"You will allow, that in both, man has the advantage of choice, woman only the power of refusal; that in both, it is an engagement between man and woman, formed for the advantage of each; and that when once entered into, they belong exclusively to each other till the moment of its dissolution; that it is their duty, each to endeavour to give the other no cause for wishing that he or she had bestowed themselves elsewhere, and their best interest to keep their own imaginations from wandering towards the perfections of their neighbours, or fancying that they should have been better off with any one else. You will allow all this?"
— Austen, Jane (1775-1817)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
John Murray
Date
1818
Metaphor
"You will allow, that in both, man has the advantage of choice, woman only the power of refusal; that in both, it is an engagement between man and woman, formed for the advantage of each; and that when once entered into, they belong exclusively to each other till the moment of its dissolution; that it is their duty, each to endeavour to give the other no cause for wishing that he or she had bestowed themselves elsewhere, and their best interest to keep their own imaginations from wandering towards the perfections of their neighbours, or fancying that they should have been better off with any one else. You will allow all this?"
Metaphor in Context
"And such is your definition of matrimony and dancing. Taken in that light certainly, their resemblance is not striking; but I think I could place them in such a view.--You will allow, that in both, man has the advantage of choice, woman only the power of refusal; that in both, it is an engagement between man and woman, formed for the advantage of each; and that when once entered into, they belong exclusively to each other till the moment of its dissolution; that it is their duty, each to endeavour to give the other no cause for wishing that he or she had bestowed themselves elsewhere, and their best interest to keep their own imaginations from wandering towards the perfections of their neighbours, or fancying that they should have been better off with any one else. You will allow all this?"
(I, pp. 171-172; p. 53 in Norton ed.)
(I, pp. 171-172; p. 53 in Norton ed.)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
See Northanger Abbey: and Persuasion. But the Author of "Pride and Prejudice," "Mansfield-Park," &c. With a Biographical Notice of the Author. 4 vols. (London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1818).
Reading Northanger Abbey, ed. Susan Fraiman (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2004).
Reading Northanger Abbey, ed. Susan Fraiman (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2004).
Date of Entry
09/02/2014
