Sanditon

“‘Yes—I have heard of Sanditon,’ replied Mr. Heywood.—‘Every five years, one hears of some new place or other starting up by the sea, and growing the fashion.—How they can half of them be filled, is the wonder! Where people can be found with money or time to go to them!—Bad things for a country;—sure to raise the price of provisions and make the poor good for nothing—as I dare say you find, sir.’”

Mr. Heywood’s perspective on Sanditon reflects the fear that exclusive getaways for the wealthy hurt the economy and make the needs of the poor irrelevant. His statement reflects Austen’s critique of the upper class’s inability to find contentment, causing them to waste money on luxuries. His mentality reflects a different perspective than that of the other characters. Where Mr. Parker regards the rapidly changing 19th-century world as a source of economic opportunity, Mr. Heywood sees it as detrimental to traditional ways of life.

 “Nature had marked it out—had spoken in most intelligible characters—The finest, purest sea breeze on the coast—acknowledged to be so—excellent bathing—fine hard sand—deep water 10 yard from the shore—no mud—no weeds—no slimey [sic] rocks—Never was there a place more palpably designed by nature for the resort of the invalid—the very spot which thousands seemed in need of.”

Mr. Parker does not obsess about his health as his sisters do, but he shows the same mystical belief in the healing power of nature. Mr. Parker personifies nature as the designer of this perfect place—a metaphor that likens nature to God but also to a product designer dreaming up the ideal commodity.

“He was convinced that the advantage of a medical man at hand would very materially promote the rise and prosperity of the place—would in fact tend to bring a prodigious influx;—nothing else was wanting. He had strong reason to believe that one family had been deterred last year from trying Sanditon on that account—and probably very many more—and his own sisters who were sad invalids, and whom he was very anxious to get to Sanditon this summer, could hardly be expected to hazard themselves in a place where they could not have immediate medical advice.”

Mr. Parker’s constant search for ways to make Sanditon more enticing reveals the same restless nature as his sisters. Mr. Parker convinces himself that the lack of a local doctor has already prevented at least one family from visiting Sanditon. Because the novel is unfinished, it is impossible to know if Sanditon ever becomes a success, but this passage indicates that Austen was setting up tension surrounding the question of Sanditon’s success.

“He held it indeed as certain, that no person could be really well, no person, (however upheld for the present by fortuitous aids of exercise and spirits in a semblance of health) could be really in a state of secure and permanent health without spending at least 6 weeks by the sea every year.—The sea air and sea bathing together were nearly infallible, one or the other of them being a match for every disorder, of the stomach, the lungs or the blood; they were anti-spasmodic, anti-pulmonary, anti-septic, anti-bilious and anti-rheumatic. Nobody could catch cold by the sea, nobody wanted appetite by the sea, nobody wanted spirits, nobody wanted strength.—They were healing, softening, relaxing—fortifying and bracing—seemingly just as was wanted—sometimes one, sometimes the other.—If the sea breeze failed, the sea-bath was the certain corrective;—and where bathing disagreed, the sea breeze alone was evidently designed by nature for the cure.”

This quote reveals The Corrupting Power of Ambition. Mr. Parker acts as if he alone holds the answers for any person who has an illness or disability. His insistence that the ocean and a stay at Sandition will cure any illness is rooted not in any scientific evidence but in his own desire to profit from the town’s future popularity as a tourist destination. Mr. Parker’s economic and social ambitions cloud his judgment, leading him to make claims without evidence that may do harm to other people.

“For the title, it was to be supposed she had married—and Mr. Parker acknowledged there being just such a degree of value for it apparent now, as to give her conduct that natural explanation. ‘There is at times said he—a little self-importance—but it is not offensive;—and there are moments, there are points, when her love of money is carried greatly too far. But she is a goodnatured woman, a very goodnatured woman,—a very obliging, friendly neighbor; a cheerful, independent, valuable character.—and her faults may be entirely imputed to her want of education. She has a good natural sense, but quite uncultivated.’”

Lady Denham used the institution of marriage to fuel her ambition, but her greed caused her to become cruel. The language Austen uses in this quote reveals Mr. Parker’s conflicted feelings about Lady Denham—he has reservations about her character, but he chooses to ignore them because he depends on her. The repetition of the phrase “goodnatured woman” and the excessive use of adjectives describing her goodness show that Mr. Parker is desperate to convince Charlotte that Lady Denham is a good person. Since Charlotte is young and inexperienced, she does not pick up on this shift in language, causing her to be shocked when Lady Denham reveals her true nature.

“She was a general favourite;—the influence of her steady conduct and mild, gentle temper was felt by everybody. The prejudices which had met her at first in some quarters, were all dissipated. She was felt to be worthy of trust—to be the very companion who would guide and soften Lady Denham—who would enlarge her mind and open her hand.—She was as thoroughly amiable as she was lovely—and since having had the advantage of their Sanditon breezes, that loveliness was complete.”

In this quote about Clara Brereton, Austen highlights the prejudices surrounding poverty that connect to the theme of The Social Effects of Economic Inequality. The members of the upper class see Clara as an object to use for their own gain, hoping that her presence will soften Lady Denham’s heart and make her more generous to them as well. Clara’s beauty grows with the sea air but also by its “advantages,” which is Austen’s way of insinuating that the access to Sanditon, or the access to wealth, also enhances Clara’s beauty since she is no longer worrying over how she will survive.

“He longed to be on the sands, the cliffs, at his own house, and everywhere out of his house at once. His spirits rose with the very sight of the sea and he could almost feel his ankle getting stronger already.”

This quote encapsulates Mr. Parker’s irrational faith in the healing power of the sea. Mr. Parker has spent two weeks resting his sprained ankle but only feels that his ankle is getting stronger when he sees the sight of the ocean again. Austen uses Mr. Parker’s superstition to highlight The Corrupting Power of Ambition, as Mr. Parker’s perceptions of reality are strongly influenced by his financial incentives.

“We have entirely done with the whole medical tribe. We have consulted physician after physician in vain, till we are quite convinced that they can do nothing for us and that we must trust to our own knowledge of our own wretched constitutions for any relief.”

Diana and her sisters no longer consult medical professionals because they are unable to find anything wrong with them. Diana’s statement that they must “trust to [their] own knowledge” ironically undermines her claims: Like her brother, she has no evidence but her own “sensations.” However, this quote shows that Diana does not actually want to find a solution: She just wants the attention that comes with pretending to be ill.

“As for getting to Sanditon myself, it is quite an impossibility. I grieve to say that I dare not attempt it, but my feelings tell me too plainly that in my present state, the sea air would probably be the death of me.”

Austen uses humor to show how Diana is like her brother in her imagination and fancies but inverts his conclusions. Rather than believing that the sea air will magically heal her, as Mr. Parker believes, Diana thinks that the sea air will kill her if she breathes it in. This belief does not come from any factual evidence, only Diana’s own sensations and feelings. This quote shows how fear often stops people from doing things they enjoy.

“Your sisters know what they are about, I dare say, but their measures seem to touch on extremes.—I feel that in any illness, I should be so anxious for professional advice, so very little venturesome for myself or any body I loved!—But then, we have been so healthy a family, that I can be no judge of what the habit of self-doctoring may do.”

This quote from Mrs. Parker (Thomas Parker’s wife) foreshadows that Charlotte will come to this same conclusion about the validity of the sisters’ claims when she finally meets them. Mrs. Parker’s observation that she would want to have professional advice if she were sick implies that the Parker sisters are imagining their illnesses because anyone who is actually sick would want professional help.

“Elegantly tall, regularly handsome, with great delicacy of complexion and soft blue eyes, sweetly modest and yet naturally graceful address, Charlotte could see in her only the most perfect representation of whatever heroine might be most beautiful and bewitching, in all the numerous volumes they had left behind on Mrs. Whitby’s shelves.—Perhaps it might be partly oweing to her having just issued from a circulating library—but she could not separate the idea of a complete heroine from Clara Brereton.”

Charlotte recognizes that her impression of Clara is influenced by the romantic novels she has read. Since Clara’s dependence on a wealthy, older relative is a common trope in these novels, Charlotte cannot help making Clara into a heroine in her imagination, even as she realizes that novels are not reality.

“‘No people spend more freely, I believe, than West Indians,’ observed Mr. Parker.—‘Aye—so I have heard—and because they have full purses, fancy themselves equal, may be, to your old country families. But then, they who scatter their money so freely, never think of whether they may not be doing mischief by raising the price of things—And I have heard that’s very much the case with your West-injines—and if they come among us to raise the price of our necessaries of life, we shall not thank them Mr. Parker.’”

In this quote, Mr. Parker and Lady Denham’s racist exchange reveals the discrimination against the Antiguan visitors. Lady Denham’s fears of losing her power are obvious in this moment, especially because it shows her underlying fear of what visitors from Antigua represent. These visitors represent not just the spread of new money but the fear that the abolition of the slave trade will shift power for those, like Lady Denham, who have been in positions of authority for some time. While Lady Denham pretends to worry about how these visitors will raise prices, her use of a slur to describe these visitors shows that she truly fears losing her power and privilege as a member of the upper class.

“It would be only encouraging our servants and the poor to fancy themselves ill, if there was a Doctor at hand.—Oh! Pray, let us have none of the tribe at Sanditon.”

Lady Denham’s statement shows the class tensions underlying the connections between Leisure, Health, and Vanity. Obsessive vigilance about one’s health is reserved for the upper class. If the lower class begins to pay close attention to their health and well-being, as Lady Denham knows, systems of labor and oppression will begin to fall apart.

“She liked him.—Sober-minded as she was, she thought him agreeable, and did not quarrel with the suspicion of his finding her equally so, which would arise from his evidently disregarding his sister’s motion to go, and persisting in his station and his discourse.—I make no apologies for my heroine’s vanity.—If there are young ladies in the world at her time of life, more dull of fancy and more careless of pleasing, I know them not, and never wish to know them.”

Austen uses free indirect speech to insert herself in the narrative to address her audience. Austen reminds her audience that they are reading a novel while she is criticizing it. Austen uses this device to show her audience that she understands that she herself is not free from criticism. Charlotte is critical of Edward and other people who read novels, and Austen does not exempt herself or her own readers from this criticism.

“She is thoroughly mean. I had not expected anything so bad.—Mr. Parker spoke too mildly of her.—His judgment is evidently not to be trusted.—His own goodnature misleads him.—He is too kind-hearted to see clearly.—I must judge for myself.—And their very connection prejudices him.—He has persuaded her to engage in the same speculation—and because their object in that line is the same, he fancies she feels like him in others—But she is very, very mean.—I can see no good in her.—Poor Miss Brereton!—And she makes everybody mean about her.—This poor Sir Edward and his sister,—how far Nature meant them to be respectable I cannot tell,—but they are obliged to be mean in their servility to her.—And I am mean, too, in giving her my attention, with the appearance of coinciding with her.—Thus it is, when rich people are sordid.”

This moment reveals the greatest inner conflict and growth for the protagonist. Her recognition of Lady Denham’s true nature forces Charlotte to realize that she has misjudged all the Sanditon residents that she has met so far. Even though she did not understand Edward and Esther’s actions before this moment, she realizes that they act the way that they do because of the cruelty of Lady Denham. Charlotte realizes the privilege of her own station in this moment: Although she is not as wealthy as some of the other characters, she has never experienced poverty like Clara and therefore does not have to submit to Lady Denham out of survival.

“‘You hardly know what to make of me.—I see by your looks, that you are not used to such quick measures.’—The words ‘unaccountable officiousness!—activity run mad!’—had just passed through Charlotte’s mind—but a civil answer was easy. ‘I dare say I do look surprised, said she—because these are very great exertions, and I know what invalids both you and your sister are.’ ‘Invalids indeed.—I trust there are not three people in England who have so sad a right to that appellation!’”

Since realizing the true nature of Lady Denham, Charlotte’s judgments have become more perceptive. She understands that Diana’s behavior does not come from kindness but from vanity. Charlotte’s perceptiveness causes Diana to claim that, despite her behavior, she is one of the sickest people in England.

“It was not a week, since Miss Diana Parker had been told by her feelings, that the sea air would probably in her present state, be the death of her, and now she was in Sandition, intending to make some stay, and without appearing to have the slightest recollection of having written or felt any such thing.—It was impossible for Charlotte not to suspect a good deal of fancy in such an extraordinary state of health.—Disorders and recoveries so very much out of the common way, seemed more like the amusement of eager minds in want of employment than of actual afflictions and relief. The Parkers, were no doubt a family of imagination and quick feelings—and while the eldest brother found vent for his superfluity of sensation as a projector, the sisters were perhaps driven to dissipate theirs in the invention of odd complaints.”

Charlotte has become more perceptive after spending some time at Sanditon. She now recognizes that the sisters’ illnesses are largely imaginary. Austen connects the sisters’ imagination with that of Mr. Parker: Whereas Mr. Parker’s imaginings drive him to pursue dreams of grandeur through the expansion of Sanditon, the sisters aggrandize themselves through imagined illnesses.

“Certainly, Mr. Arthur Parker’s enjoyments in invalidism were very different from his sisters—by no means so spiritualized.—A good deal of earthy dross hung about him. Charlotte could not but suspect him of adopting that line of life, principally for the indulgence of an indolent temper—and to be determined on having no disorders but such as called for warm rooms and good nourishment.”

Where Diana and Susan pretend to be sick for a level of self-importance, Arthur is consumed with comfort and being pampered. His reasons are purely self-indulgent; Austen uses this moment as an example for how the privileges of the wealthy intersect with obsessions with health, as Arthur’s class is the only reason he can sit inside and eat good food all day.

“Lady Denham had other motives for calling on Mrs. Griffiths besides attention to the Parkers.—In Miss Lambe, here was the very young lady, sickly and rich, whom she had been asking for; and she made the acquaintance for Sir Edward’s sake, and the sake of her milch asses.”

Lady Denham’s desire to introduce herself to Miss Lambe shows that she views Miss Lambe as an object: Miss Lambe is a means to ensure Edward’s future financial security. Lady Denham puts aside her earlier discriminatory attitudes toward Antiguans when she realizes the greatness of Miss Lambe’s wealth. Austen shows that Lady Denham believes that her actions are benevolent and does not realize her own hypocrisy.

“‘Miss Lambe was under the constant care of an experienced physician;—and his prescriptions must be their rule’—and except in favour of some tonic pills, which a cousin of her own had a property in, Mrs. Griffiths never did deviate from the strict medicinal page.”

Miss Lambe’s adherence to the advice of her doctor stands in stark contrast to the attitude of the Parker sisters, who have sworn off doctors in favor of “[their] own knowledge of [their] own wretched constitutions.” It is unclear from the fragment of Sanditon that exists whether the presence of this experienced physician should be taken as proof of the reality of Miss Lambe’s illness or as an opportunity for Austen to satirize the fancies and vanities of 19th-century doctors.

“I wish I could go with you myself—but in 5 minutes I must be at Mrs. Griffiths—to encourage Miss Lambe in taking her first dip. She is so frightened, poor thing, that I promised to come and keep up her spirits, and go in the machine with her if she wished it—and as soon as that is over, I must hurry home, for Susan is to have leaches at one o’clock—which will be a three hours business,—therefore I really have not a moment to spare—besides that (between ourselves) I ought to be in bed myself at this present time, for I am hardly able to stand—and when the leaches have done, I dare say we shall both go to our rooms for the rest of the day.”

Diana’s ramblings highlight her excessive pride and self-importance. As soon as she feels that another person challenges her, she lists the many things she must do that day to force them to pity her. Diana’s language surrounding Miss Lambe shows that her job of helping Miss Lambe with the bathing machine is another job that Diana has given to herself. 

“They were seated so near each other and appeared so closely engaged in gentle conversation, that Charlotte instantly felt she had nothing to do but to step back again, and say not a word.—Privacy was certainly their object.—It could not but strike her rather unfavourably with regard to Clara;—but hers was a situation which must not be judged with severity.”

Since Clara and Edward are unmarried, their private meeting is scandalous. Yet Charlotte has empathy for them now because she understands the conflicting and stressful situation they both face because of money. Charlotte gives Clara grace because she understands the restrictions of her social class are so strong that her options for marriage will probably not include love or romance.

“Among other points of moralizing reflection which the sight of this tête a tête produced, Charlotte could not but think of the extreme difficulty which secret lovers must have in finding a proper spot for their stolen interviews.—Here perhaps they had thought themselves so perfectly secure from observation! – the whole field open before them—a steep bank and pales never crossed by the foot of man at their back—and a great thickness of air, in aid—. Yet here, she had seen them.”

Glimpsing a romantic rendezvous between Clara and Edward, Charlotte reacts with empathy rather than judgment. She recognizes that, in her patriarchal world, one moment like this can destroy a woman’s reputation and ruin her entire life. Austen includes this moment to comment on how many other people would use this moment to gain advantage.