[assignment week 3, due Wed.] Compare and contrast the Bath of Moll and Bath of Anne Elliott. Is the city about class separation or class mixing? Why do they go to (the) Bath? Is the difference one or character or one of period (early 18th, early 19th)? (In your comparison answer two of these three questions.)
Also, prepare one paragraph on your assigned Bath or Cardiff historical personage below in order to be able to tell the rest of the group by Tuesday (in other words, due it today; you should probably do the first blog assignment today as well): John Wood, senior (or the elder, Carrie); Thomas Rowlandson (Cassandra); Beau Nash (Krystal); Ralph Allen (Kristi); John Palmer (Ashley); Dr. William Oliver (Ben); William Wilberforce (Ray); William Gilpin (esp. his Observations on the River Wye and several parts of South Wales, Megan); First and Third Marquess of Bute (focusing on Cardiff Castle, Amanda).
6 comments:
Moll Flanders and Anne Elliott both went to and lived in Bath for very different reasons. In Moll's time, Bath was really the place to be. All the wealthy people wanted to live there, and it truly was the epitome of high society. She and her husband at the time went for a good time, almost like an extended honeymoon. It was the fashionable place to see and be seen. It was a good place for Moll; she had fond memories of the place.
In Anne's time, Bath was starting to fade in prominence, giving way to places such as London. Anne is there because her father can't keep track of his money, so, in order to save money and to not lose the estate, he takes up residence in a smaller arena, in Bath. Anne doesn't see Bath in a very good light. She remembers it as a place that she had to go to after her mother passed away, and it also lends into her father and sister's way of handling people, i.e. looking down on people.
The city, in my opinion, represents class separation in both stories. Yes, Moll is lower class, but she's presenting herself as a member of the elite, due to the fact that it'd be unacceptable for her to be otherwise. It's not a lot different for Anne's period. Her father even says at one point that the Admiral and his wife that were renting his home couldn't visit them if they were staying on one side of town. He goes farther when he is up in arms about Anne visiting her friend that was ill and widowed.
All in all it's mainly a city in which the upper class shows off, and the lower classes are looked down upon, just like most other cities at this time period.
Bath doesn't really change in the time period between Moll Flanders and Anne Elliott. It is still a place people went to get away from their everyday lives. However, what did change were people's reasons and provocations for going to Bath. For instance, Moll went to Bath on holiday. During her time period, the late 17th century, Bath was a place of decadence and frivolity. A place where the rich went to show off thier money, or where people went to pretend they had money. Anne Elliott went to Bath under compulsion. Her familiy's circumstances demanded a move somewhere and Bath was the best option. It was because it was still a place where respectable people went but it was no longer the fashionable place it was in Moll's time. In Anne Elliott's time Bath had evolved into a theraputic respite for the sick or arthritic. People who needed to the hot springs for health reasons. This is supported by Sir Walter's comment about all the ugly people in Bath, they were sick. All in all, I think Bath was a place of class mixing. It was a place where a Viscountess could go as well as a navy captain and both could be at the same social event. Even in Moll's time I think Bath invited social mixing. Even though Moll was pretending to something she wasn't she was still who she was. In other words, she was still of the lower class mingling with the upper classes. Does it matter that she was disguised? It seems Bath allowed for class mixing as long as one had the resources to get to Bath and enjoy oneself while there.
Anne Elliot and Moll Flanders give different descriptions and tales of Bath. One reason for this would be their own differences in class. Moll was in the lower classes and went to Bath to meet a man with money. Anne already had money, she went to Bath to stay with her father and sister.
Moll described Bath as a place of high society and it was very expensive. Someone in Moll's circumstances would have problems getting by in Bath on their own. Moll even explains that her finances were drained when she went to Bath and the only reason she got by at all was because of a kind woman that took her into her residence. Bath in this time seems more like a place of rest and comfort for the upper classes than anything else. She does also get by there, which means that Bath could be home for all different classes of people.
Anne Elliot doesn't really give a large description of Bath, mainly because she didn't want to be there. Anne felt that Bath was a place where people went to show off their money and social standing. You can also see in Persuasion that Bath was a place of comfort and medicinal purposes. Many ill people went to Bath for the hot springs. You can also tell from Anne's descriptions that many different classes could go to Bath and participate in the same kinds of activities.
Moll Flanders and Anne Elliott both entered Bath for very opposite reasons. For Moll it was more of an individual reason. She had intentions of looking more prominent in society by attempting to look of higher status than she actually was. For Anne, it was for family reasons. She wanted to stay at Kellynch-Hall, but b/c of the situation of her father she would eventually end up in Bath.
The different time periods also help to understand both women better. In Moll's time, "the Bath" was seen as a high society bustling sort of place that pulled the rich in to show off their wealth, and even pulled the poor in to try and move up in status (which eventually led to them losing more than they had to begin with). In Anne's time period, the country was seen as having more status, so the significance of Sir Walter not wanting to move to the city was because it would be seen as them having less status/class.
All in all, I think Bath in both cases was a chance for people to come together. Women like Moll Flanders could pose as possessing more wealth than they had, and thus resulting in being in social circles she would otherwise not have been involved in. The same with Anne Elliot, she went to the party of Lady Darymple where not only did the family attend, but also naval officers. It was a chance for people, whether appearing to be of another class, or just in another class to mingle and be in different social circles.
Moll Flanders goes to Bath on holiday (at her own will) while Anne Elliott goes to Bath because her family had to relocate to be able to afford where they lived (forced), so naturally, they are going to have different opinions of the city because of the circumstances under which they went.
I do think that Bath was different during the two time periods in which the stories took place. In the early 18th century, Bath was the place to be, however by the early 19th century, it was loosing that glamerous feel. At that time, Bath was a place largely where people who were ill went because of the hot springs (this kind of goes along with the numerous "unattractive" people that were seen there in Persuasion).
In Moll Flanders, it appears that the city is about class mixing. While Moll is lower class, she is trying to play herself of as one of a higher class. In Persuasion, however, I feel there is more of the idea of class seperation. Anne and her family were of a high class and even though they have to move to Bath because they can't afford their old estate, they (although not so much Anne) still feel that they are better than everyone else and don't want to be associated with the lower class people and the unattractive people.
As all cities do over the years, Bath has evolved from a Roman city to the fashion center of Europe to a retreat from the monetary and physical rigors of the day. This city has been the setting of many novels, Moll Flanders and Persuasion are not alone. The Bath of Moll Flanders and Persuasion is very different and yet still similar. In their times, Bath was both about class mixing and separation. In moll's time people went there to flaunt their wealth or to find wealth through marriage or other seedier means. For Anne, Bath was about providing her father with a face-saving way to live within his means. In Anne's time, people went there for the same reason as Sir Walter and also for the restorative qualities of the water and general area. Anne goes reluctantly with her family to Bath. She would much rather have stayed with Lady Russell than go to Bath where she went when her mother died and where she would be away from her seemingly only friend. The best solution to her father's money-spending problem, in both her and Lady Russell's eyes would have been to cut down expenses at Kellynch Hall instead of travelling. However, Sir Walter and his vanity would have none of that and so going to Bath and letting the Hall to someone was the only acceptable option for him. For Moll, Bath was her honeymoon with her gentleman-tradesman. It was about acting like they were both a part of the gentry when they really weren't. It was about showing off that which they did not have-an excess of money. Arguably, going to Bath in such style and living so outlandishly was what sent her husband into such debts from which he could not excape. For Moll, Bath was the undoing in this episode of her life. For Anne, it was the beginning of the happiest part of her life-her married life with Captain Wentworth. Had she not gone to Bath, one could argue that she would never have been reunited with Captain Wentworth because she would have never been made wise to Mr. Elliot and his real character. For both of those main characters, Bath was a very important place. Although Moll went on to other more important places, it was Bath that ended her marriage to her gentleman-tradesman and caused her to enter into a destitute state that led her to her brother and then onwards from there.
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