Among Jane Austen’s most beloved qualities are her sense of humor, subtle wit, and penchant for teasing. We find evidence of it in her personal life through her letters and encounter it in her novels through the sparkling dialog of her characters. She never fails to amuse no matter how many times we read her stories. She is sublimely clever at delivering slyly crafted bon mots; you can almost envision the smile crossing her face after completing a particularly inspired remark by one of her characters. She was said to sometimes jump up from working on a sewing project to rush to her writing desk and capture a thought for inclusion in one of her novels. It seems she wrote for her own amusement as much as for her readers.
Her humor is often on display in her letters which provide a window into the incisiveness of her ironic observations while revealing her personality and view of the world. Trapped in a patriarchal culture, dependent on the largesse of male family members, and living in a tightly controlled social milieu, correspondence was a significant outlet for expressing her opinions. Such a pity that so few of her letters survived, but the few that do reveal her wit including these examples:
“I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.”
“You deserve a longer letter than this; but it is my unhappy fate seldom to treat people so well as they deserve.”
“And pictures of perfection, as you know, make me sick and wicked.”
“Men were put into the world to teach women the law of compromise.”
She endowed many characters in her novels with sparkling wit that reveals her wry observations and sense of humor, while others are boorish, and some even devious, causing us to wonder if Jane modeled them on people of her own acquaintance. There can be no doubt that both Jane and her characters love to tease. Let’s review some examples from her novels.
Witty Teasing
Lizzy Bennet is the most beguiling of all Jane Austen’s heroines for her wit and humor. She relishes teasing and enjoys similar traits in her father. After a contentious introduction and many less than pleasant encounters that followed, Lizzy and Darcy meet again at the estate of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. While seated at the piano forte with Colonel Fitzwilliam, Darcy joins them only to be teased by Lizzy in front of his cousin for refusing to dance at a ball during their first meeting. After Darcy protested that he was “ill qualified to recommend himself to strangers”, Lizzy wryly retorts that she was not as accomplished at playing the instrument, “but I have always supposed it to be my own fault – because I would not take the trouble of practicing”, which resulted in a smile and acknowledgement from Darcy that she was “perfectly right”. After finally resolving their differences and acknowledging their true feelings, Lizzy tells Darcy, “My good qualities are under your protection, and you are to exaggerate them as much as possible; and, in return, it belongs to me to find occasion for teasing and quarreling with you as often as may be...”
Lizzy’s father, Mr. Bennet, has a very dry wit and ability to subtly tease. When his cousin, Mr. Collins, a clergyman who arrives in pursuit of a bride from among the Bennet sisters, proves himself to be a “mixture of pride and obsequiousness, self-importance and humility,” as he discloses his pompous veneration of his patroness, Lady Catherine, he becomes a target for Mr. Bennet’s droll humor. “It is happy for you that you possess the talent of flattering with delicacy. May I ask whether these pleasing attentions proceed from the impulse of the moment, or are they the result of previous study?” To this, Mr. Collins unselfconsciously admits to “arranging small, elegant compliments as may be adapted to ordinary occasions” while trying to make them seem “as unstudied an air as possible,” much to Mr. Bennet’s amusement. Mr. Bennet’s relationship with his long suffering, wife provides another rich source of examples. "You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these last twenty years at least.” Still, who can blame him?
In Northanger Abbey, Henry Tilney wins us over from the moment he is introduced because of the charming way he teases Catherine Moreland at her first ball. He accuses her of keeping a journal, which she denies, and then he alludes to what she would write about their encounter. “Yes, I know exactly what you will say: Friday, went to the Lower Rooms; wore my sprigged muslin robe with blue trimmings -- plain black shoes -- appeared to much advantage; but was strangely harassed by a queer, half-witted man, who would make me dance with him, and distressed me by his nonsense." His humor carries forward throughout including on the way to Northanger Abbey by filling Catherine’s head with gothic imaginings of the mysteries she will discover there. He is so effective that she does, indeed, get caught up in her fantasies, prowling about the mansion in search of nefarious clues as to the demise of Mrs. Tilney. His humor is on view throughout along with his kind and gentle heart. No wonder we are all enamored.
Devious Teasing
Who can help but find Frank Churchill rather annoying and self-indulgent. Granted he was a product of his upbringing, but he comes across as duplicitous in his dealings with the inhabitants of Highgrove. He must realize how anxious his father and new wife were about the possibility of an attachment to Emma, which he reinforces by flirting with her to distract from his real love interest to whom he was secretly engaged, Jane Fairfax. When Frank Churchill bypasses Miss Fairfax at a party and comes to sit with Emma, she “divined what everybody present must be thinking. She was his object…” While curiosity abounded about who secretly gifted a piano to Miss Fairfax, he boldly and deviously suggested to Emma that Mr. Dixon was the source, a particularly egregious move, since he was clearly toying with Emma by drawing her into his supposed conspiracy with all its associated innuendos. He went so far as to suggest that Mr. Dixon was secretly in love with Jane. It was self-serving, unfair to both women, and done solely for his own amusement. Badly done, Frank Churchill.
When Anne Elliot became better acquainted with Mr. William Elliot in Bath, she found him engaging but observed he was “not always quite sincere.” Later, he teased her that he had known of her for a long time saying, “I had heard you described by those who knew you intimately. I have been acquainted with you by character many years. Your person, your disposition, accomplishments, manner – they were all present to me. She wondered and questioned him eagerly – but in vain. He delighted in being asked, but he would not tell.” Thanks to her friend, Mrs. Smith, Anne became aware of his questionable character and then “she saw insincerity in everything” and began to actively avoid him. Thankfully her own instincts and the intelligence from her friend kept her from being persuaded to accept his attentions as a suitor and become the next Lady Elliot. Well done, Anne.
Mary Crawford was a consummate flirt. She had beauty, wealth, and a modern attitude towards life and its pleasures, as well as an aversion to Edmund Bertram’s chosen profession as a cleric. “A clergyman has nothing to do but to be slovenly and selfish – read the newspaper, watch the weather, and quarrel with his wife. His curate does all the work, and the business of his own life is to dine.” Poor Edmund was forced to admit her opinion was a “common-place censure”. She continues her denunciation by describing those who choose the ‘living’ to be “very sincere in preferring an income ready made to the trouble of working for one”. Miss Crawford had formed an attachment to Edmund but not to his chosen career and these comments, presented in a teasing manner, were a manipulative effort towards getting him to reconsider his calling. What a disaster that match would have been. Good riddance, Mary Crawford!
Boorish Teasing
When Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters are forced to move to Barton Cottage at the invitation of her cousin, Sir John Middleton, they find themselves in the company of his visiting mother-in-law, the jovial Mrs. Jennings, both of whom see fit to tease Elinor and Marianne relentlessly, much to the perturbation of the two young ladies. While they were well meaning, the jokes and teasing shared between Mrs. Jennings and Sir John, at the expense of the newly arrived inhabitants were particularly vexing to the sisters. The incorrigible matchmaker and her son-in-law, with their constant references to lovers and husbands, endless jokes about Colonel Brandon’s admiration of Marianne, and the mysterious “Mr. F” comments to annoy Elinor, were the worst kind of teasing. It served to amuse only themselves at the expense of their young neighbors. Rather than being clever, it was genuinely insensitive. Later she teased Mr. Willoughby for taking Marianne out in his curricle. “Yes, yes, Mr. Impudence. I know that very well and I was determined to find out where you had been to.” She then went on to infer that the house of Mrs. Allen which they visited, would someday be Marianne’s, laughing heartily when Marianne turned away in confusion. How inconsiderate, Mrs. Jennings!
A more perverse teasing was that of John Willoughby in describing Colonel Brandon when the colonel was urgently called out of town at the last minute. Willoughby whispered to Marianne, “There are some people who cannot bear a party of pleasure. Brandon is one of them. He was afraid of catching cold I dare say and intended this trick for getting out of it.” Such impudence from the person who was the source of distress that called Colonel Brandon away. Badly done, Willoughby.
You probably have your own favorite examples of the best and worst teasers for there are many from which to choose. We can thank Jane Austen for bringing all these endearing and not so endearing characters to life based on her own insightful observations and understanding of human nature. Well done, Jane.
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