. darcy’s wealth have to be explained?
The source of Darcy’s wealth is important to the story, because Darcy wasn’t just a rich landowner, he had the living and keeping of the entire estate–including his tenants–in his hands. When Lizzy sees Pemberley, sees how he is an active and excellent steward of the estate and takes care of his people, it raises him tremendously in her esteem.
I object to the characterization of P&P as a “Cinderella story” because it misses that point. It’s not just that Darcy is rich; it is that his wealth is in the land and how he uses and tends it that mark his character.
January 9th, 2006 at 11:12 pm
Most likely his money came from rents from his tenants and investments in various merchant adventures. Pemberley isn’t just a large house, it is an estate. People live on the land and pay rent to the owner of the estate. The people do not own their own land they farm, they are tenant farmers.
January 11th, 2006 at 8:28 pm
Thank you SO much for posting this article! I currently taking an economic class that’s required for my major…very dull and we have to write a paper on something pertaining to economics…and I have just found my subject! Jane Austen Economics!
January 18th, 2006 at 9:26 pm
~80 years later we see in Oscar Wilde’s famous Lady Bracknell interview (The Importance of Being Ernest) that income from funds is very much preferred to income from land.
You’re welcome.
January 26th, 2006 at 10:50 pm
i recently read an article called : 100 interesting math questions. Number 16: How Rich was Mr. Darcy? People were debating how much his 1,000 pounds a year would be now and i think the answer comes up to about $6M if he were still alove today. It was a very interesting read