A Jane Austen Christmas Encroaches on the New Year

 

A Jane Austen Christmas: Celebrating the Season of
Romance, Ribbons, and Mistletoe, by Carlo DeVito

The title of this picturesque little book on Jane Austen gives one an excellent sense of its intellectual niveau. It does, indeed, contain "romance, ribbons and mistletoe," but one has the unromantic sense by the end of the first chapter that this book would have been improved by better editing (as a start). Certainly there is nothing romantic about standardized spelling, but two different spellings of the word juvenilia ("juvenilia" and "juvenalia" [47, 48]) within as many pages does detract from the festive musings of the text. (Using a variant spelling of such an unusual word may pass as acceptable; using two variants looks indecisive.) Mr DeVito's assertions are further discredited by his evident unfamiliarity with Jane Austen's juvenilia; for example, he cites "Memoirs of Mr Clifford" as one of the four "best-known" works in the juvenilia (48), which is patently untrue. (Mr Clifford, the hero of a very short snippet, is most memorable for the slew of equipages he owns: "...he was a very rich young Man and kept a great many Carriages of which I do not recollect half. I can only remember that he had a Coach, a Chariot, a Chaise, a Landeau, a Landeaulet, a Phaeton, a Gig, a Whisky, an italian Chair, a Buggy, a Curricle, and a wheelbarrow.") He also says that the short story "Eliza and Henry" is "very much about [the] earlier flirtations" of the cousin and brother who bore those names (56), which I think is misleading. Although I agree that Jane Austen was likely thinking of her own Henry and Eliza when she chose the title, the story is much more about Eliza's madcap adventures before and after her marriage (for Henry quickly leaves her a merry widow), much in the vein of "Edgar and Emma" and "Jack and Alice," in both of which the heroine and her associates take center stage while the eponymous hero is relegated to obscurity.

Although the popular Regency-era play The Rivals, by Richard Sheridan, is not mentioned by name, Mrs Malaprop of The Rivals has evidently visited these pages, with faux pas including "her supposedly scandalous background proceeded her" (37) rather than preceded, and "the Christmas holiday encroached" (57), which lends a rather sinister sound to the approaching festivities. Jane Austen, I learn with alarm, intends to "altar" her clothes (72), a mistake for alter that conjures up the image of Regency gowns being consigned to sacrificial flames. And at the tragic moment when Tom Lefroy leaves Steventon, I found myself suppressing a untimely giggle at learning that Jane Austen's "hopes had been tuned to ashes" (85).

Mr DeVito shows himself ignorant of basic Regency etiquette, writing that "two dances" are "the maximum you were allowed with the same partner" (73). In reality, Regency country dances were traditionally danced in pairs, and it was impolite to ask the same lady more than twice; thus the maximum number of dances allowed was actually two pairs of dances, four in all. In common politeness a gentleman would dance two dances with many different ladies; he would single out the object of his affections by asking her for the first two dances, and/or asking her twice for two dances each. Notice that Mrs Bennet in Pride and Prejudice speaks of Mr Bingley dancing "the first two [dances]" with Charlotte Lucas (to Mrs Bennet's displeasure), and "the next two [dances]" in successive pairs with the other young ladies at the assembly, asking Jane twice altogether. It's a descriptive quirk that's easy to misunderstand without some background knowledge on Regency ballroom etiquette, but a biographer ought either to have this knowledge or to fake it more convincingly. Mr DeVito also calls Elizabeth Bennet "Ms. Bennet" (76), showing a regrettable modern flippancy toward Regency customs of polite address.

I find it very odd that he does not list Park Honan, an author he quotes frequently (both as "Honan" and as "Honnan" [44, 81] another curious indecisiveness) in his "Selected Bibliography." Park Honan's 1989 biography Jane Austen: Her Life is a perfectly respectable source, and the author ought to be given his due after being quoted from so extensively in multiple chapters -- but perhaps he would prefer to remain anonymous in this context. 

Finally, there are numerous minor errors throughout the text that soon become an irritation for those accustomed to Jane Austen's pithy and polished style. However, with these objections explained, I will say of Mr DeVito's work that I learned several interesting things from it and that parts of it were excellent. As the story about the curate's egg goes: 

Right Reverend Host: "I'm afraid you've got a bad Egg, Mr. Jones!"
The Curate: "Oh no, my Lord, I assure you! Parts of it are excellent!"
(True Humility by George du Maurier; published in Punch, 9 Nov. 1895)

I liked the idea of synchronizing quotes from a variety of different Jane Austen biographers and related sources to pull together a short history of her life; Mr DeVito chose a good variety of biographers and sources to quote from. I thought that interweaving individual Christmases in Jane Austen's life with an explanation of Regency Christmas traditions was an excellent notion, and I enjoyed the charming illustrations and the section on charades and other Regency games. The highlights of the book for me, however, were the extensive passages quoted from Jane Austen herself, especially from her letters. Her genius shines through the clumsiest introductions whenever she is allowed to speak for herself.  

Liv Quicksilver