Posted by Iam on August 17, 19100 at 15:42:55:

In Reply to: An Austen question posted by Jack Brown on August 17, 19100 at 10:39:21:

: My wife is reading "Pride and Prejudice," and a question has come up--why, at times, does Jane Austen "hyphenate" certain words. For example, "----shire" instead of the full word. Any ideas?

: 2 possibilities spring to mind.
First, Austen most commonly blanks out the the real name of the militia regiment quartered in Meryton in Pride & Prejudice. That regiment's officers are depicted as (Wickham & Denny to a lesser extent) less than virtuous. There's also a suggestion of a lack of care of Lydia on the part of their Colonel. Had Austen named an actual regiment, rather than a blank, she may have caused offence - the book was written at a time when such things (i.e. Regimental pride) mattered.
Secondly, there may have been a wish for the .....shire regiment to remain anonymous to avoid her audience (necessarily the gentry, as they predominantly were able to read/access books) identifying with the regiment too closely - had she named a particular regiment how many of her (then) readers would have known a cousin/younger son/relation in it?

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• Re: An Austen question Emma 05:39:27 8/18/100 (1)
  • Jane Austin Keith Sweat 04:05:16 1/08/101 (0)

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