Comments on: AustenOnly Emma Season:Mr Knightley, Our Hero, part II

By: jfwakefield

jfwakefield — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:45:45 +0000

Jolly good!

By: Lizzy

Lizzy — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:39:08 +0000

Yes, it does. Thank you!

By: jfwakefield

jfwakefield — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:20:17 +0000

The lack of saddle horses was because Mr Knightley preferred not to pay tax on them-which was quite high at this period. He kept a carriage, and hired horses (which were available to hire from the Crown Inn) when he needed them. Does that help?

By: Lizzy

Lizzy — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:23:21 +0000

Wonderful post!

Can you expand on the lack of horses? and I remember you once promised during a group read to explain your theory on why Mr Knightley is low on cash, but I think I missed that post. Do I remember rightl-ey?

By: jfwakefield

jfwakefield — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:07:23 +0000

Ah ! Thank you-I wasn’t at all sure what your acronym meant

By: Alexa Adams

Alexa Adams — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:22:22 +0000

I perfectly understand, though I think Emma’s attention to the poor of Highbury could be seen as a premise for such a discussion. JAFF stands for Jane Austen Fan Fiction and many authors have gone way beyond the bounds of what Austen actually included, particularly in the case of politics and sexuality. I have very mixed feelings about this, not liking to trespass beyond two inches of ivory myself, but it has led me to ask many questions that remain unanswered. In particular, The Pemberley Chronicles series by Rebecca Ann Collins endows the cast of Pride and Prejudice with all kinds of reformist tendencies. This post stirred up these thoughts, as you present stewardship of the land from the opposite perspective.

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:02:18 +0000

As is the case with all your posts, I am looking forward to it!

-Julie P.

By: jfwakefield

jfwakefield — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:03:48 +0000

Email coming you way ;-0
And yes, I do have that book,Deb-but it was so very kind of you to offer to send it. Thank you,I appreciate that very much.

By: Deb

Deb — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:02:07 +0000

I would love to see the black and white version!

Have you, by any chance, read the books by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich? She writes about the same time frame in “the colonies” buy her book, The Midwives Tale, is a marvelous stitching together of history from one small pocket diary of a midwife in Maine in the 1700′s. If you cannot find one on your side of the pond, let me know and I can pick one up for you and post it.

Deb in Wisconsin

By: jfwakefield

jfwakefield — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:40:06 +0000

The head is difficult to make out I agree, but I’ve looked at a black and white engraving of that picture and it appears to be a classical head( or bust) which appears to be on sale at a stall at the sheep shearing. If you would like I can send you a copy of that engraving by email, Deb.let me know.

Women demonstrating weaving were sometimes present at these shearings, Deb. In 1821 for example, the Holkham Shearing staged an exhibition of spinning and carding flax by young girls from the flax mill at the village of South Creake which was on the Holkham estate.

Does that help?