Claire BarnesDec 22, 2022
@Tony_Meredith I also found 'The Comedy of Social Distinctions in Pride and Prejudice' by John McAleer which explains that Jane Austen's great-grandmother was a Brydges & descended from Lionel Duke of Clarence - so as it happens #JaneAusten was a direct descendant of Elizabeth de Burgh #LadyOfClare. However the evidence seems compelling that Jane's #CharacterNames were directly related to political issues of her day. She started writing in Oct1796, just as Pitt proposed reforming the #PoorLaws.
Show threadClaire BarnesDec 22, 2022

@Tony_Meredith Sheryl Craig’s book ‘Jane Austen & the State of the Nation’ looks good, & may well be based on her PhD thesis ‘Above Vulgar Economy: Jane Austen & Money’, free online at https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/handle/1808/8052/Craig_ku_0099D_11190_DATA_1.pdf
This is a superb read: maybe only a #JaneAusten scholar could write so well.

#EdmundBurke opposed a #MinimumWage & insisted that the poor could keep up with #FoodCosts if the workers substituted cheaper alternatives to bread.

Show threadClaire BarnesDec 22, 2022
@Tony_Meredith Sheryl Craig & Janine Barchas have documented the political context & other #CharacterNames convincingly, but although the characters of #EdmundBurke & the fictitious #CatherineDeBourgh are discussed, & other #Whig names make political references clear, I have not seen the name discussed explicitly.
Modern readers may not realise that these are variant spellings? but there were Irish #Burgh & #Burke peers in Jane’s time, both using variants of the original Burgh arms.
Show threadClaire BarnesDec 22, 2022
@Tony_Meredith #EdmundBurke’s 1795 ‘Thoughts and Details on Scarcity’ argued that “the monopoly of capital… is a great benefit… particularly to the poor”, & “very few have actually died of want”. Full text online at https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004903053.0001.000
Online dictionaries say that the disparaging slang ‘#berk’ first appeared in the 1930s. Janine Barchas has noted that #JaneAusten books were popular among the working classes in the mid 19th century, so an earlier origin would not have surprised me.
Thoughts and details on scarcity: originally presented to the Right Hon. William Pitt, in the month of November, 1795. By the late ... Edmund Burke.

Show threadClaire BarnesDec 22, 2022

@Tony_Meredith Thanks for drawing my attention to the relevance of #PrideAndPrejudice to #UKpolitics today. 225 years ago #Britain had a #Tory #PrimeMinister pushing for a fairer society with a #LivingIncome & an expansion of #WelfareBenefits. He was supported by many enlightened landowners but undermined by proponents of low taxes, #TrickleDownEconomics, & #charity. All astutely observed by #JaneAusten!

#WilliamPitt #PoorLaws #FairPay #MinimumWage
#Edmund Burke #CatherineDeBourgh
#SupportNHS

Show threadHistoPol (#HP) 🏴 🇺🇸 🏴Apr 2, 2023

@ClaireFromClare @Tony_Meredith

Very perceptive 😀:

https://h-net.social/@ClaireFromClare/109556329817289341

Claire Barnes (@[email protected])

@[email protected] Thanks for drawing my attention to the relevance of #PrideAndPrejudice to #UKpolitics today. 225 years ago #Britain had a #Tory #PrimeMinister pushing for a fairer society with a #LivingIncome & an expansion of #WelfareBenefits. He was supported by many enlightened landowners but undermined by proponents of low taxes, #TrickleDownEconomics, & #charity. All astutely observed by #JaneAusten! #WilliamPitt #PoorLaws #FairPay #MinimumWage #Edmund Burke #CatherineDeBourgh #SupportNHS

H-Net
Show threadClaire Barnes

@HistoPol

#JaneAusten was indeed perceptive, & the great social issues of her day seem very relevant to ours...

Do any chroniclers of today's politics have the insight, deft language & playfulness to become so beloved?

@Tony_Meredith #UKpolitics #novel #fiction #bookstodon

Apr 3, 2023 at 5:20amWeb