| Clutching My Pearls is my ongoing blog series about my take on Jane Austen’s beliefs and ideas, as based on her novels. For some, recent interpretations of Austen appear to be part of a larger effort to jettison and disavow the past. Click here for the first in the series. |
The Enclosure movement part 3:
In my first post on land enclosure in Austen's time, I mostly talked about gypsies and whether the gypsies in Emma tell us anything about land enclosure. The second post looked at whether Mr. Knightley was a villain. In this final post on land enclosure, we'll look at two questions: Do we know how Austen felt about land enclosure? And, was it dangerous to oppose land enclosure? That is, would a person living in Austen's time get in trouble with the authorities, or even socially, for speaking out against land enclosure?
Gleaners look for stray grains of wheat, 1857. It's been a long time since the West experienced this kind of poverty We should understand that by Austen's time, enclosure was basically a fait accompli. Much of England's farmland was enclosed before Austen was born, including her home village of Steventon. If Highbury and Northanger Abbey and Uppercross were all real places, they likely would be places where the farmland had already been enclosed. According to the National Archives website, because enclosure happened here and there and gradually over centuries, this "piecemeal" conversion "ensured that opposition to the loss of rights was fragmented although there were various enclosure riots at places such as Charnwood Forest (1748-51), West Haddon (1765), Sheffield (1791), and Burton on Trent (1771-72)."
So what did Jane Austen think? .....
So what did Jane Austen think? .....
Excerpt from "The State of the Poor" by Sir Frederick Morton Eden, 1797 The clergyman of this parish received land instead of a yearly collection of tithe-produce. What do we know about Jane Austen's attitude toward land enclosure from her novels and letters? Was she pro-enclosure, indifferent, or worried about the effects that enclosure wrought on Merrie Olde England?
Professor Celia Easton has carefully reviewed all of Austen's existing corpus for references to farming and enclosure. In an article for the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA), Easton starts with the most explicit mention of enclosure, which is not in Emma, but in Sense & Sensibility. John Dashwood tells Elinor that he's enclosing Norland Common, and the cost of doing so is "a most serious drain" on his income. Later in the novel, the men talk about enclosure over their after-dinner drinks. Austen presents John Dashwood throughout the novel as a selfish and incredibly self-centred person, so his mention of enclosing Norland Common does sound like she disapproves of closing off the common land.
Professor Celia Easton has carefully reviewed all of Austen's existing corpus for references to farming and enclosure. In an article for the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA), Easton starts with the most explicit mention of enclosure, which is not in Emma, but in Sense & Sensibility. John Dashwood tells Elinor that he's enclosing Norland Common, and the cost of doing so is "a most serious drain" on his income. Later in the novel, the men talk about enclosure over their after-dinner drinks. Austen presents John Dashwood throughout the novel as a selfish and incredibly self-centred person, so his mention of enclosing Norland Common does sound like she disapproves of closing off the common land.
From a history page that is anti-enclosure, click on cartoon for more Next, Professor Easton looks at Mansfield Park. Mr. Rushworth wants to improve the landscaping at his estate. As well, Henry Crawford suggests to Edmund Bertram that he can fix up the parsonage at Thornton Lacey to look like a gentleman's house, by clearing away the farmyard and planting trees. But in these cases, we're talking about ornamental landscaping. We know that some grand English lords had entire villages wiped out to improve the views from the windows of their mansions, to say nothing of the Highland clearances.
However, I don't think there is any indication that Mr. Rushworth is planning to enclose more farmland; he intends to re-design his existing parkland. Henry Crawford's concerns about Thornton Lacey are strictly aesthetic as well. The farmyard Crawford wants to clear away appears to belong to the parsonage. It doesn't look like any villagers will be affected, which is the question at issue here.
Austen shows affection for Mr. Knightley's old-fashioned home with its unimproved landscaping: "the Abbey, with all the old neglect of prospect, had scarcely a sight—and its abundance of timber in rows and avenues, which neither fashion nor extravagance had rooted up." In fact, comparing Mr. Knightley's home to General Tilney's pride in his modernized Northanger Abbey, we see that Austen is gently mocking about this new-fangled landscaping movement. Both John Dashwood and General Tilney have greenhouses -- and they are both bad guys in Austen. Dashwood and Rushworth have cut down or intend to cut down the old trees which line their avenues. The focus here is on showy landscaping, not enclosure.
(Interesting side note, some of those expansive Capability Brown-landscaped meadows were more than ornamental, they were profitable because sheep could safely graze serenely on them, and the landowner could make money selling wool and mutton. This is the part where people who know what a "ha-ha" is can nod knowingly. Ah yes, the ha-ha.)
Many of Austen's characters enjoy walking outside and enjoying nature -- Fanny Price in particular -- so there is nothing reprehensible about enjoying a beautiful landscape. Perhaps it is all a question of moderation. As Fanny says of Mrs. Grant's shrubbery: "There is such a quiet simplicity in the plan of the walk! Not too much attempted!”
In Persuasion, Anne Elliot joins in a very long ramble across fields divided by fences and hedges. Anne enjoys the melancholy beauty of autumn, and meditates on how the farmer and his plow attest to the promise of spring, but is there even a hint that the enclosed land she's walking through, the hedgerow she's resting beside, are symbols of the cruel disenfranchisement of the peasants?
And what about Emma, the book that is Exhibit "A" in Dr. Helena Kelly's contention that Austen was anti-enclosure? In the JASNA article, Dr. Easton points out that Emma Woodhouse pays a charitable visit to a poor family, a family that could well have been affected by the loss of common grazing rights, but Easton does not single out any passages in Emma that refer to land enclosure. She evidently does not see the "politicized references" that Dr. Helena Kelly sees.
However, I don't think there is any indication that Mr. Rushworth is planning to enclose more farmland; he intends to re-design his existing parkland. Henry Crawford's concerns about Thornton Lacey are strictly aesthetic as well. The farmyard Crawford wants to clear away appears to belong to the parsonage. It doesn't look like any villagers will be affected, which is the question at issue here.
Austen shows affection for Mr. Knightley's old-fashioned home with its unimproved landscaping: "the Abbey, with all the old neglect of prospect, had scarcely a sight—and its abundance of timber in rows and avenues, which neither fashion nor extravagance had rooted up." In fact, comparing Mr. Knightley's home to General Tilney's pride in his modernized Northanger Abbey, we see that Austen is gently mocking about this new-fangled landscaping movement. Both John Dashwood and General Tilney have greenhouses -- and they are both bad guys in Austen. Dashwood and Rushworth have cut down or intend to cut down the old trees which line their avenues. The focus here is on showy landscaping, not enclosure.
(Interesting side note, some of those expansive Capability Brown-landscaped meadows were more than ornamental, they were profitable because sheep could safely graze serenely on them, and the landowner could make money selling wool and mutton. This is the part where people who know what a "ha-ha" is can nod knowingly. Ah yes, the ha-ha.)
Many of Austen's characters enjoy walking outside and enjoying nature -- Fanny Price in particular -- so there is nothing reprehensible about enjoying a beautiful landscape. Perhaps it is all a question of moderation. As Fanny says of Mrs. Grant's shrubbery: "There is such a quiet simplicity in the plan of the walk! Not too much attempted!”
In Persuasion, Anne Elliot joins in a very long ramble across fields divided by fences and hedges. Anne enjoys the melancholy beauty of autumn, and meditates on how the farmer and his plow attest to the promise of spring, but is there even a hint that the enclosed land she's walking through, the hedgerow she's resting beside, are symbols of the cruel disenfranchisement of the peasants?
And what about Emma, the book that is Exhibit "A" in Dr. Helena Kelly's contention that Austen was anti-enclosure? In the JASNA article, Dr. Easton points out that Emma Woodhouse pays a charitable visit to a poor family, a family that could well have been affected by the loss of common grazing rights, but Easton does not single out any passages in Emma that refer to land enclosure. She evidently does not see the "politicized references" that Dr. Helena Kelly sees.
Old-fashioned tithes A very informative BBC podcast about land enclosure explains that enclosure was beneficial for the clergymen of the Church of England -- like Austen's father. Instead of collecting chickens and bushels of wheat from their parishioners as tithe payments, they were assigned their own land, or received a combination of land and money.
Simon J. White writes in Romanticism and the Rural Community: “There is little evidence within [Austen's] novels that Jane Austen was radically opposed to enclosure in particular or agrarian reform in general. Indeed, as Robert Clark and Gerry Dutton have found, Austen’s father was ‘as engaged in capitalist agricultural activity as any farmer would be today’."
In Northanger Abbey, Henry Tilney has his own "young plantations" (that is, areas that are newly planted or forested) and he concentrates on improving their value as he looks forward to his marriage. Edmund Bertram and Edward Ferrars are also shown as being interested in getting as much value as they can out of the lands (called "glebe lands") they control in the parish. Edmund is learning from Dr. Grant "how to turn a good income into a better" and Edward and Elinor would like "rather better pasturage for their cows." As well, they are intent on making their little parsonage look grander by adding shrubberies and a big curved driveway (a sweep). Professor Easton points out "The fact that clergymen have a particular interest in land enclosure is evident in Jane Austen’s fiction..."
Simon J. White writes in Romanticism and the Rural Community: “There is little evidence within [Austen's] novels that Jane Austen was radically opposed to enclosure in particular or agrarian reform in general. Indeed, as Robert Clark and Gerry Dutton have found, Austen’s father was ‘as engaged in capitalist agricultural activity as any farmer would be today’."
In Northanger Abbey, Henry Tilney has his own "young plantations" (that is, areas that are newly planted or forested) and he concentrates on improving their value as he looks forward to his marriage. Edmund Bertram and Edward Ferrars are also shown as being interested in getting as much value as they can out of the lands (called "glebe lands") they control in the parish. Edmund is learning from Dr. Grant "how to turn a good income into a better" and Edward and Elinor would like "rather better pasturage for their cows." As well, they are intent on making their little parsonage look grander by adding shrubberies and a big curved driveway (a sweep). Professor Easton points out "The fact that clergymen have a particular interest in land enclosure is evident in Jane Austen’s fiction..."
"Very true,” said Harriet. “Poor creatures! one can think of nothing else.” To recap, although we agree that John Dashwood is a jerk, Austen never writes about any displaced peasants who have lost their rights to use common land. As we have seen, she is not sympathetic to gypsies.
Emma talks to Harriet of what the poor must suffer in winter. But she doesn't add, "If only that vile Mr. Knightley hadn't forbidden them from gathering firewood from the forest!" Dr. Kelly sees subtle criticism; I think the subtleties she sees are in fact non-existent, particularly in Emma.
Which brings us to the final question -- would it have been risky for Austen to protest against land enclosure? Well, that would depend on how far she had gone in her opposition, or what she had proposed as a solution.
More generally, if you were for land enclosure, you were on the side of the toffs, although land enclosure ended up benefitting everyone in time, as we can see from the chart below which shows the dramatic rise in agricultural output resulting from the agricultural and industrial revolutions.
Emma talks to Harriet of what the poor must suffer in winter. But she doesn't add, "If only that vile Mr. Knightley hadn't forbidden them from gathering firewood from the forest!" Dr. Kelly sees subtle criticism; I think the subtleties she sees are in fact non-existent, particularly in Emma.
Which brings us to the final question -- would it have been risky for Austen to protest against land enclosure? Well, that would depend on how far she had gone in her opposition, or what she had proposed as a solution.
More generally, if you were for land enclosure, you were on the side of the toffs, although land enclosure ended up benefitting everyone in time, as we can see from the chart below which shows the dramatic rise in agricultural output resulting from the agricultural and industrial revolutions.
Ang, James B., et al. “Innovation and Productivity Advances in British Agriculture: 1620–1850.” Southern Economic Journal, vol. 80, no. 1, 2013, pp. 162–186. JSTOR If you were against land enclosure like Thomas Paine, you were on the side of the labouring classes. He proposed a land tax as a sort of reparations for landless people. Paine had already left England to escape persecution for his earlier writings when he published his pamphlet, Agrarian Justice, in 1797. The pamphlet was re-printed in England in 1817 and I can't find any indication that anyone was arrested over it.
Another radical writer, Thomas Spence, thought all land should be kept in common. But he also wanted an end to the aristocracy. He went to prison. Likewise, William Cobbett, a writer and MP, opposed land enclosure. He went to prison, but over other issues, not land enclosure.
Oliver Goldsmith's 1770 poem, The Deserted Village, mentions a proud nobleman who grabs land to create an artificial lake and extend his parkland, but Goldsmith wasn't locked up for writing it and the poem was popular and frequently reprinted. Goldsmith's poem is a nostalgic lament for a vanished rural village, a way of life that was gone forever. It was not so political as to get Goldsmith into trouble.
Another radical writer, Thomas Spence, thought all land should be kept in common. But he also wanted an end to the aristocracy. He went to prison. Likewise, William Cobbett, a writer and MP, opposed land enclosure. He went to prison, but over other issues, not land enclosure.
Oliver Goldsmith's 1770 poem, The Deserted Village, mentions a proud nobleman who grabs land to create an artificial lake and extend his parkland, but Goldsmith wasn't locked up for writing it and the poem was popular and frequently reprinted. Goldsmith's poem is a nostalgic lament for a vanished rural village, a way of life that was gone forever. It was not so political as to get Goldsmith into trouble.
If Austen didn't speak out against enclosure publicly, what about privately? After studying Austen's few surviving letters, Professor Easton concludes: "[Austen] clearly welcomed whatever profits her family could gain from the land they owned or leased, although she was not beyond teasing Edward Knight when he hoped to acquire a dead neighbor’s farm."
According to Professor Easton, "Jane Austen never explicitly condemned the enclosure movement in either her fiction or her letters."
So.... what is the conclusion? Was Austen an anti-enclosure radical? Given the slight evidence of her private letters, I don't think she felt that strongly about the issue.
Dr. Kelly's theory of Jane Austen's secret radicalism comes down to the assertion that Austen was a radical but she couldn't show it. We can never know if Austen wasn't explicit for fear of the consequences. Kelly's theory, as I've mentioned before, is non-falsifiable.
Since Austen's references to land enclosure are so fleeting and indirect, her novels aren't the first place you'd turn to if you want to read fictionalized accounts of how land enclosure affected the working class. An old favourite of mine is The Camerons by Robert Crichton (1972), which features the Highland Clearances and the harsh life of Scottish miners.
According to Professor Easton, "Jane Austen never explicitly condemned the enclosure movement in either her fiction or her letters."
So.... what is the conclusion? Was Austen an anti-enclosure radical? Given the slight evidence of her private letters, I don't think she felt that strongly about the issue.
Dr. Kelly's theory of Jane Austen's secret radicalism comes down to the assertion that Austen was a radical but she couldn't show it. We can never know if Austen wasn't explicit for fear of the consequences. Kelly's theory, as I've mentioned before, is non-falsifiable.
Since Austen's references to land enclosure are so fleeting and indirect, her novels aren't the first place you'd turn to if you want to read fictionalized accounts of how land enclosure affected the working class. An old favourite of mine is The Camerons by Robert Crichton (1972), which features the Highland Clearances and the harsh life of Scottish miners.
And I also recommend a new novel by Elizabeth Grant, An Independent Heart. This beautifully-written story includes a debate over land enclosure and is set during the Regency period. "It is February 1814. Claire Lammond is in London on a family visit. The British army has crossed the Nivelle. Justin Sumners is recalled to England. They meet on the ice of the frozen Thames: two strong, engaging characters whose relationship unfolds against a richly evocative historical background... At its core are family ties: between husband and wife, son and father, children and parents, siblings and cousins, all tested and strained by the demands of politics, love, and duty."
If I come across any other writings of Austen's time which protests against land enclosure, I'll share that information here.
Update: I re-visit the topic of hedges and land enclosure in my 100th blog post.
Ellen of the Reading Jane Austen podcast discusses land enclosure, the agrarian revolution, and Austen's social activism, if any, in two episodes dealing with Pride & Prejudice. Here at 36:29 and here at 51:30.
If I come across any other writings of Austen's time which protests against land enclosure, I'll share that information here.
Update: I re-visit the topic of hedges and land enclosure in my 100th blog post.
Ellen of the Reading Jane Austen podcast discusses land enclosure, the agrarian revolution, and Austen's social activism, if any, in two episodes dealing with Pride & Prejudice. Here at 36:29 and here at 51:30.
Next post: Righteousness and Reticence
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