Colonel Brandon has to take care economically miss Williams and her child for life. So , Marianne through her marriage to colonel Brandon has to support Willoughbys (Natural) child for life! Just an observation i made by reading one of my favourite Jane Austen books.
Another thing about illegitimate girls--since the mother was an unwed mother, there was a fear, or perhaps a generally held belief, that the daughter might have inherited the morally lax propensities of the mother. Eliza junior was an obvious target for Willoughby since he might assume she doesn't have someone who will stand up and protect her the way a father or brother would protect a legitimate daughter or sister, but also, she was the more easily seduced because her mother fell from virtue. Brandon laments his failure in keeping her safe. Mr. Knightley urges Emma that Harriet will be "safe" and "respectable" if she marries young and goes to live with the Martin family on their farm. Not only is she a tempting target for seduction, she might be inclined to do as her mother did. Just reporting these attitudes, not endorsing them.
Yes, so true! And while the father may have still been considered "decent" (as long as he was discreet with his financial support), the unwed mother would absolutely have been considered to have been a corrupting influence on any children. We have an upcoming related episode where we'll be going into this double standard a bit more.
This was perfect timing for me because I kept thinking about Harriet and the status of "natural" children while watching the latest Bridgerton series and wondering how the "illegitimate" daughter plot on that series stacked up to historical accuracy (no spoiler to say not very well 😆). Thanks for doing the research and sharing your conversation!
Thank you for listening! We both still need to get caught up on the most recent season of Bridgerton. Looking forward to seeing how that storyline is handled within the context of the Bridgerton universe!
This is what I love about your podcast. It brings out all the richness of the situations and cultural views of life in Austen's time. This was a great one and it brings new depth to Emma's attempts to matchmake and bring Harriet above her station. Enjoy your time off!
Colonel Brandon has to take care economically miss Williams and her child for life. So , Marianne through her marriage to colonel Brandon has to support Willoughbys (Natural) child for life! Just an observation i made by reading one of my favourite Jane Austen books.
Yes, good point, that connection would absolutely be there.
Another thing about illegitimate girls--since the mother was an unwed mother, there was a fear, or perhaps a generally held belief, that the daughter might have inherited the morally lax propensities of the mother. Eliza junior was an obvious target for Willoughby since he might assume she doesn't have someone who will stand up and protect her the way a father or brother would protect a legitimate daughter or sister, but also, she was the more easily seduced because her mother fell from virtue. Brandon laments his failure in keeping her safe. Mr. Knightley urges Emma that Harriet will be "safe" and "respectable" if she marries young and goes to live with the Martin family on their farm. Not only is she a tempting target for seduction, she might be inclined to do as her mother did. Just reporting these attitudes, not endorsing them.
Yes, so true! And while the father may have still been considered "decent" (as long as he was discreet with his financial support), the unwed mother would absolutely have been considered to have been a corrupting influence on any children. We have an upcoming related episode where we'll be going into this double standard a bit more.
This was perfect timing for me because I kept thinking about Harriet and the status of "natural" children while watching the latest Bridgerton series and wondering how the "illegitimate" daughter plot on that series stacked up to historical accuracy (no spoiler to say not very well 😆). Thanks for doing the research and sharing your conversation!
Thank you for listening! We both still need to get caught up on the most recent season of Bridgerton. Looking forward to seeing how that storyline is handled within the context of the Bridgerton universe!
This is what I love about your podcast. It brings out all the richness of the situations and cultural views of life in Austen's time. This was a great one and it brings new depth to Emma's attempts to matchmake and bring Harriet above her station. Enjoy your time off!
Thank you so much! We love unpacking the cultural context in Austen's novels.