CHAPTER 6
A Proposal

At the start of the new year, Jane and her parents were busy preparing for the move to their new home. Reverend Austen decided to sell most of the family’s furniture, including Jane’s piano. He also sold many of the books in the library and all the painted scenery from the Austen family’s plays. He planned to buy new furniture when they arrived in Bath.

Jane and her mother arrived in Bath in May 1801 and began looking for a house to rent. Reverend Austen and Cassandra would join them in June. Jane was still unhappy about the move. In a letter to Cassandra, she wrote, “Another stupid party last night . . . with six people to look on and talk nonsense to each other.” Jane was having trouble starting over in a new place and meeting new friends in Bath.

At this point, Jane had written three novels, and she wanted to write more. But while the family lived in Bath, Jane hardly wrote at all. She rarely sat at her desk and picked up her pen. Jane needed the calmness of the countryside to write. She missed the peace and quiet where she could dream up stories and characters.

Now that Reverend Austen was retired, the family spent much of their time traveling. They visited towns on the southern coast of England, where they took walks on the beach. And they also visited Edward and his family at Godmersham. At the end of 1802, Jane and Cassandra went to visit their old friends the Bigg family at Manydown Park. The house had many memories for Jane. This is where she had fallen in love with Tom Lefroy. Jane was looking forward to spending time with her friends Catherine, Alethea, and Elizabeth Bigg. She was happy to get away from Bath and be back in a beautiful home surrounded by fields and forests.

Harris Bigg-Wither

The Bigg sisters’ younger brother, Harris, was also at Manydown. Jane remembered him as an awkward young boy. But he was now a tall young man. And as the only son, he would inherit the family’s large fortune when his father died. His family was eager for him to find a wife. So on December 2, 1802, he proposed to Jane. She was twenty-six and Harris was twenty-one.

This seemed like a good match for Jane. Marrying Harris would give her security and a comfortable life. When Harris inherited the estate of Manydown, Cassandra would be able to come live with her sister. Jane said “yes” to Harris.

But by the morning of December 3, Jane had changed her mind. She and Cassandra had sat up most of the night talking about the proposal. Jane realized marrying Harris would be a mistake. She did not love him. Although many women at that time married the wealthiest man who might ask them, or out of a sense of duty to their family, Jane wanted to marry for love. She said, “I consider everybody as having a right to marry once in their Lives for Love.”

Jane let Harris know that she had changed her mind. Then she and Cassandra quickly left Manydown and went home to Bath. Jane returned to her writing.

More than ever, she still hoped to become a published author. If she could not find her true love, she would have to rely on her talent to earn a living. With the help of her brother Henry, Jane sold the manuscript for her novel Susan to a London publisher named Richard Crosby. He paid about $1,000 in today’s money for the rights to publish her novel. This was almost a year’s salary! Mr. Crosby promised Henry that he would publish the book quickly.

The Role of Women in Georgian England

During Jane Austen’s lifetime, women had very limited—and sometimes no—rights regarding possessions or property. If they were married, everything they owned belonged to their husbands. And if they were single, everything belonged to their father.

A woman was expected to be good at playing music, dancing, and conversation. She learned the proper ways of behaving and was expected to use her best manners at all times.

Many families expected their daughters to find husbands who would improve their family’s wealth and status. The idea of marrying for love was far less important.