Jane Austen’s Ladies of the Past
Amber Hill, a student from Bath Spa University’s Journalism & Publishing BA course, writes about Jane Austen and Sydney Gardens
Jane Austen has long been a staple in English Literature. Her influential works, such as Pride and Prejudice, are recognised throughout the Western world; avid readers from all over the globe know her name. Many of these readers would also be aware that Jane spent time in the city of Bath, using the ancient Roman spa-town, as well as its famous Gardens, to inspire new ideas and ways of looking at society. There is no better time than the present to examine the lives of the women Jane no doubt observed, women who used so-called ‘Pleasure Gardens’ as places to show off their wealth, their families and the latest fashion.
“There was a very long list of arrivals here in the newspaper yesterday, so that we need not immediately dread absolute solitude; and there is a public breakfast in Sydney Gardens every morning, so that we shall not be wholly starved.” — Jane Austen to Cassandra, May 17, 1799.
In an era where women were repressed, landmarks such as the Vauxhall Gardens in London and Sydney Gardens in Bath presented a chance for ladies of the respectable — and not so respectable — classes to be away from the confines of the home.
Not everyone was welcome, however. The fee of entering premises like Sydney Gardens would have ensured that only those with money could have visited frequently. While this was done in an attempt to ensure the respectability of the gardens, such pleasure parks acted as perfect business opportunities for prostitutes, many of whom were indistinguishable from non-prostitutes.
The Gardens soon gained a reputation of being places of sex and scandal. It was often thought that women who walked alone were looking for rich clients. Ironically, it was the wealthier men who took advantage of their services, despite their insistence of their own nobility and grandeur.
The lack of freedoms for women was a notion which Jane Austin challenged in many of her novels, and which she herself must have noted during her visits to the Gardens. When emailed about the subject, Robert Morrison, a scholar of Jane Austen and her world from Bath Spa University, acknowledges that that women who stood high on the social ladder were more restricted than the poor, and were “expected to be subservient, chaste, quiet, dutiful and domestic.”
Poor women, meanwhile, had more independence, as Morrison explains perfectly; “the pressure on them was far less because no ‘respectable’ man would consider marrying that far down the social ranks.” While Sydney Gardens provided entertainment for many men, the women who spent their time there would still have felt the constraints of patriarchy.
“Certainly, as Austen’s novels all make clear, there were those near the top of the social hierarchies — and even those not so very near the top — who scorned people who were poor.” — Robert Morrison
Pleasure parks would have been ideal places for young women to attract a husband, which was their main ambition. As noted in Austen’s 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice, marriage was expected to be at the forefront of women’s minds, as shown in the characters of Jane and Elisabeth Bennet. Unlike today, where women may marry later in life as per their own choice, the ladies of the past were expected to settle down young and provide an heir to their husband’s fortune. Austen was the exception to this, as she didn’t marry, but she remained dependent on her brothers throughout her life as a result.
With this in mind, many women simply had no choice in who they married, as their parents would find their suitors based on how it would reinforce the family’s wealth and status. Pleasure parks were the ideal places to make such arrangements, since they were public spaces and unmarried women were not allowed to be alone with men who weren’t family. Families could be introduced to each other via a mutual friend, and from there they would agree that a marriage of their son and daughter would be financially and socially beneficial. It mattered little what the woman thought of her suitor.
Life as a young woman in Georgian Bath wasn’t all doom and gloom, though. As suggested in many of Austen’s novels, many women relished the opportunity to show off their riches through wearing the latest fashion. Ladies from noble backgrounds would wear their hair up or in braids, which was seen to reflect modesty. They would complete their look with an elaborate hat, wig or bonnet — the more elaborate the accessory, the higher status a woman was.
Long sleeves or high gloves was also viewed as being an important fashion accessory. According to the Jane Austen blog, in 1814 Jane wrote to her beloved sister Cassandra; “I wear my gauze gown today long sleeves & all; I shall see how they succeed.”
The competition between women was fierce; each wanted to look better than the last. In fact, in an effort to appear more beautiful and therefore noble, as beauty was a luxury only the rich could really enjoy, women often applied dangerous substances to their faces and bodies. White lead was used in makeup products; although it could be used to give a woman a youthful glow, it could also accelerate tooth decay and skin inflammations. But it was all worth it in the name of fashion and as a means to prove one’s status. Sydney Gardens no doubt would have been full of very extravagant-looking ladies.
The world of Jane Austen is a drastically different one to our world today. However, it is because of writers like herself that women can enjoy a much freer existence. Within her works she challenged traditional notions of a woman’s role, although subtly. She was a commentator on the effectiveness of Georgian society, a representation of which can be seen in the scenes that took place in Sydney Gardens.
Any views expressed in this article are the views of the author and are not necessarily representative of the Sydney Gardens Project team. Although every effort has been made to ensure that all articles are factually correct at the time of writing, we trust that our authors have thoroughly researched their articles.
