| “If one scheme of happiness fails, is it not wise to try another?” -- Geraldine: or Modes of Faith & Practice |
CMP#186 Authors After Austen: Mary Jane Mackenzie
Mary Jane Mackenzie must have been thrilled with the positive review she received for her debut novel Geraldine. The Lady's Monthly Museum hailed "with pleasure the appearance of a tale which may be put into a youthful hand, not only without danger, but with a rational hope that its contents will make a favourable impression on the side of virtue. To this high degree of praise the novel before us is entitled; it is evidently the work of an author who units talent to sound judgment and true Christian principles.”
Blackwood's Magazine said: "This is the best written Novel, except Anastasius, that has been published in London for several years. The conversational style, one of the best I have seen–clear, natural, and unaffectedly elegant, and full of the spirit of good society." The Monthly Review said: "Her novel is one of the few which possess the rare merit of entertaining and amusing us, while they are devoted to a moral and religious object.”
Geraldine, or Modes of Faith and Practice, was published in 1820 by the prestigious publishing house of Cadell & Davies, who also published the best-selling Christian author Hannah More (and this is the publishing house that turned down Pride & Prejudice years before it was finally published).
The novel also contains some echoes of Austen--in my opinion. Let's see if you agree.
Blackwood's Magazine said: "This is the best written Novel, except Anastasius, that has been published in London for several years. The conversational style, one of the best I have seen–clear, natural, and unaffectedly elegant, and full of the spirit of good society." The Monthly Review said: "Her novel is one of the few which possess the rare merit of entertaining and amusing us, while they are devoted to a moral and religious object.”
Geraldine, or Modes of Faith and Practice, was published in 1820 by the prestigious publishing house of Cadell & Davies, who also published the best-selling Christian author Hannah More (and this is the publishing house that turned down Pride & Prejudice years before it was finally published).
The novel also contains some echoes of Austen--in my opinion. Let's see if you agree.
The cave of Trophonius in Livadeia, Greece. Etching by Elizabeth Byrne, 1813, after E.D. Clarke. Wellcome Collection. Fanny is the flirty one, Geraldine is the quiet one
Geraldine centers on the travails of a young heroine, Geraldine Beresford. In Volume I, the heroine’s beloved mother has died, and her father wants to travel around the continent to forget his grief. He parks Geraldine, who is about fourteen, with his sister Mrs. Mowbray, her husband, and her three cousins, who are all older than her.
One striking feature of this novel is that the dialogue--which Blackwood's Magazine praised--is crammed with poetical, classical, literary, and biblical allusions and quotes. The novel opens with a conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Mowbray. Over a few pages, Mrs. Mowbray refers to a ‘veiled prophet,’ Horne Tooke, Johnson, Lowth, Mrs. Shandy, Griselda, ‘two stars kept their motion in one sphere,’ ‘bestow her tediousness,’ Glumdalclitch, and ‘sonnet to his mistress’s eyebrows.’ Mary Jane Mackenzie, whatever her merits as a writer, wasn’t shy about sharing her erudition. She presumes her readers will understand what a reference to the "Cave of Trophonius" is about. The characters in Geraldine also debate about the theatre, poetry, music, whether French cuisine and music is better than English, and religion.
Geraldine, being young and unused to the world, is taken aback by the glamour and worldly cynicism of her Mowbray relatives. She keeps quiet in the first scenes of the novel. At a dinner party she is “allowed the privilege of listening as quietly as she pleased.” Her cousins are Geraldine, Fanny, and Montague.
Georgiana, the eldest daughter, marries a nabob (a man who made his fortune in India), and she goes to India with him. The narrator makes it clear that this marriage is motivated by worldly ambition. Geraldine, meanwhile, quietly loves her cousin Montague.
The other sister Fanny is a witty flirt. Montague brings home a friend, Mr. Spenser, who “has lately succeeded to an unencumbered estate of 2,000 a year.” He and Fanny fall rapidly in love. Mr. Mowbray is worried that Spenser’s adoration of his daughter is intense rather than lasting, but he reluctantly allows the marriage. Fanny and Spenser go to live in Richmond and Geraldine misses her. “Geraldine, after the bustle attendant upon the dignity of a bride-maid was over, felt at leisure to regret Fanny exceedingly. The sight of the room she had occupied, and all the little vestiges it contained; the work-box, that had been thought unworthy of a bride—and the flower-stands, which had been pronounced unfit for Richmond, excited very painful emotions.”
Geraldine centers on the travails of a young heroine, Geraldine Beresford. In Volume I, the heroine’s beloved mother has died, and her father wants to travel around the continent to forget his grief. He parks Geraldine, who is about fourteen, with his sister Mrs. Mowbray, her husband, and her three cousins, who are all older than her.
One striking feature of this novel is that the dialogue--which Blackwood's Magazine praised--is crammed with poetical, classical, literary, and biblical allusions and quotes. The novel opens with a conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Mowbray. Over a few pages, Mrs. Mowbray refers to a ‘veiled prophet,’ Horne Tooke, Johnson, Lowth, Mrs. Shandy, Griselda, ‘two stars kept their motion in one sphere,’ ‘bestow her tediousness,’ Glumdalclitch, and ‘sonnet to his mistress’s eyebrows.’ Mary Jane Mackenzie, whatever her merits as a writer, wasn’t shy about sharing her erudition. She presumes her readers will understand what a reference to the "Cave of Trophonius" is about. The characters in Geraldine also debate about the theatre, poetry, music, whether French cuisine and music is better than English, and religion.
Geraldine, being young and unused to the world, is taken aback by the glamour and worldly cynicism of her Mowbray relatives. She keeps quiet in the first scenes of the novel. At a dinner party she is “allowed the privilege of listening as quietly as she pleased.” Her cousins are Geraldine, Fanny, and Montague.
Georgiana, the eldest daughter, marries a nabob (a man who made his fortune in India), and she goes to India with him. The narrator makes it clear that this marriage is motivated by worldly ambition. Geraldine, meanwhile, quietly loves her cousin Montague.
The other sister Fanny is a witty flirt. Montague brings home a friend, Mr. Spenser, who “has lately succeeded to an unencumbered estate of 2,000 a year.” He and Fanny fall rapidly in love. Mr. Mowbray is worried that Spenser’s adoration of his daughter is intense rather than lasting, but he reluctantly allows the marriage. Fanny and Spenser go to live in Richmond and Geraldine misses her. “Geraldine, after the bustle attendant upon the dignity of a bride-maid was over, felt at leisure to regret Fanny exceedingly. The sight of the room she had occupied, and all the little vestiges it contained; the work-box, that had been thought unworthy of a bride—and the flower-stands, which had been pronounced unfit for Richmond, excited very painful emotions.”
English brides arrive in India Religious fanatics and more Austen echoes
A few years pass. Sometimes the Mowbrays visit their neighbours, the Wentworths. Miss Wentworth is a puritanical fanatic who frightens her little sister with threats of hellfire. Mrs. Wentworth is an indolent lady who doesn’t pay any attention to her children. We also meet a minor character named Miss Crawford.
Geraldine grows up into a lovely young lady. She has a handsome inheritance, since she is her father’s only heir, so the Mowbrays don’t object when their son Montague proposes to her. But then Montague becomes infatuated with a designing widow, and Geraldine breaks off their engagement.
We learn that while Geraldine’s late mom was intelligent and respectable, dad is not a shining character. Mrs. Mowbray says of her late sister-in-law: “She contrived to give dignity and importance—nay, even a sort of lustre, to [her brother's] character.” Mr. Mowbray, a sort of sarcastic Mr. Bennet type, says, “even the leaden mantle of mediocrity did not weigh him down in his wife’s time.”
The Mowbrays receive word that Geraldine’s father has been spending all his money in Italy and running his estate into debt. “Our measures must be prompt and decisive, Geraldine,” Mrs. Mowbray tells her. “if we can persuade your father to return immediately to England, all may yet be well." Mrs. Mowbray resolves to go to Italy and takes Geraldine and young Mr. Maitland, the clergyman, with her.
A few years pass. Sometimes the Mowbrays visit their neighbours, the Wentworths. Miss Wentworth is a puritanical fanatic who frightens her little sister with threats of hellfire. Mrs. Wentworth is an indolent lady who doesn’t pay any attention to her children. We also meet a minor character named Miss Crawford.
Geraldine grows up into a lovely young lady. She has a handsome inheritance, since she is her father’s only heir, so the Mowbrays don’t object when their son Montague proposes to her. But then Montague becomes infatuated with a designing widow, and Geraldine breaks off their engagement.
We learn that while Geraldine’s late mom was intelligent and respectable, dad is not a shining character. Mrs. Mowbray says of her late sister-in-law: “She contrived to give dignity and importance—nay, even a sort of lustre, to [her brother's] character.” Mr. Mowbray, a sort of sarcastic Mr. Bennet type, says, “even the leaden mantle of mediocrity did not weigh him down in his wife’s time.”
The Mowbrays receive word that Geraldine’s father has been spending all his money in Italy and running his estate into debt. “Our measures must be prompt and decisive, Geraldine,” Mrs. Mowbray tells her. “if we can persuade your father to return immediately to England, all may yet be well." Mrs. Mowbray resolves to go to Italy and takes Geraldine and young Mr. Maitland, the clergyman, with her.
Old History (detail) Alexander Jakesch Spoilers ahead
In Italy, Geraldine and her aunt discover that her father was tricked into marrying a young woman who then spent all his money. He is dying, and Geraldine gets to his bedside just in time to say goodbye.
Mrs. Mowbray laments, “His fortune, thanks to the ingenious extravagance of this ‘foreign wonder’ is reduced to a complete wreck." So now Mrs. Mowbray doesn’t want Geraldine to marry her son.
Mr. Maitland the clergyman suddenly becomes the romantic lead. On the voyage back to England, he falls in love with Geraldine but he hides his affection, because she's still carrying a torch for Montague.
Meanwhile, the marriages of the Mowbray girls go badly. The climate of India has destroyed the health and good looks of the oldest daughter Georgiana. Fanny is miserable because her husband has lost interest in her and he’s having affairs. She in turn finds a lover and elopes with him! When the news reaches Mrs. Mowbray, “She was astonished and grieved… but it was not the sin, it was the disgrace by which she was chiefly affected. She pronounced it to be a shocking affair, a very shocking affair indeed; but she felt more irritated by the folly, the imprudence, the absurdity of Fanny, than humiliated by her [daughter’s] guilt. To forfeit such a station, to forsake a husband who neither limited her expenses, controlled her wishes, nor interfered with her pleasures, because he happened not to be immaculate, was either an act of positive madness, or of folly the most inexcusable.”
Geraldine, on the other hand, is horrified. “Affected even to agony, she wept over the fall, shuddered at the guilt, and trembled for the future destiny of Fanny… this irretrievable evil might be attributed to her wretchedly defective education.”
Fanny’s elopement leads to retribution for some, repentance for others. In the conclusion, Geraldine rejects the charming but unstable Montague Mowbray and marries the worthy Mr. Maitland.
In Italy, Geraldine and her aunt discover that her father was tricked into marrying a young woman who then spent all his money. He is dying, and Geraldine gets to his bedside just in time to say goodbye.
Mrs. Mowbray laments, “His fortune, thanks to the ingenious extravagance of this ‘foreign wonder’ is reduced to a complete wreck." So now Mrs. Mowbray doesn’t want Geraldine to marry her son.
Mr. Maitland the clergyman suddenly becomes the romantic lead. On the voyage back to England, he falls in love with Geraldine but he hides his affection, because she's still carrying a torch for Montague.
Meanwhile, the marriages of the Mowbray girls go badly. The climate of India has destroyed the health and good looks of the oldest daughter Georgiana. Fanny is miserable because her husband has lost interest in her and he’s having affairs. She in turn finds a lover and elopes with him! When the news reaches Mrs. Mowbray, “She was astonished and grieved… but it was not the sin, it was the disgrace by which she was chiefly affected. She pronounced it to be a shocking affair, a very shocking affair indeed; but she felt more irritated by the folly, the imprudence, the absurdity of Fanny, than humiliated by her [daughter’s] guilt. To forfeit such a station, to forsake a husband who neither limited her expenses, controlled her wishes, nor interfered with her pleasures, because he happened not to be immaculate, was either an act of positive madness, or of folly the most inexcusable.”
Geraldine, on the other hand, is horrified. “Affected even to agony, she wept over the fall, shuddered at the guilt, and trembled for the future destiny of Fanny… this irretrievable evil might be attributed to her wretchedly defective education.”
Fanny’s elopement leads to retribution for some, repentance for others. In the conclusion, Geraldine rejects the charming but unstable Montague Mowbray and marries the worthy Mr. Maitland.
Portrait of a young woman with Bible, Jan Braet von Überfeldt, 1866 Other features
Slavery and empire: Before her marriage, Geraldine's mother loved one Mr. Fullarton, but lack of money prevented their union. After Mr. Fullarton's romance with Geraldine's mother was thwarted, he inherited a “small estate in the West Indies." This is another example of sending a character abroad until you need them back for plot purposes, a very common device discussed previously. However, Mackenzie also makes use of the West Indies connection to be more explicitly anti-slavery than Austen chose to be in Mansfield Park. Fullerton sold his property but "he [was] anxious, if possible, to secure the freedom and comfort of the slaves employed on it." After all, selling your plantation because you are opposed to slavery doesn't do anything for the enslaved people working there and quite likely could make their condition worse.
Strong religious message: Upon his re-entry into the novel, Mr. Fullarton counsels Geraldine on avoiding the vices and snares of this world. Geraldine's Church of England piety is contrasted with the frivolous and worldly Mowbrays on the one hand, and the puritanical Miss Wentworth on the other--hence the subtitle, Modes of Faith and Practice. The ultra-religiosity of Miss Wentworth is shown to be a form of vanity.
English pride: Although Mr. Wentworth is lampooned as a bluff and ignorant John Bull type, throughout the novel everything English is held up as superior and safer than foreign countries and foreign ideas, and the countryside, of course, is better than the wicked city.
Charitable cliches: I previously quoted the passage in Geraldine in which the heroine fondly remembers how the villagers blessed and thanked her charitable mother.
Slavery and empire: Before her marriage, Geraldine's mother loved one Mr. Fullarton, but lack of money prevented their union. After Mr. Fullarton's romance with Geraldine's mother was thwarted, he inherited a “small estate in the West Indies." This is another example of sending a character abroad until you need them back for plot purposes, a very common device discussed previously. However, Mackenzie also makes use of the West Indies connection to be more explicitly anti-slavery than Austen chose to be in Mansfield Park. Fullerton sold his property but "he [was] anxious, if possible, to secure the freedom and comfort of the slaves employed on it." After all, selling your plantation because you are opposed to slavery doesn't do anything for the enslaved people working there and quite likely could make their condition worse.
Strong religious message: Upon his re-entry into the novel, Mr. Fullarton counsels Geraldine on avoiding the vices and snares of this world. Geraldine's Church of England piety is contrasted with the frivolous and worldly Mowbrays on the one hand, and the puritanical Miss Wentworth on the other--hence the subtitle, Modes of Faith and Practice. The ultra-religiosity of Miss Wentworth is shown to be a form of vanity.
English pride: Although Mr. Wentworth is lampooned as a bluff and ignorant John Bull type, throughout the novel everything English is held up as superior and safer than foreign countries and foreign ideas, and the countryside, of course, is better than the wicked city.
Charitable cliches: I previously quoted the passage in Geraldine in which the heroine fondly remembers how the villagers blessed and thanked her charitable mother.
Harriet Auber, Mackenzie's companion About Mary Jane Mackenzie
Mary Jane Mackenzie (1783--1857) does not appear in the Orlando: Women's Writing in the British Isles Database of the University of Cambridge. Her family lived near the Tower of London and attended All-Hallows-by-the-Tower church, the oldest or one of the oldest churches in London. The extensive literary and classical allusions in her novels suggests that she had a good education and was an avid reader.
Mary Jane never married and the downfall of Mr. Mowbray in Geraldine bears some resemblance to the troubles which beset her own family. Mackenzie was thrown into alarming poverty but fortunately her friends and admirers collected monies to provide her with a modest pension. In the last part of her life, she lived with her friend Harriet Auber, a hymnist and author of religious tracts. They were known for their sweet natures and their piety. They lived quietly in Ware and Great Amwell near Hoddeston, in Hertfordshire, and they both published anonymously. Mackenzie published another novel, Private Life, and some religious books for young people, as well as pieces for magazines.
Previous post: Olivia, the Heroine of Colour Next post: Emily, the heroine who writes a novel
Mary Jane Mackenzie (1783--1857) does not appear in the Orlando: Women's Writing in the British Isles Database of the University of Cambridge. Her family lived near the Tower of London and attended All-Hallows-by-the-Tower church, the oldest or one of the oldest churches in London. The extensive literary and classical allusions in her novels suggests that she had a good education and was an avid reader.
Mary Jane never married and the downfall of Mr. Mowbray in Geraldine bears some resemblance to the troubles which beset her own family. Mackenzie was thrown into alarming poverty but fortunately her friends and admirers collected monies to provide her with a modest pension. In the last part of her life, she lived with her friend Harriet Auber, a hymnist and author of religious tracts. They were known for their sweet natures and their piety. They lived quietly in Ware and Great Amwell near Hoddeston, in Hertfordshire, and they both published anonymously. Mackenzie published another novel, Private Life, and some religious books for young people, as well as pieces for magazines.
Previous post: Olivia, the Heroine of Colour Next post: Emily, the heroine who writes a novel
| This LitHub article says: Austenites, stop hating on Thomas Cadill because he turned down Austen's manuscript. He was actually very supportive of women writers. Scholar Rachel Howard describes Geraldine as a "conversion novel," (in other words, a novel in which a character has a "come to Jesus" moment), and it is described as a sub-genre of the "moral-domestic" novel. She spotted the many of the same Austen parallels that I did. Howard, Rachel. Domesticating the Novel : Moral-Domestic Fiction, 1820-1834. 2007. |
| Clutching My Pearls is my ongoing blog series about my take on Jane Austen’s beliefs and ideas, as based on her novels. I’ve also been blogging about now-obscure female authors of the long 18th century. For more, click "Authoresses" on the menu at right. Click here for the first in the series. |
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