Lizzy C. Wrote:
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how much money it would take
> people to live. Some of this, of course, is due to
> class values, and there is some discussion about
> which class the Lucases belong to. For the
> purposes of my story I was taking them as
> lower-level gentry. They live that lifestyle and
> are treated by the locals as such, so I think
> that's what Charlotte would expect.
I agree that the Lucases are definitely regarded as gentry in their local society.
>
> I'm interested solely in the gentry. I don't
> doubt Charlotte could keep body and soul together
> on less than 250 a year but that's not what I'm
> interested in. Neither do I consider the
> Dashwoods' 500 pounds for four ladies adequate.
> While they were able to live and to dress
> respectably, it's clear that their income is not
> adequate to local travel (they keep neither horse
> nor carriage) and they can't afford to give
> dinners, so their mother will not attend any
> dinners or parties in order not to have an
> imbalanced relationship.
It was not necessary to have a carriage and horses for a gentry lifestyle. Mr Hurst was a man of fashion, but the Hursts had no horses for their carriage. (Well, he was a man of more fashion than fortune, but he must have some fortune, with a house in Grosvenor Street, and a wife with 20,000 pounds). Mr Knightley of Dowell Abbey, the gentleman of first consequence in his neighbourhood, had a carriage but no carriage horses and seldom used his carriage. Mrs Long kept no carriage, but attended the Meryton assembly in a hack chaise. When Sir Walter Elliot had to retrench, the Elliots had to give up their carriage when they moved to Bath.
S&S does not say that Mrs Dashwood would not attend any dinners -- what it says -- chap 19 --
" Mrs. Dashwood, who did not chuse to dine with them oftener than they dined at the cottage, absolutely refused on her own account; her daughters might do as they pleased."
This indicates to me that Mrs Dashwood actually invited the Middletons to dine occasionally, but of course she could not do that often, and Sir John was so frequent with his invitations that Mrs D would not accept all his invitations because she wanted their relationship to be on a more equal level.
>
> But that still leaves us a lot of wiggle room.
> Col. Brandon thinks the income of Delaford (200 or
> 250? Can't remember which) will be just enough to
> keep a single man. He has two thousand a year so
> that's his frame of reference.
The Delaford living was between 200 to 250 a year. Col Brandon believed that it was only enough for a single gentleman who had been used to Edward Ferrars' "style of life".
The practical Elinor thinks a couple can manage comfortably on a
> thousand a year, and settles down on about that.
Yes, Elinor regards a thousand a year as her "wealth", and settles down on nearly that after Edward's lukewarm reconciliation with his mother.
> I've heard it cited several times on this board
> (though I'm not sure where it's coming from) that
> the average genteel income was about 750 pounds,
> and I've read (can't remember where, but I think
> What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew)
> that any family with more than 500 a year would
> keep a carriage.
I think the 700 a year came from Lady Violet Powell's A Compendium of Jane Austen, and I read somewhere that JA's brother James, with an income of about 600 a year, kept a carriage.
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how much money it would take
> people to live. Some of this, of course, is due to
> class values, and there is some discussion about
> which class the Lucases belong to. For the
> purposes of my story I was taking them as
> lower-level gentry. They live that lifestyle and
> are treated by the locals as such, so I think
> that's what Charlotte would expect.
I agree that the Lucases are definitely regarded as gentry in their local society.
>
> I'm interested solely in the gentry. I don't
> doubt Charlotte could keep body and soul together
> on less than 250 a year but that's not what I'm
> interested in. Neither do I consider the
> Dashwoods' 500 pounds for four ladies adequate.
> While they were able to live and to dress
> respectably, it's clear that their income is not
> adequate to local travel (they keep neither horse
> nor carriage) and they can't afford to give
> dinners, so their mother will not attend any
> dinners or parties in order not to have an
> imbalanced relationship.
It was not necessary to have a carriage and horses for a gentry lifestyle. Mr Hurst was a man of fashion, but the Hursts had no horses for their carriage. (Well, he was a man of more fashion than fortune, but he must have some fortune, with a house in Grosvenor Street, and a wife with 20,000 pounds). Mr Knightley of Dowell Abbey, the gentleman of first consequence in his neighbourhood, had a carriage but no carriage horses and seldom used his carriage. Mrs Long kept no carriage, but attended the Meryton assembly in a hack chaise. When Sir Walter Elliot had to retrench, the Elliots had to give up their carriage when they moved to Bath.
S&S does not say that Mrs Dashwood would not attend any dinners -- what it says -- chap 19 --
" Mrs. Dashwood, who did not chuse to dine with them oftener than they dined at the cottage, absolutely refused on her own account; her daughters might do as they pleased."
This indicates to me that Mrs Dashwood actually invited the Middletons to dine occasionally, but of course she could not do that often, and Sir John was so frequent with his invitations that Mrs D would not accept all his invitations because she wanted their relationship to be on a more equal level.
>
> But that still leaves us a lot of wiggle room.
> Col. Brandon thinks the income of Delaford (200 or
> 250? Can't remember which) will be just enough to
> keep a single man. He has two thousand a year so
> that's his frame of reference.
The Delaford living was between 200 to 250 a year. Col Brandon believed that it was only enough for a single gentleman who had been used to Edward Ferrars' "style of life".
The practical Elinor thinks a couple can manage comfortably on a
> thousand a year, and settles down on about that.
Yes, Elinor regards a thousand a year as her "wealth", and settles down on nearly that after Edward's lukewarm reconciliation with his mother.
> I've heard it cited several times on this board
> (though I'm not sure where it's coming from) that
> the average genteel income was about 750 pounds,
> and I've read (can't remember where, but I think
> What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew)
> that any family with more than 500 a year would
> keep a carriage.
I think the 700 a year came from Lady Violet Powell's A Compendium of Jane Austen, and I read somewhere that JA's brother James, with an income of about 600 a year, kept a carriage.