[ SECRET POST #5601 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5601 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 48 secrets from Secret Submission Post #802.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

06. https://i.imgur.com/DZL224S.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

That's a sensible life goal, OP. I'm not an expert in this era, but maybe Georgiana's position as an independently wealthy woman would've allowed her a bit more freedom? It's one thing to be a spinster when that means no household and very little income, and also no social protection. But Georgiana's position was less vulnerable, since she has her own money and family support.

[(Anonymous)]

As a fantasy for yourself I think that's great. :) I think Georgiana shows herself to be inclined to romance though, so it would be unlikely that she'd choose not to marry.

Spinster... Spinster was a well paying job older unmarried women would take up and be able to earn enough to support themselves. Like everything in society, once you're past child bearing age, women became nothing but an object of scorn. (See also: witches.) I doubt being a Spinster actually was an unhappy ending for every woman. Sure, some probably regretted not marrying and having kids, but I doubt everybody felt that way.

[(Anonymous)]

SA I realise you're not actually suggesting Georgiana would take it up as a job. I was more alluding to the source of the word and how it became an insult.

[(Anonymous)]

Well... I think the problem in that era was that it wasn't just about marrying and having kids and whether or not an individual woman found that fulfilling. It's that society wasn't set up very well to allow single, independent, older women to function, much less thrive. It helped if you had family money, of course. But if you didn't, you either had to work (and likely work at fairly menial jobs where it'd be a struggle to support yourself) or rely upon family (and possibly accept a very low status position in someone else's household that relies upon their financial support and goodwill). A lot of women married in order to secure some level of future financial and social comfort, like Charlotte Lucas in Pride and Prejudice.

Austen novels contain more than a few female characters who live somewhat precariously because of this - Fanny in Mansfield Park/, who gets sent to live with her wealthy aunt and is treated like a glorified maid/companion. The Misses Bates in Emma, who are poor and rely upon the generosity of their neighbors, and Jane Fairfax, who has to take positions as a governess to get by. Elinor and Marianne Dashwood (and their widowed) mother in Sense and Sensibility have to scrape by on a small income because their half-brother won't support them financially, and they're grateful to their cousin Sir John Middleton for giving them cheap rent of a cottage.

And of course, Austen herself had to pinch pennies and combine households with her mother, sister (and later a friend?), moving around to places they could afford until one of her brothers let them live in a cottage on his estate. That's after she turned down an offer of marriage that would've made her financially secure, if potentially very unhappy.

[(Anonymous)]

na

Georgiana's position seems most similar to Emma Woodhouse's in that she has her own fortune and wouldn't have to marry. But I would assume there would still be a societal expectation/pressure to marry because it's all about making alliances when you're from prominent families. And even if a woman didn't need to marry for money/support, you're right in that society wasn't really set up for single unmarried women. It's a generalization, but it really was all about getting a husband.

[dantesspirit]

Spinster... Spinster was a well paying job older unmarried women would take up and be able to earn enough to support themselves.

Exactly! Spinster as a 'derisive' term is a fairly 'modern' interpretation. It literally meant a low income earning job in the textiles world- combing, carding, spinning, of wool, by unmarried women, generally of lower classes. It once had the same connotations as 'bachelor' did and does.

I think Georgiana would have been content being a spinster until the right person came along.

Awesome!

[(Anonymous)]

Can I have in on your fantasy, OP? Because that's a wonderful dream. A doting older brother I love so dear, and who's always so concerned for me; and I could help my awesome sister Elizabeth with whatever new shenanigans she was up to at any given moment (you know there would be a lot). ❤️❤️❤️

My new sleepytime dream, thanks!

[(Anonymous)]

I agree that Georgiana herself seems inclined to marry, but she's one of the few that really doesn't have to. Darcy himself obviously wasn't considering getting married (just supporting Bingley), he wants his sister to be happy and wouldn't force her to marry, Georgiana is independently wealthy (enough so that Wickham was going to elope with her rather than just run off like he did with Lydia until Darcy cornered him).