Blaming Jane for everything
They came from Birmingham, which is not a place to promise much, you know, Mr Weston. One has no great hopes of Birmingham. I always say there is something direful in the sound.”
Thus speaks Mrs Elton in Jane Austen’s novel Emma, first published in 1816.
The lines have been quoted against Birmingham ever since, by people who do not know or have forgotten that Mrs Elton is one of Jane Austen’s most obnoxious and snobbish characters.
Well, we’ve never seen these particular lines quoted; anybody else?
April 4th, 2008 at 8:55 am
A December 4, 2003 NY Times article about Birmingham: Birmingham Journal; Britain’s No. 2 City Gets Respect (After All These Years) included the partial quote. And I’m sorry I don’t know how to get long links to work here so it is cut in two:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=
9500E5D8163DF937A35751C1A9659C8B63&fta=y
April 4th, 2008 at 10:30 am
It would seem Jane did describe quite a few cities unflatteringly - and two of them in Emma, the other one being London.
Poor Mr. Woodhouse has this to say about it;
“Ah! my poor dear child, the truth is, that in London it is always a sickly season. Nobody is healthy in London — nobody can be.
And I think in one of her letters she says something like seeing Bath best in rain and fog, or something like that.
April 4th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Mags is there a way to delete ones posts after submitting them?
I would like to delete post#3.
Thank you.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
John Cadbury was born and used to live in Birmingham. I think Birmingham the best city in the world if it produced John Cadbury.
Why would people remember that quote especially when Mrs. E is not one of those character’s whose opinions are worth saving?
April 4th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Interesting! Two people whose opinion cannot be trusted have been used by JA to describe cities.
I wonder why?
April 4th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
“there is something direful in the sound” That’s a cautionary tale in the making! Similar to “there is something nasty in the woodshed” from Cold Comfort Farm!
I wonder if the residents of Bristol (Mrs. Elton’s youthful residence) are as gittery about the slam as Birmingham? They say that bad press is better than good press for generating interest. Birmingham should be honored that Austen mentioned them, and people are still talking about it after almost 200 years!
It’s reassuring to know that Mrs. Elton’s opinions hold such weight! JA would be pleased, I’m sure.
Cheers, Laurel Ann
April 4th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Maybe the Transatlantic slavery for which Birmingham was known, the reason Mrs Elton made such a remark so that she can put herself as far from it as possible (knowing that she *could* have had connection with some such thing).
April 4th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Here is another link to an article that partially used the JA quote.
(This is my first foray into hyperlinks so forgive me, once again, if I mess up.)
April 4th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
There seem to be a lot of people quoting Jane Austen about Birmingham.
I just did a google check and was surprised to see how many.
One link is as follows;
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20030216/ai_n12735480
I don’t know how to hyperlink at all
The old copy and paste will have to do.
April 4th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
People don’t seem to quote JA in context, do they ? It’s like ‘Jane Austen wrote in Emma, “One has no great hopes of Birmingham”. One wonders if Jane’s outrageous Mrs Elton is ever cited as the Birmingham expert ?
I know Jane didn’t like cities or at least city living. But JMO, was laughing at prejudices of upstarts of Mrs E; rather than Birmingham.
April 4th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
I mean, the Telegraph mentions Mrs Elton; but I doubt Jane even visted Birmingham; she cited a large city in ‘Emma’. I think it’s an honour for Birmingham instead of say, Liverpool-too far north ?
April 4th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
To Cassandra, 6 June 1811: “One is apt to suppose that the Woods about Birmingham must be blighted.”
This is the only reference to Birmingham I could find in the Letters.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
(Reeba)“Interesting! Two people whose opinion cannot be trusted have been used by JA to describe cities. I wonder why?”
Thought-provoking question! And I think Mandy just answered it:
“(Jane Austen) was laughing at prejudices of upstarts (like) Mrs E; rather than (at) Birmingham.”
This is a good example of how pulling lines out of context from JA (or from any author) creates false impressions. Or as I recall from a long-ago heated discussion on this board (hello, Robin!), sometimes a strawberry is just a strawberry.
April 7th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Ah, yes, Cadbury chocolates from Birmingham, thanks Lynne…how could a birthplace of good chocolate be bad….and I think Birmingham the best city in the world since it produced my husband Simon. He is a Brum (from the outlying town in Solihull) and none better. It seems apparent that JA meant to scoff at the speaker, not the town. She has a good way of not condemning places or things in a narrow mided way, but rather condemming narrow mindedness.