User:Giano/Rosings Park
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Rosings Park is a fictitious English country house from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Set in the county of Kent in the village of Hunsford[1]near to the town of Westerham [2]. It is the home of the wealthy and domineering Lady Catherine De Bourgh, the aunt of Fitzwilliam Darcy. Jane Austen uses her description of the house to present and describe not only Lady Catherine's wealth but also her personality, in this way Rosings has taken on the personae of its owner [3]. The reader is encouraged to regard Rosings as formal and overpowering the exact reverse of Darcy's house Pemberly.
Rosings is a fine and grand house. Mr Collins, the vicar of Rosing's local church, (of which Lady catherine is patron) and heir to Longbourne (The heroine, Elizabeth Bennet's childhood home) leaves the reader in no doubt of this, comparing every aspect of Longbourn unfavourable to Rosings. His sycophantic musings concerning Rosings and his patroness Lady Catherine are written in such a way by Austen as to both amuse and irritate the reader. He describes: "of all the views which his garden, or which the country, or the kingdom could boast, none were to be compared with the prospect of Rosings, afforded by an opening in the trees......nearly opposite the front of his house [4]. When visiting a friend of the Benenets he compares what is obviously the grandest room of their house the drawing room to the small summer breakfast parlour at Rosings [5] - the meaning being that the drawing room can only be equated with a small secondary reception room at Rosings, unimportant that it is only used at certain times of the year.
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[edit] Rosings in Film
[edit] The real Rosings
It is doubtful that Jane Austen actually based Rosings on any one house. Some people have asserted that Rosings was based on Chevening in Kent [6] but this house is far too large to fit Austen's description and if she did, it has never been reported. Had she done so it is quite likely that it would have been demolished by now as were so many thousands of English country houses in the 20th century. It is possible though from the limited details she gives us an the book to draw an impression of how she visualised Rosings.
Mr Collins descriptions can be taken as exagerations or elaborations, as he is the token "toady" in the book, and overly sycophantic of all pertaining to Lady Catherine. When attempting to visualise Rosings the following facts can be taken into account:
- Jane Austen was a frequent visitor to Goodenstone while staying with her brother Edward and his wife at nearby Rowling. In 1798, she visited Edward again at Godmersham Park in Kent [7]
- The parsonage is separated only by a lane from Rosings [8]
- Rosings has a chimney piece cost £800 [9]
- The reader is informed of the price Sir Lewis De Bourgh originally paid for the glazing.[10]
- Rosings was a handsome modern building .[11]
- Rosings was well situated on rising ground..[12]
- They ascended the steps to the hall [13].
- From the entrance hall, of which Mr Collins pointed out, the fine proportions and finished ornaments [14].
- they followed the servants through an ante-chamber, to the room where Lady Catherine, her daughter and Mrs Jenkinson were sitting [15].
- They were all sent to one of the windows, to admire the view, Mr Collins attending them to point out its beauties [16].
- for Mr. Collins was walking the whole morning within view of the lodges opening into Hunsford Lane .[17]
- In spite of having been at St. James's, Sir William was so completely awed by the grandeur surrounding him [18]
In addition to these we know that Rosings was intended to be an extension of Lady Catherine's personality - her personae had pervaded the house so what do we know of Lady Catherine.
- She was rich
- Referred to as Lady Catherine tells us she was the daughter of at least an Earl, as she retained her own title she had obviously married beneath her born rank.
- She is widowed, Sir Lewis De Bourgh who had paid for the glazing was in all probability her husband.
- Her behaviour suggests that of an unhappy woman, she is a megalomaniac who attempts to control the lives of all around her. She has to in charge - she is opressive.
Knowing all these facts we can now build a picture of Rosings:
It is described as modern house, the manuscript of P&P was completed in 1797, hence for the house to be described as modern it can be no more that 40 years old so was obviously built not before 1757. However, we are told that the guest admired the park, this would have taken some years to develop (unless the site were older) so the earliest date is the most likely One ascended steps to the hall which implies the principal floor was raised on at least a semi-basement, and the reception rooms were on a piano nobile, the hall itself is finely proportioned and has finished ornament, this sugests ornate plasterwork, coving and door frames. The part pass through an ante-room to reach the reception room in which Lady Catherine was seated - this suggests we are looking for a larger than a smaller country house - but how big? We know Rosings was recently built by a mere baronet, albeit a baronet married to the daughter of an Earl - however at that time the tendency was to build in a size according to rank. Belton House built by an extremely wealthy baronet some 70 years before Rosings was not huge. Jane Austen when building her picture of the overpoweringly impressive Rosings does not mention wings or courtyards. It seems that the richness and grandeur came from the interior decoration, which is what caused: "In spite of having been at St. James's, Sir William was so completely awed by the grandeur surrounding him" Could Austen have meant that Rosings a newly built baronet's seat was grander than the royal palace in London or did part of the grandeur come from Lady Catherine herself?
Hence Rosing must have been a middle sized house, built circa 1757 on high ground. It sounds as if it were a classical mansion of the era, which would mean a palladian house on three floors. With a staircase to the first floor front door. Such a wealthy pople as the de Burghs would have employed only the most eminent architects of the day, so who circa 1757 could that have been - if we know the architect we can better visualise the house. The contenders for the architect of Rosings are:
[edit] References
- ^ Chapter 28
- ^ List of Places in the novel Pride and Prejudice
- ^ [Nicolson, Nigel: The World of Jane Austen, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1991. P175
- ^ Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice, Oxford University Press, 1988 p156
- ^ Chapter 16
- ^ [http://www.jasa.net.au/houses/rosings.htm Country Houses in Jane Austen's novels - Pride and Prejudice
- ^ The life of Jane Austen
- ^ Chapter 14
- ^ Chapter 146
- ^ Chapter 29
- ^ Chapter 25
- ^ Chapter 25
- ^ Chapter 29
- ^ Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice, Oxford University Press, 1988 p161
- ^ Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice, Oxford University Press, 1988 p161
- ^ Chapter 29
- ^ Chapter 30
- ^ Chapter 29
[edit] External links
- Print of Godmersham Park
- Photograph of Godmersham Park
- Text of Pride and prejudice (19)
- Lady Catherines's dining room had it been designed by James Paine. The grandeur would certainly have impressed Sir William
[edit] Notes to self
"Why is Rosings in Kent? Maggie Lane suggests Kent was chosen ‘so that the characters may travel via London’. However, we know Jane Austen enjoyed the park-like landscape of Kent – just as Elizabeth Bennet does – and at one stage she described Kent as a place where ‘everybody is rich’. Shades of Lady Catherine’s display of wealth? Some have attempted to associate Rosings with an actual house, particularly Chevening, (see page 11) but I agree with Maggie Lane that it is far more likely to be a creation of the author’s mind (Lane, p62)" from [1]
