‘And what is fifty miles of good road?’
Making use of journeys (and staying at home) in your work
‘And what is fifty miles of good road? Little more than half a day’s journey. Yes, I call it a very easy distance.’
Mr Darcy, Chapter 32, Pride and Prejudice
As I mentioned in ‘Building the village of your story’, the axiom that all great literature is one of two stories – a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town – certainly seems true of Jane Austen’s work. In Pride and Prejudice Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy come to town and Elizabeth goes on a journey. Frank Churchill comes to town in Emma, and the arrivals of Jane Fairfax and Mrs Elton act to propel the plot further. Henry and Mary Crawford are the strangers in Mansfield Park, while Fanny Price is sent to Portsmouth, having once been the stranger at Mansfield Park herself. Catherine Morland goes to Bath and beyond in Northanger Abbey; Anne Elliot goes to Lyme and Bath in Persuasion, and Sanditon was to be all about trips to the seaside.
Journeys are extremely useful to writers. By sending your characters on journeys you can make things happen in interesting and believable ways. Journeys enable you to develop your characters, to introduce new ones and to ensure that the plot doesn’t stagnate. Readers like to be taken on journeys and to visit new worlds. Extraordinary things can happen in new places and prejudices can be overturned.
In contrast to a novel set in a village (of any sort), where your action will be confined to one place, perhaps giving the story a siege atmosphere (a siege that must be broken), a novel structured around a journey will probably have more of a quest or voyage-and-return sort of plot. Northanger Abbey is the Austen novel that follows this most. Of course not all novels conform exactly to these plot types.1
We frequently see Jane Austen’s characters in transit. It is often when they are lifted out of their own environment that they develop, learn and change. Being in an unfamiliar place and out of their ‘comfort zone’ (horrible phrase!) means that the characters experience things in different ways, see the world with fresh eyes and become more vulnerable to falling in love, being seduced or behaving badly.
In Chapter 1 of Northanger Abbey Jane Austen sends her heroine out into the world on a life-changing journey.
She had reached the age of seventeen, without having seen one amiable youth who could call forth her sensibility, without having inspired one real passion, and without having excited even any admiration but what was very moderate and very transient. This was strange indeed! But strange things may be generally accounted for if their cause be fairly searched out. There was not one lord in the neighbourhood; no – not even a baronet. There was not one family among their acquaintance who had reared and supported a boy accidentally found at their door – not one young man whose origin was unknown. Her father had no ward, and the squire of the parish no children.
But when a young lady is to be a heroine, the perverseness of forty surrounding families cannot prevent her. Something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way.
Mr Allen, who owned the chief of the property about Fullerton, the village in Wiltshire where the Morlands lived, was ordered to Bath for the benefit of a gouty constitution – and his lady, a good-humoured woman, fond of Miss Morland, and probably aware that if adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad, invited her to go with them. Mr and Mrs Morland were all compliance, and Catherine all happiness.
And so the tone of the novel is established and Catherine Morland is on her way.
When Mr Darcy says ‘And what is fifty miles of good road? Little more than half a day’s journey. Yes, I call it a very easy distance’ he shows how free he is to travel and do as he pleases. He has a younger sister to care for and the responsibility of Pemberley but, unlike Elizabeth, he can go where he wants when he wants. Jane Austen travelled but often had to wait to be accompanied, usually by a brother. We frequently see her heroines waiting, looking out of windows, while other people – richer or male – come and go as they please. Even rich Emma Woodhouse is kept at home by the need to look after her father. Think about the constraints that might or might not be on your characters. With hindsight, Elizabeth and the reader may realize that Mr Darcy was sounding her out about moving away from her family. Think about the assumptions that your travellers will make. Are they happy and able to travel alone? Where can they afford to stay? Are they confident travellers? What will they worry about? Where will they eat? Are they compelled to take a packed lunch?
When you use journeys in your writing you can bring all the emotions associated with departing, travelling and arriving into your work. A journey can energize your plot. We’ll start with setting out.
This could be used at the beginning, somewhere in the middle or as a very good ending for your story. In Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth is delighted at the prospect of a trip with Mr and Mrs Gardiner. She has already been to stay with Charlotte Lucas (now Collins), spending time with Mr Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam at Rosings, the home of Lady Catherine. She has turned down Mr Darcy’s proposal but learned the truth about Wickham, while Jane has been disappointed by Mr Bingley. Elizabeth is thoroughly fed up with the whole business of men and the marriage market. No wonder she prefers the idea of rocks and mountains to men (Chapter 27).
Before they were separated by the conclusion of the play, she had the unexpected happiness of an invitation to accompany her uncle and aunt in a tour of pleasure which they proposed taking in the summer.
‘We have not quite determined how far it shall carry us,’ said Mrs Gardiner, ‘but perhaps to the Lakes.’
No scheme could have been more agreeable to Elizabeth, and her acceptance of the invitation was most ready and grateful. ‘My dear, dear aunt,’ she rapturously cried, ‘what delight! what felicity! You give me fresh life and vigour. Adieu to disappointment and spleen. What are men to rocks and mountains? Oh! what hours of transport we shall spend! And when we do return, it shall not be like other travellers, without being able to give one accurate idea of any thing. We will know where we have gone – we will recollect what we have seen. Lakes, mountains, and rivers shall not be jumbled together in our imaginations; nor, when we attempt to describe any particular scene, will we begin quarrelling about its relative situation. Let our first effusions be less insupportable than those of the generality of travellers.’
A little later on, in Chapter 41, Lydia is equally delighted about going to Brighton, but for rather different reasons.
But the gloom of Lydia’s prospect was shortly cleared away; for she received an invitation from Mrs Forster, the wife of the Colonel of the regiment, to accompany her to Brighton. This invaluable friend was a very young woman, and very lately married. A resemblance in good humour and good spirits had recommended her and Lydia to each other, and out of their three months’ acquaintance they had been intimate two.
The rapture of Lydia on this occasion, her adoration of Mrs Forster, the delight of Mrs Bennet, and the mortification of Kitty, are scarcely to be described. Wholly inattentive to her sister’s feelings, Lydia flew about the house in restless ecstacy, calling for everyone’s congratulations, and laughing and talking with more violence than ever; whilst the luckless Kitty continued in the parlour repining at her fate in terms as unreasonable as her accent was peevish.
‘I cannot see why Mrs Forster should not ask me as well as Lydia,’ said she, ‘though I am not her particular friend. I have just as much right to be asked as she has, and more too, for I am two years older.’ [. . .]
In Lydia’s imagination, a visit to Brighton comprised every possibility of earthly happiness. She saw, with the creative eye of fancy, the streets of that gay bathing place covered with officers. She saw herself the object of attention, to tens and to scores of them at present unknown. She saw all the glories of the camp; its tents stretched forth in beauteous uniformity of lines, crowded with the young and the gay, and dazzling with scarlet; and to complete the view, she saw herself seated beneath a tent, tenderly flirting with at least six officers at once. [. . .]
When the party broke up, Lydia returned with Mrs Forster to Meryton, from whence they were to set out early the next morning. The separation between her and her family was rather noisy than pathetic. Kitty was the only one who shed tears; but she did weep from vexation and envy. Mrs Bennet was diffuse in her good wishes for the felicity of her daughter, and impressive in her injunctions that she would not miss the opportunity of enjoying herself as much as possible; advice, which there was every reason to believe would be attended to; and in the clamorous happiness of Lydia herself in bidding farewell, the more gentle adieus of her sisters were uttered without being heard.
Write about somebody setting out on a journey. You might like to describe other people’s reactions to this event too. Seeing a character embark on a journey makes a very good ending, as not only can you utilize the emotions associated with departures, your story will end with the sense that life for your characters goes on after the last page – and you even set up a sequel.
Writers needn’t restrict themselves to places that they have visited. We know that Jane Austen used places she knew well in her work, but she wasn’t afraid to imagine and invent locations for her stories – sometimes from places glimpsed from a carriage window, sometimes from what people told her and sometimes from intelligent guesswork and research.
The Watsons and Emma are both set in Surrey, which Jane Austen must have often travelled through on her journeys between Hampshire and Edward’s home, Godmersham, in Kent, where she often stayed. She also visited relatives in Great Bookham, close to Box Hill, which was a popular place for day trippers. If you visit it (or just look at photographs of it) you’ll see just why she wanted to send the party from Highbury there. Used to a village and more rolling, wooded countryside and lanes, suddenly being so high and able to see for miles would have had quite an impact on Emma – as it doubtless did on Jane herself. There is a sense of the characters being lifted up and put onto a high stage.
You could do a similar thing by sending your characters to another summit/peak/hilltop or up a tower or to the top of a skyscraper or a Ferris wheel, which might get stuck. Jane Austen, even in Emma, the most geographically contained of her novels, makes great use of different locations, of the changing seasons and the weather: the snow on the night of the Westons’ party results in Emma travelling alone in a carriage with Mr Elton; Jane Fairfax is spotted going to the post office in the rain and then flees the strawberry-picking party on a swelteringly hot day. The characters journey through the year and the changing seasons in a way that Jane Austen worked out meticulously.
We can see how Jane built the worlds of her novels around the glimpses and memories of places she visited and read about as well as the ones that she knew intimately.2
EXERCISE: IS IT A COUNTY OF HEDGEROWS?
It’s so easy now to research places without actually going to them, but don’t be lazy. Even if you look at a place using maps or satellite photographs, the reality will still be different from how you imagined it. Make sure that you collect enough information about the places you are using in your story, whether real or imagined. Pin things above your desk to inspire you or keep a file of things you find out.
Choose an important location in your story. Research the history of the place. What is beneath your characters’ feet? How has the place changed over the years? What vestiges are there of the place’s past? Draw a map of it. What infrastructure is there? Where do people eat/shop/relax? What trees, plants, animals and birds live there? Are there points of tension or places to avoid? Do worlds collide? Collect postcards, photos, leaflets, local newsletters, press cuttings, information about the natural world, menus, etc. etc.
Think about somebody arriving somewhere. They may be seeing the place for the first time or have been there before. How will arriving at this place affect your character? What will their impressions tell readers about the place and themselves? How might the preconceptions of the characters and your readers be overturned? Here, Elizabeth arrives at Pemberley in Chapter 43 of Pride and Prejudice.
Elizabeth, as they drove along, watched for the first appearance of Pemberley Woods with some perturbation; and when at length they turned in at the lodge, her spirits were in a high flutter.
The park was very large, and contained great variety of ground. They entered it in one of its lowest points, and drove for some time through a beautiful wood, stretching over a wide extent.
Elizabeth’s mind was too full for conversation, but she saw and admired every remarkable spot and point of view. They gradually ascended for half a mile, and then found themselves at the top of a considerable eminence, where the wood ceased, and the eye was instantly caught by Pemberley House, situated on the opposite side of a valley, into which the road, with some abruptness, wound. It was a large, handsome, stone building, standing well on rising ground, and backed by a ridge of high woody hills; – and in front, a stream of some natural importance was swelled into greater, but without any artificial appearance. Its banks were neither formal, nor falsely adorned. Elizabeth was delighted. She had never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste. They were all of them warm in their admiration; and at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!
They descended the hill, crossed the bridge, and drove to the door; and, while examining the nearer aspect of the house, all her apprehensions of meeting its owner returned. She dreaded lest the chambermaid had been mistaken. On applying to see the place, they were admitted into the hall; and Elizabeth, as they waited for the housekeeper, had leisure to wonder at her being where she was.
Write about somebody arriving somewhere. They might be happy, sad, scared, reluctant, in for a surprise . . . The place doesn’t have to be their final destination. Set up what will happen next in the plot, or use the feelings that your character has about the place to provide some tension. Be ready to surprise the reader.
Elizabeth has no idea that she’ll be seeing so much of Mr Darcy while she’s staying with Charlotte and Mr Collins at Hunsford or that they will meet again at Pemberley. In Persuasion Anne Elliot doesn’t know that she and Captain Wentworth will finally be reunited in Bath. In Sense and Sensibility Marianne is excited about seeing Willoughby again in London.
Travelling could be dangerous in Jane Austen’s time; even a short journey could end in tragedy. Jane Austen’s cousin Jane Cooper was killed in a carriage accident. Such accidents weren’t always fatal, though, and a mishap is the inciting incident in Sanditon, described in the opening of the novel.
A gentleman and lady travelling from Tunbridge towards that part of the Sussex coast which lies between Hastings and Eastbourne, being induced by business to quit the high road and attempt a very rough lane, were overturned in toiling up its long ascent, half rock, half sand. The accident happened just beyond the only gentleman’s house near the lane . . . The severity of the fall was broken by their slow pace and the narrowness of the lane; and the gentleman having scrambled out and helped out his companion, they neither of them at first felt more than shaken and bruised. But the gentleman had, in the course of the extrication, sprained his foot; and soon becoming sensible of it, was obliged in a few moments to cut short both his remonstrances to the driver and his congratulations to his wife and himself and sit down on the bank, unable to stand.
Mr Thomas Parker being tipped out of his carriage and spraining his foot makes a perfect opening. There is the drama verging on comedy of the accident, and one of the themes of the novel, illness and doctors, is introduced. The possible folly of Mr Parker’s actions in working so hard on Sanditon, the seaside town he is trying to develop, is also set up. This is a plainly written episode and might put readers in mind of a fable or a parable.
And here is Marianne being self-centred and rude, in Sense and Sensibility (Chapter 26), leaving Elinor to be polite to Mrs Jennings – who is being her unfailingly jovial and well-meaning self – as they travel to London.
They were three days on their journey, and Marianne’s behaviour as they travelled was a happy specimen of what future complaisance and companionableness to Mrs Jennings might be expected to be. She sat in silence almost all the way, wrapt in her own meditations, and scarcely ever voluntarily speaking, except when any object of picturesque beauty within their view drew from her an exclamation of delight exclusively addressed to her sister. To atone for this conduct therefore, Elinor took immediate possession of the post of civility which she had assigned herself, behaved with the greatest attention to Mrs Jennings, talked with her, laughed with her, and listened to her whenever she could; and Mrs Jennings on her side treated them both with all possible kindness, was solicitous on every occasion for their ease and enjoyment, and only disturbed that she could not make them choose their own dinners at the inn, nor extort a confession of their preferring salmon to cod, or boiled fowls to veal cutlets.
As well as advancing the plot, you can reveal much about your characters by showing them in transit. How do they behave? Are they rude? Do they get road or airport rage? Do they mislay their tickets or get lost? The uncertainty of travelling also gives you opportunities to introduce new characters or send the plot in new directions in a plausible way.
In Northanger Abbey when Catherine Morland is driven by Henry Tilney she (and thus the reader) compares him to the boorish John Thorpe (Chapter 20):
Much was Catherine then surprised by the general’s proposal of her taking his place in his son’s curricle for the rest of the journey: ‘the day was fine, and he was anxious for her seeing as much of the country as possible.’
The remembrance of Mr Allen’s opinion, respecting young men’s open carriages, made her blush at the mention of such a plan, and her first thought was to decline it; but her second was of greater deference for General Tilney’s judgment; he could not propose anything improper for her; and, in the course of a few minutes, she found herself with Henry in the curricle, as happy a being as ever existed. A very short trial convinced her that a curricle was the prettiest equipage in the world; the chaise and four wheeled off with some grandeur, to be sure, but it was a heavy and troublesome business, and she could not easily forget its having stopped two hours at Petty France. Half the time would have been enough for the curricle, and so nimbly were the light horses disposed to move, that, had not the general chosen to have his own carriage lead the way, they could have passed it with ease in half a minute. But the merit of the curricle did not all belong to the horses; Henry drove so well – so quietly – without making any disturbance, without parading to her, or swearing at them: so different from the only gentleman-coachman whom it was in her power to compare him with! And then his hat sat so well, and the innumerable capes of his greatcoat looked so becomingly important! To be driven by him, next to being dancing with him, was certainly the greatest happiness in the world.
EXERCISE: WHO IS DRIVING AND WHAT DOES THEIR DRIVING SAY ABOUT THEM?
Write a scene in which one of your characters is driving. How do they behave behind the wheel? What is their vehicle like? Do they listen to music? Get distracted? Might their passenger view them the way that Catherine Morland does Henry Tilney?
‘TO PEMBERLEY, THEREFORE, THEY WERE TO GO’ – JOURNEYS AND PLOTTING
In The Creative Writing Coursebook Patricia Duncker distinguishes between siege narratives and quest narratives. What sort of story are you writing? Emma Woodhouse stays at home, but Emma isn’t really a siege narrative because it’s about her journey of self-discovery. Despite this, the fact that she hardly goes anywhere is interesting; only at the end is she going to leave Highbury for a trip to the seaside.
Journeys are key to the narrative in Pride and Prejudice. We can imagine how Jane Austen plotted, probably making notes and consulting maps, carefully working out journey times and routes, such as the one she describes when Elizabeth and the Gardiners travel north in Chapter 42. This is another quest narrative.
Jane Austen’s description of the route to Pemberley is evocative but economical. Remember where your hero or heroine must go and get them there; you don’t have to show everything that happens along the way. You will also have to decide if your character will be going home again. You might like to think of your narrative as being a quest, but it may be one of ‘voyage and return’.3
EXERCISES: GOING HOME OR STAYING HOME
1.Does your hero or heroine have to return home or perhaps find a new one? Write about coming home or finding a home. Ruby slippers are optional.
2.Write about a character who has to stay at home while others go on journeys. I often think about how Jane and Cassandra Austen and their parents had to wait for news of Frank and Charles when they were away at sea. In Mansfield Park Fanny Price was in the same situation with her brother, William. Cassandra’s fiancé, Thomas Fowle, was a ship’s chaplain and died of yellow fever in the West Indies. It was several months before the heartbreaking news reached England.