June 20, 2011
Irish, I Dare Say: Ireland in Jane Austen's Novels
Jane has heard a great deal of [Ireland's] beauty; from Mr Dixon, I mean -- I do not know that she ever heard about it from any body else; but it was very natural, you know, that he should like to speak of his own place while he was paying his addresses -- and as Jane used to be very often walking out with them -- for Colonel and Mrs Campbell were very particular about their daughter's not walking out often with only Mr Dixon, for which I do not at all blame them; of course she heard every thing he might be telling Miss Campbell about his own home in Ireland; and I think she wrote us word that he had shewn them some drawings of the place, views that he had taken himself. He is a most amiable, charming young man, I believe.Jane was quite longing to go to Ireland, from his account of things." EmmaJane Austen is known for her love of England. In her novels, she praises all aspects of Britain, from its beautiful countryside to its Navy and though little travelled, she patriotically preferred it above any other. In her letters, she censures the traveller who does not long for home, "I hope your letters from abroad are satisfactory. They would not be satisfactory to me, I confess, unless they breathed a strong spirit of regret for not being in England."

“I have made up my mind to like no novels really but Miss Edgeworth's, yours, and my own.” Jane Austen to Anna Austen Lefroy September, 1814

You scold me so much in the nice long letter which I have this moment received from you, that I am almost afraid to tell you how my Irish friend and I behaved. Imagine to yourself everything most profligate and shocking in the way of dancing and sitting down together. I can expose myself however, only once more, because he leaves the country soon after next Friday, on which day we are to have a dance at Ashe after all. He is a very gentlemanlike, good-looking, pleasant young man, I assure you. Jane Austen to Cassandra Austen January, 1796Perhaps Jane’s warmest connection with Ireland stems from her relationship with Thomas Lefroy, nephew of her dear friend Anne Lefroy. Jane and Thomas met in late 1795 when she was 20 and carried on a flirtation for several weeks before he returned to law school in London in January, 1796. It is unclear how close their relationship was or how long it continued after Lefroy’s return to school. What is known is that he married in 1799 and carried his family back to Ireland where he eventually rose to the position of Lord Chief Justice. It is perhaps with Thomas in mind that she allows Lady Darymple to mistake Capt. Wentworth for an Irishman well, in Persuasion
"A very fine young man indeed!" said Lady Dalrymple. "More air than one often sees in Bath. Irish, I dare say."Many scholars contend that Thomas Lefroy broke Jane’s heart. With the destruction of so many letters after her death, it is impossible to know how deeply Jane felt about the unlooked end to her hopes. Perhaps, after all, thoughts of Ireland held the sting of disappointment throughout her life.
We finished [your novel] last night after our return from drinking tea at the Great House. The last chapter does not please us quite so well; we do not thoroughly like the play, perhaps from having had too much of plays in that way lately [in Mansfield Park, perhaps], and we think you had better not leave England. Let the Portmans go to Ireland; but as you know nothing of the manners there, you had better not go with them. You will be in danger of giving false representations. Stick to Bath and the Foresters. There you will be quite at home. Jane Austen to Anna Austen Lefroy August, 1814It is true that Austen has very little to say of the country either way in her novels. Mr. Dixon carries Miss Campbell thither in Emma, paving the way for Jane Fairfax to return to Highbury. Emma Watson’s aunt makes an imprudent marriage to an Irish Captain in The Watsons, and Lady Darymple and her daughter are happily claimed as “family connections among the nobility of England and Ireland” in Persuasion. Claiming her own advice, she may have felt uneasy about delving any further into lifestyles she knew nothing about. Further reading may be found in Ireland in the Time of Jane Austen, by Joan Duffy Ghariani.
