Jim G.M Wrote:
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(excerpted)
>Derbyshire is a fair way from London
> (150 miles using Matlock as a reference) and in the
> age of stagecoaches would be time consuming and
> less than totally comfortable, and it does seem a
> little odd that Georgiana's education couldn't be
> conducted nearer to home, and that Darcy, a busy
> land-owner and not the most sociable person on the
> planet, should have a home so far from Pemberley
> just for the sake of London society. Really,
> considering her "little bit of ivory" statement of
> a few rural families, Jane Austen actually went
> quite far afield. (-:
People of Darcy's rank and class traveled often. Reference to how his view of travel is shaped by affluence is indicated in this exchange with Elizabeth. They are at Hunsford Parsonage discussing how easily Mrs. Collins can visit her family in Meryton:
Quote
"It must be very agreeable to her to be settled within so easy a distance of her own family and friends." (Darcy)
"An easy distance do you call it? It is nearly fifty miles." (Elizabeth)
"And what is fifty miles of good road? Little more than half a day's journey. Yes, I call it a very easy distance." (Darcy)
To some extent, Darcy's lack of sociability is played up by fandom. Austen suggests he is very much a man of his class, and although he is a more attentive landowner than many, he also spends a lot of time away from Pemberley. Mrs. Reynolds mentions this to Elizabeth and the Gardiners when she is giving them a tour:
Quote
"Is your master much at Pemberley in the course of the year?"
"Not so much as I could wish, Sir; but I dare say he may spend half his time here; and Miss Darcy is always down for the summer months."
"Except," thought Elizabeth, "when she goes to Ramsgate."
"If your master would marry, you might see more of him."
"Yes, Sir; but I do not know when that will be. I do not know who is good enough for him."
(Note, here too, evidence that Miss Darcy spends only the summer rather than the entire year at Pemberley. To prepare her for her role as a sophisticated member of the upper class, she is being educated in London. Hanging around home without a governess might have been good enough for the Bennet girls, but they are not Miss Darcy, wealthy and granddaughter of an Earl. Of course, she would be given the polish that only a London education can provide--and not just one of those finishing schools like the Bingley sisters attended.)
