Reading Jane Austen After Reading Charlotte Smith Reading Jane Austen After Reading Charlotte Smith Jacqueline M. Labbe Reading Jane Austen After Reading Charlotte Smith Jacqueline M. Labbe De Montfort University Leicester, UK ISBN 978-3-030-38828-7 ISBN 978-3-030-38829-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38829-4 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such namesareexemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreefor general use. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinforma- tion in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeen made.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregardtojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmaps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: © Harvey Loake This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland This book is dedicated to Sean, Indie and Nathan; and to the scholarly community from whom I have learned so much. Preface This book is a provocation and a thought experiment. It creates a Smith/Austen bubble, mostly ignoring other life. It asks ‘what if?’ What if we read Jane Austen after reading Charlotte Smith? What if we accept that Smith held a prominence for Austen that had a deep, essential im- pact? What if we view the two as players on the same stage, occupying the same spotlight? What if we see them as engaged in a kind of conver- sation—speaking with each other—abiding together, as the etymology of ‘conversation’ suggests? Several of its ideas have been aired over many years at conferences and some elements have appeared in print. I am grateful to and acknowledge the following: (cid:129) Earlier versions of parts of Chapter 3 appeared as ‘What Happens at the Party: Jane Austen Converses with Charlotte Smith’ (Persua- sions Online 30.2 [2010], http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/on- line/vol30no2/labbe.html); and as ‘Narrating Seduction: Charlotte SmithandJaneAusten’.CharlotteSmithinBritishRomanticism.Ed. Labbe. London: Pickering and Chatto, 2008, p 113–128. (cid:129) An earlier version of part of Chapter 4 appeared as ‘Pathological Sensibility’ (Women’s Writing 23.3 [2016], Eds. Ros Ballaster and Ruth Perry: 354–65). vii viii PREFACE I have benefitted from the thoughtful responses of colleagues as I have refined my ideas—thank you to colleagues who are too numerous to be named. However, there are always exceptions, and I must acknowledge my deep gratitude to Harriet Kramer Linkin, Sharon Ruston, and Fiona Price, all of whom read parts or all of this book in draft. Their com- mentsandsuggestionshavemadethisbookbetteranddemonstrated,yet again, the intellectual vigour and amazing generosity of the Romanticist community. IwouldalsoliketothankAmarDaxini,whosecarefuleyeensuredthat my citations and references are in order. Any errors that remain are my own. Finally,andalways:tomyfamily,distantandnearby,andtomypartner Sean, thank you for listening to me talk about Smith! Coventry, UK Jacqueline M. Labbe 2020 Primary Sources Austen, Jane. 1969. Sense and Sensibility. Edited by Tony Tanner. Lon- don: Penguin Classics. Austen, Jane. 1975. Sanditon. New York: Simon and Schuster. Austen, Jane. 1998. Persuasion. Edited by Linda Bree. Peterborough: Broadview Press. Austen, Jane. 2001. Sense and Sensibility. Edited by Kathleen James- Cavan. Peterborough: Broadview Press. Austen, Jane. 2003. Mansfield Park. Edited by June Sturrock. Peterbor- ough: Broadview Press. Austen, Jane. 2002. Northanger Abbey. Edited by Claire Grogan. Peter- borough: Broadview Press. Austen, Jane. 2002. Pride and Prejudice. Edited by Robert Irvine. Peter- borough: Broadview Press. Austen, Jane. 2004. Emma. Edited by Kristin Samuelian. Peterborough: Broadview Press. Austen,Jane.2008.Juvenilia.Newcastle:CambridgeScholarsPublishing. Smith,Charlotte.1794.TheWanderingsofWarwick.London:Printedfor J. Bell. Smith, Charlotte. 1795. Rural walks: in dialogues intended for the use of young persons. London: Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies. Smith, Charlotte. 1795. Montalbert. London: S. Low. ix x PRIMARY SOURCES Smith, Charlotte. 1795. The Banished Man: London: T. Cadell. Smith,Charlotte.1796.RamblesFurther:aContinuationofRuralWalks. Dublin: Printed for Wogan, Byrne, J. Moore and B. Dugdale. Smith, Charlotte. 1796. Marchmont. London: S. Low. Smith, Charlotte. 1800. The Letters of a Solitary Wanderer. London: Sampson Low. Smith,Charlotte.1999.TheYoungPhilosopher.EditedbyElizabethKraft. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky. Smith,Charlotte.2001.Desmond.EditedbyAntjeBlankandJanetTodd. Peterborough: Broadview Press. Smith, Charlotte. 2002. The Old Manor House. Edited by Jacqueline Labbe. Peterborough: Broadview Press. Smith, Charlotte. 2003. Emmeline, the Orphan of the Castle. Edited by Loraine Fletcher. Peterborough: Broadview Press. Smith, Charlotte. 2004. Celestina. Edited by Loraine Fletcher. Peterbor- ough: Broadview Press. Smith, Charlotte. 2016. Ethelinde. Edited by Ellen Moody. Richmond: Valancourt Books. Scene: The Cliffs of the South Downs Thoughts:Onsuddenaccident,versionsofpain,andthefortuitousavail- ability of houses Hardly, however, had they unbuckled one part of the harness before a tremendous burst of thunder broke immediately above them—… the horses instantly reared … and ran with the curricle along the worn chalk way ….Theterrifiedyoungwoman…foundherselfonabankofturf,suffering extremepain,andsupportedbyastranger,whoseeingherrestoredtosense… told her, that he had been fortunate enough to stop the horses at the moment when another step would have plunged them and the carriage into a chalk pit …. He added, that he had sent his servants to his house, which was not faroff,forassistance….[T]hat[herarm]wasbrokencouldnotbedoubted …. [T]hey reached an house at the foot of the hill …. She was attended to a chamber, and put to bed… Chapter 1, The Young Philosopher, 1798 PRIMARY SOURCES xi A gentleman and a lady travelling from Tunbridge towards … the Sussex coast … being induced by business to quit the high road and attempt a very rough lane, were overturned in toiling up its long ascent, half rock, half sand. The accident happened just beyond the only gentleman’s house near the lane …. The severity of the fall was broken by their slow pace and the narrowness of the lane …. [b]ut the gentleman … sprained his foot …. Mr. Heywood … entreat[ed] them not to think of proceeding till the ankle had beenexaminedandsomerefreshmenttaken,andverycordiallypressingthem to make use of his house for both purposes. Chapter 1, Sanditon, 1817