economies of living in mrs. gaskell's cranford

7/27/2019 Economies of Living in Mrs. Gaskell's Cranford

1/21

Economies of Living in Mrs. Gaskell's CranfordAuthor(s): James MulvihillReviewed work(s):Source: Nineteenth-Century Literature, Vol. 50, No. 3 (Dec., 1995), pp. 337-356Published by: University of California PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2933673 .Accessed: 03/05/2012 06:07

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

University of California Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to

Nineteenth-Century Literature.

http://www.jstor.org
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucalhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/2933673?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/2933673?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucal


2/21

Economies of Living inMrs. Gaskell'sCranfordJAMES MULVIHILLPOLITICAL ECONOMY is to the State,whatdomesticeconomy s to thefamily."

-James Mill,ElementsfPolitical conomy

MES Mill's proposition has been putmany imes-and refuted erhaps smany times again. When a Scotch economistquotes it inThomas Love Peacock's Crotchetastle1831), he is immedi-ately hallengedby nother haracterwhowonderswhatfam-ilywould tolerate hegross nequalities ftheState,where itis all hungerat one end, and all surfeit t the other."1 heeconomist itesMill oncemore, rguing hat thefamilyon-sumes, and in order to consume, it must have supply," o whichhis interlocutor implyreplies: "Well, sir,Adam and Eve knewthat, when they delved and span" (p.' 173). Like many suchdebates in Peacock's novels, thisone is inconclusive,but thereference to our firstparents at least succeeds in removingeconomy from the arid precincts of political economy andreturning it to what Wordsworth called "the household ofman."2 As Raymond Williams points out, " 'economy' was themanagement of a household and then the management of a? 1995 byThe Regentsof theUniversity fCaliforniaI Thomas Love Peacock, Nightmarebbey, rotchetastle, d. RaymondWright(Harmondsworth:Penguin,1969), p. 172.2 "Preface toLyrical allads 1850)," in TheProseWorksfWilliamWordsworth,d.W.J.B.Owen and Jane Worthington myser,3 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press,1974), I, 141.

337


3/21

338 NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATUREcommunity efore tbecame thedescription f a perceivedsystem fproduction, istribution,ndexchange."3 husWil-liam Cobbett, n the opening pages of his Cottage conomy(1821-22), offers his orrective efinitionfa termheclaimshas been muchabused of ate:"EcoNoMY means management,andnothingmore;and it sgenerally ppliedto the ffairsfahouse and family, hich ffairs re an objectofthe greatestimportance, hethers relatingo ndividuals rto a nation."4Though hisdefinitiongreeswithMill's,Cobbett akesmoreliterallyhenotion hat conomy tarts thome, nsubsequentchaptersdevotinghis attentionwholly o practical etailsofdomesticmanagement.Moreover, erejectsRicardian ormu-lations f wealth nd value based on material carcity,nd heproceeds fromthepremise thateconomy s consistentwith"the most liberaldisposition."If he maintains thatthere mustbe "ranks and degrees" in society, e expresslygnores thedismal rationale of Malthusian social statics,holding that "tolivewell, o enjoy llthings hatmake ifepleasant,s therightofeveryman whoconstantlyses hisstrengthudiciously ndlawfully"p. 2).But what fa communityfsingle adiesof imitedmeansand strength?Mrs. Gaskell's secondnovel,Cranford1853),first ublished eriallynHouseholdWords,ortraysuch com-munityntheruralvillage fCranford,where all theholdersof houses, above a certain rent, are women."5 The novel'sopening chapter,"Our Society,"observes thiscurious demo-graphiccircumstancewithout ccounting for t beyondasking"what"-if there were gentlemen at Cranford-"could theydo iftheywere there?" p. i). A listofthings obe done isgivenat theoutset,none of themapparently requiringa man. Theyrange from the maintenance of gardens to security gainstintruders, from deciding the issues of the day to stayingabreast of ocal news.They also include charity o thepoor andmutual aid among the ladies themselves-for which, it is

3 Marxismnd LiteratureOxford:Oxford Univ.Press, 1977),p. 114 Cottage conomyNewYork:JohnDoyle, 1833),p. 1.5 ElizabethGaskell,Cranford,ed. ElizabethPorges Watson (London: OxfordUniv.Press, 1972), p. 1. All otherreferences re taken fromthis edition and arecitedparentheticallyn thetext.


4/21

ECONOMIES OF LIVING IN CRANFORD 339stressed, "the ladies of Cranford are quite sufficient."Any-thing beyond this sufficiencys by definition uperfluous.Tostate, herefore, s one oftheseladies does, that man "is so nthe way in the house!" (p. 1) is to make a valid propositionabout the economy-that is, the natural management-as ithas evolved over time and, by necessity, propositionaboutCranford. While some oftheseactivitiesmay appear minortoan outsider-the narrator'sgentle ronydistinguishesherper-spectivefrom thenatives'even as it enables her to appreciateCranford society s no nativecould-collectively theyconsti-tute thefunctional ntity hat s Cranford and so inthisrespectare all equally important.The reader of Cranfords thus notinvited finally o scorn the foiblesof the Cranford ladies butrather challenged to see how their habits reflectthe manyeconomies of living that form the economyof Cranford'slife.

In The Economics ofthe magination (1980)Kurt Heinzelman describesa semanticstraitening fthecon-cept of economy in the nineteenthcentury.He writes thatwhereas economy had been an aspect of moral philosophyconcerning weal or well-being "natural economy"), it is nowa social science measuring commercial behavior. Formerlyprescribing "moral disposition," tnow describes "functionaloperation," though its older sense still urvives nnineteenth-century critiquesof modernization bywriters ikeJohn Rus-kin,who argues that,as a science, economics merely gnoresthe unquantifiable aspects of economy,for "theregulationofthe purse is,in its essence, regulations of the imagination andthe heart."6 Thus Heinzelman reads Thoreau's Walden,withitsforegrounded demonstration of the material and spiritualeconomies regulating an examined life, as an attempt "toilluminate all the modalities of 'economy' so as to (re)inte-grate, not divide, them" p. 25). Such an economy, he success-ful management of one's household and one's moral beingalike, "necessitatesa business talent no less vigilantthanJohn

6 Kurt Heinzelman, The Economicsofthe magination Amherst: Univ. of Massa-chusetts Press, 1980), pp. 71, 50.


5/21

340 NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATUREJacob Astor's or Adam Smith's" p. 23). EmergingfromHeinzelman's argumentis therecognitionthat"economy,"asdistinct rom ts technicalformulation s "economics,"de-notesnota specialized nstrumentalityutan integrated otal-ity, ncompassingthe regulation, atherthan the mutuallyexclusivedemarcation, fmaterial nd moral ife.Economyfiguresn tsmany spects hroughout askell'sfiction, oth within nd beyondthe imits f whatone of hercharacterscalls "the mere cash nexus.' "7 Itmaybe as major asthe nationaleconomicevents hat weep factorywners ndhandsalike n theirwake oras minor s thenumberless littlebackground conomies"practicednprivateife.8nNorthndSouth 1854-55) Mr. Hale is struckbyhow prevailing co-nomic circumstances'hape country nd city iving, espec-tively. ue to the shockof his family'sudden displacement-whenhe leaves the clergy hey re expelledfromHelstone'srural paradise to the infernal egionsofMilton-he is con-fronted irectly ith he material ircumstancesut ofwhichthedifferent oresof rural nd urbanculture re formed: Ihardlyknowas yethow to compare one of thesehouses withour Helstone cottages. see furniture ere whichour la-bourerswould neverhavethought fbuying,nd foodcom-monly sedwhich heywould consider uxuries;yetfor heseveryfamilies here seemsno other resource,nowthattheirweeklywages are stopped,but the pawn-shop.One had needto earna differentanguage, nd measureby differenttan-dard,up here nMilton"p. 1i59).Despite hiserstwhile aithnspiritual ertitudes, hen, his ormer lergyman egins o un-derstandhow cultural ifference,hedistinguishingorms fmaterial ife "a differentanguage,""a differenttandard"),maybe as fundamental o iving s a putative piritual ssencereconciling hesediverse ppearances ntoone unity an arti-cle of faith he had come to doubt even among Helstone'slaboringpoor). MargaretHale's observation hat each modeof ifeproduces tsown trials ndits wn temptations"p. 301)

7 ElizabethGaskell,North ndSouth, d. AngusEasson (NewYork:Oxford Univ.Press,1982), p.431.8 ElizabethGaskell,Wives ndDaughters,d. AngusEasson (New York:OxfordUniv.Press,1987),p. 134.


6/21

ECONOMIES OF LIVING IN CRANFORD 341thus ocates hecauseof particularmoral ffectsn a particular"mode of life."This is the senseemployedbyGaskell n herLifeof Charlotteronte1857), where, ike Cobbett n RuralRides, he describes thecontrasts f modesofliving, nd oftimes nd seasons,broughtbeforethe traveller n thegreatroads that raverse heWestRiding."9Economyaffects he greatest nd the littlest ffairsnGaskell'sfiction, ven to the extentof revising priorias-sumptions boutwhat s greatand what s little.As she re-flectsnherfinal and unfinished) ovel,Wives ndDaughters(i866), "fate s a cunninghussy, nd buildsup her plans asimperceptiblys a birdbuildshernest;and withmuch thesame kindof unconsidered rifles"p. 75). This figure,withits concomitant uggestions f naturaldeterminism nd do-mestichabit, xpressesGaskell's enseof the mperceptibleffinallymomentousncrementalityf ived ife.The personifi-cation of fate as "a cunninghussy" arriesnegativemodernassociationsof "crafty, rtful,guileful, sly" and "an ill-behaved,pert, r mischievous irl; jade, minx," espectively,but in its older sense-and Gaskell'sfictions shotthroughwithhomely rchaisms-"cunning"means"possessing racti-cal knowledgeor skill,"while "hussy" maymerelydenote"mistress f a household" or "a thrifty oman" (see OED,"cunning" nd "hussy").The various"unconsidered rifles"out of whichlives, ike households,are constructed irectthose iveseven as they re directedby them, hemanypettydispensations egulating he "background conomies" f ourlives ncrementallyorminghe dispositionshat haracterizeand determine hose ives.The passageinwhich hisphraseoccurs in Wives nd Daughters escribesthe reactionof theselfish nd flawedMrs.Kirkpatrickotheprospect fhavingher future tepdaughterome to ivewithher:"If Molly ameto be an inmate of her house, farewell o many ittleback-groundeconomies, nd a stillmore seriousfarewell o manylittle ndulgences" p. 134). The much-regrettedlittle ndul-gences"are behindthe"many ittle ackground conomies"to which the venal Mrs. Kirkpatrick as habituatedherself

9 ElizabethGaskell,TheLife ofCharlotteronte, d. Alan Shelston Harmonds-worth: Penguin, 1975), p. 126.


7/21

342 NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATUREand of which her vanitymakesher ashamed. Their largerinfluence, n the form f the moraleconomiestheynecessi-tate, eriously ffects hemanagement f theGibson house-hold when she marriesMolly'sfather.Henceforth he econ-omy of Molly's life,moral and material, hanges for theworse. Even more adverse are the changes overtakingHamley Hall, where Molly providescompanionship o theailingMrs. Hamley.As Squire Hamleyexclaimsduringhiswife's llness:"Molly,we are all wrong t home!" (p. 192), acircumstance,r rather setofcircumstances,hat omes toahead afterMrs.Hamley'sdeath:

Affairs eregoing n worse tthe Hall thanRogerhad liked otell. Moreover, erymuchof the discomforthere rosefrom"meremanner,"s peopleexpresst,whichs alwaysndescribableand indefinable. uiet and passive s Mrs Hamleyhad alwaysbeen nappearance,hewas theruling piritfthehouse s longas she lived. The directions o theservants, own to themostminute articulars,ame from er itting-room,r from he ofaon which he ay.Herchildrenlways newwhere ofind er; ndtofind er,wastofindove ndsympathy.erhusband,whowasoften estlessndangry rom necause oranother,lways ameto herto be smoothed own nd putright. (p. 257)In ordertoget at thecauses of "discomfort"tHamfordHallit snecessary o revisehonorific otions boutwhat simpor-tantin life. Perhaps "mere manner" is easily dismissedas"mere" because it seems so "indescribableand indefinable" nits ssence. But itseffectsre tangible nough. The "love andsympathy"that formerlyput thingsright at Hamford Hallwereeffected y ts ate mistress'smanagement f the house-hold "down to the most minuteparticulars"-an influenceinterdependently oral and material.Like Cobbett nd Ruskin, hen,Gaskell pplies the stan-dardof "economy"n tsolder, ndissociatedense.Through-outher fiction he rightness r thewrongness f a householdis usually reflected n the manifestmanagement of thathousehold-Alice Wilson's poor cellar dwelling n MaryBar-ton, for example, which is nevertheless "the perfection ofcleanliness,"or theLeigh home in "Lizzy Leigh," "exquisitelyclean and neat,even in outsideappearance; threshold,win-


8/21

ECONOMIES OF LIVING IN CRANFORD 343dow,and window-sill, ere outwardsignsof some spirit fpuritywithin."''The houses in thevillageof Keighley, e-scribednTheLifeofCharlotterontt, re "scrupulouslylean"and "reveal a roughabundance of the means of living, nddiligent nd active habits n the women" p. 54), ust as theBrontie ome "tells f themostdainty rder, he most xqui-site leanliness": Inside and outsideof thathouse cleanlinessgoes up into tsessence,purity" p. 56). That noteverythingmay be thusput right s discoveredbya youngmaidservantin"The Old Nurse's Story," ho,doing busywork ne wintereveningforherelderly mployer"MissFurnivallwantedmeto undo some work he had done wrong")," witnesses dis-turbing ncounter etweenMissFurnivallnd a ghostlyppa-rition from her unexorcised past. But the haunted oldwoman's lastwords "Alas! alas! what s done in youthcannever be undone in age!" [p. 56]) sorrowfullycknowledgeunfinishedmoral business n the homelytermsof needle-workneedingtobe takenapart,"undone,"before tcan beput right gain. To repeatCobbett's ersedefinition,ECON-OMY meansmanagement,nd nothingmore"-but this severything.

In Cranford,Gaskell's narrator MarySmith observes, "economy was always elegant'" (p. 3). "Ele-gant economy," phraseGaskellquotesfromherselfn herletters,12escribes verything rommanaginghousehold ex-penditures o regulating ne's life. f Cranford'sgentlefolkhave "some difficultyn making oth nds meet," hey ravelystrive o conceal their"unacknowledgedpoverty" ehind a"verymuch cknowledged entility"p. 3), though hey ssidu-

10 Elizabeth Gaskell, MaryBarton, d. Edgar Wright New York:Oxford Univ.Press, 1987), p. 15; and Elizabeth Gaskell, Lizzie Leigh," n Cousin hillis nd OtherTales, d. Angus Easson (NewYork: Oxford Univ.Press, 1981), p. 9.II ElizabethGaskell, The Old Nurse's Story,"nCousin hillis nd Other ales,p.53.

12 See the December 1851 letter o Eliza Fox (" 'Elegant economy' s wesayinCranford"), n TheLetters fMrs. Gaskell, d. J.A.V. Chapple and ArthurPollard(Manchester:ManchesterUniv.Press, 1966), p. 174.


9/21

344 NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATUREously avoid ostentation. heir "eleganteconomy" nvolvescareful egulation fmeansand ends,whichncludes urninga blind eyeto thearrangements ecessary omaintain ocialamenities.As an example,MarySmithpoints utthat itwasconsideredvulgar' a tremendousword nCranford) o giveanythingxpensive,nthewayof eatableordrinkable,ttheevening ntertainments. afer read-and-butterndsponge-biscuitswereall that heHonourableMrs.Jamieson ave;andshe wassister-in-lawothe ate Earl ofGlenmire, lthough hedid practise uch 'eleganteconomy'" (p. 3). A sparelyfur-nishedcard partyhostedby theJenkynses"thechina wasdelicateegg-shell; heold-fashionedilverglittered ithpol-ishing;butthe eatableswereof theslightest escription"p.7]) is a fictional eworking f the social round in Gaskell'snativeKnutsford, escribed n heressay"The Last Genera-tion nEngland," whereseveno'clockteas, rranged on themost elegant and economical principles"-old plate andscantyportions-are followedby "a supperlessturn-out tnine."13One mightobject thatsuch arrangementsndicatemisguidedpriorities duringtheirvisit to Mr. Holbrook'sfarm, ather hanresortingothecrudeexpedientofeatingwith knife,Mattynd MissPolereconcile hemselvesoforgo-ing "thedelicateyoungpeas"served hem or upper p. 33)-butwhenthoughtfullypplied they eflectneconomical im-plicity hat erves s a corrective oopulent xcess.To modifyMandeville's amousdictum:private conomies, ublic astes.In North nd South,her past lifedividedbetween a simplecountry arsonage nd a severelylegantLondontownhouse,MargaretHale isrepulsedbythevulgarostentation f a Mil-tonfactory wner'shospitality,or "one half ofthequantitywould have been enough,and the effectighter nd moreelegant" p. i6o); while n Wives ndDaughters,ivingwithher"primitivehome-keepingnotions" p. 652) amid the mposingluxury f a countrymanor,Molly ongsfor hesimple ife edbyhervillagefriends he MissBrownings "ifshecould onlyhave gone there, nd lived with hem n their uaint,quiet,primitiveway" [p. 644]). At their best Cranford'selegant

13 "The LastGeneration nEngland," nCranford,ppendix,p. 162.


10/21

ECONOMIES OF LIVING IN CRANFORD 345economies are aimed at conductingife"with uietness ndsimplicity" p. 27). As Miss Mattysays,"we have always livedgenteelly,ven fcircumstancesavecompelledus to simplic-ity" p. 59), but thealmostdisingenuous even f"has effec-tivelymodulatedto"because" throughhabit nd usage.Gaskell's nterest n the necessarily rugalways of herCranfordians s poignantand drollby turns.There is thestraitenedCaptain Brown and his two daughters,one ofthem dying nvalidforwhosecomfort othfathernd sistermake cheerful acrifices. hen there s thespectacleof theMissJenkynsesonstantly hifting ewspaperson theirnewcarpet to protect t from the sun's moving rays, nd evenstitching ogether aper pathsforguests.More unobtrusiveeconomies include conserving andles,buyingshares in asingle subscription o the St.JamesChronicleold issues ofwhichpresumably nd up on theJenkyns'arpet), nd con-suming the previous day's leftoverpudding "sliced andfried" p. 141). But this arefuldetailing f Cranford'swaysis more than a didacticrehearsalof householdeconomies nrural village ife.Howevermaterially ecessary heymaybe,such economiesreflect esstangiblenecessities irectingndshapingthe lifeof Cranford. I have oftennoticed,"MarySmithobserves n chapter5 ("Old Letters"), that lmost v-eryone hashisown ndividual mall conomies-careful hab-its of saving fractionsof pennies in some one peculiardirection-any disturbance f which nrnoysimmore thanspending hillings r pounds on some realextravagance" p.40). Thus an old gentlemanwho has stoically cceptedtheloss of his savings n a failedbank rritablyrudges he wasteof paper in his obsoletebank-book,while the narrator on-fesses hather foible sstring:

Smallpieces fbutterrievethers. hey annotttendoconver-sation, ecauseofthe annoyance ccasioned y thehabitwhichsomepeoplehaveof nvariablyakingmore utter han heywant.Haveyounot eenthe nxiousook almostmesmeric) hich uchpersons ix nthe rticle?heywouldfeel t relieff heymightburytoutoftheir ight, ypoppingt nto heirwnmouths,ndswallowingtdown; ndtheyrereallymadehappyf hepersononwhoseplate t iesunused, uddenlyreaks ff pieceof toast


11/21

346 NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE(which e does notwant tall)and eatsuphisbutter.hey hinkthat his s not waste. (p. 41)

At issue here is notwhether these economies have a genuinepurpose; strictlypeaking, they re real economies devised toprevent real waste. But that means have superseded ends isimplied in the quietly ronicobservation,"theythinkthat thisis not waste," for is the butternot still wasted if it is eatenwithoutrelish?Whatmay pass as a rationaleconomy sactuallya personal compulsion, "almostmesmeric,"whose bottom-linesatisfaction s "relief" rather thansavings.This is not todenythat these economies do in fact save paper or string r butter,butonlytoacknowledge thatwhat simportantnall of them sthe idea of economy and the psychic atisfaction heybringtothose who diligently, ot to say obsessively, racticethem. InNorthand South the wealthy Mr. Thornton indulges hismother's habitual frugalityn the midst of opulence, for "heneverthoughtof nterferingnany ofthesmall domesticregu-lations that Mrs. Thornton observed, in habitual remem-brance of her old economies" (p. 142). Real or nominal ntheirutility,uch economies serve certain emotional needs beyondany concrete necessitiesthey mightoriginallyhave been con-ceived to meet.Some economies practiced bythe characters n Cranfordare necessary by any standard-the sacrificesmade for theailing Miss Brown and the steps taken by Miss Matty afterlosing her savings, forexample-but necessaryor notthey llissue from common imperatives. Miss Matty, ventuallyover-taken by the direst of financial calamities, is an exemplarycase. Even before the loss of her small competence she ispreoccupied withsaving candles. During dark winterafter-noons she knits by the light of her fire and urges herhouseguest, Mary Smith, "to 'keep blind-man's holiday'"when the latter requests some light for her own work p. 41).This is no simple economy,for the desire to save candles iscomplicated by equally pressingsocial pressures:

Theywereusually roughtnwith ea;butweonly urnt neat atime.As we ived nconstantreparationor friendwhomightcome n,anyeveningbutwhonever id), trequired omecon-


12/21

ECONOMIES OF LIVING IN CRANFORD 347trivance okeep ourtwo andles fthesame ength,eady obelighted,ndto ookas ifwe burnt wo lways. he candles ook tinturns; nd,whenever emight etalkingbout rdoing,MissMatty'syeswerehabituallyixed ponthe andle, eady o umpup and extinguisht, nd tolight heother efore heyhad be-come oo unevenn engtho berestoredoequalitynthe ourseof theevening. (pp. 41-42)

The economic virtuesof thriftnd balance are operativehere-and practicedwith ome ngenuity-but ntheserviceofhabitrather hannecessity.Whilethey houldsimply ro-vide ight,Miss Matty's andles nfactdistract erfromworkand conversation like as means become ends, so that theancillarymperative fkeeping up appearances s finally omore nominal n itspracticalbenefits han thecandle econ-omy.Both considerations-the social and the economic-are complexly,ven inextricably,onnectedby circumstanceand satisfyneeds other than those of strictutility. heirconventional nterdependence s seen in otherconnectionsas well-waiting forpartyguestsat theJenkyns ouseholdpoised withcandle-lightersreadyto dart at thecandles assoon as the firstknock came" (p. 7), and the compoundreliefof savinga candle whiledisburdening neself of thepainfulstory ehinda brother's bsence ("We'll putout thecandle, mydear. We can talk ust as wellbyfire-light,ouknow" p. 51]).These "smalleconomies" are amonginnumerable ucharrangementsorminghe arger conomy fCranford. heneeds theyserve maybe real or nominal,but as arrange-ments hey reformallyquivalent nd stem rom undamen-tal human economic behaviorsreachingfarbeyondCran-ford's iny phere."Nothings sodelightfuls tositdown nacountry illage none ofMiss Austen'sdeliciousnovels," aysMaryRussell Mitford n the opening pages of Our Village(1824-32), a work imilarnmanyways oCranford,or uchsecluded localities eem to offer haven from dversity-"alittleworld of our own,close-packed nd insulated ike antsinan ant-hill,rbeesina hive, rsheep na fold, r nuns naconvent, r sailors n a ship;wherewe knowevery ne, areknownto every one, interested n every one, and authorized


13/21

348 NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATUREto hope that every one feels an interestin us."'14 But theauthority n which such hopes rest, s well as the circum-stances necessitating hem, originateelsewhere and every-where. They are the arrangements evised to cope with d-versities hatconstitute he rationaleof economy, nd theyaffect verything. hey might ffect n individual ike Mit-ford'sSally Mearing,who "had the misfortune o findrentrising nd prices sinking oth at the same moment-a terri-ble solecism n politicaleconomy" ust when she was moststraitened p. 130); or an entire class-small farmers, orinstance,whocomprise an orderofcultivators owpassingrapidly way,butinwhichmuchof the best part of the En-glishcharacter,ts ndustry,tsfrugality,ts sound sense,andits kindness might be found" (p. 164)-but theirconse-quences always nvolve local cost and affect conomies esseasilyquantified hanthosetreatingwagesand rent.Of theagricultural istresses ffectinghenation,Mitford ays,"Iam sorry or t.Independently f all questions fpolicy,s amere matter f taste nd ofold association,twasa fine hingto witness he heartyhospitalitynd to thinkof the socialhappiness of a great farm-house" (p. 25), but even "a merematter f taste nd of old association"s not ndependent f"questions of policy"-if, indeed, there s tobe any meaning-fulrelationbetween means and ends in economicmanage-ment,domesticor national.Economiesand the wastestheyprevent ouch many spheres,material nd moral alike, andinteractwith ach other nwaysnot reducible o narrow on-siderations futilityxcept ttherisk f ncurringther ostsnotso easilymeasured.Like all economies,Cranford'seconomyof livingbal-ances differentiationnd commonalty. he openingsketchof the Cranford adies, the "Amazons"who set Cranford'stone, tresses ifferencenordertoreinforce henovel's on-cern with management" nd "arrangement":

Although he adiesof Cranford now ll each other's roceed-ings, hey re exceedinglyndifferento each other's pinions.Indeed,as each has herown ndividuality,ottosay ccentricity,14 Mary RussellMitford, urVillage London: J.M. Dent and Sons, 195 ), p. 3.


14/21

ECONOMIES OF LIVING IN CRANFORD 349prettytronglyeveloped, othings soeasy s verbal etaliation;butsomehow ood-will eigns mong hem o a considerable e-gree. (p. 1)

Indeed, theinvisiblehand thatguidestheirrelations ees toit that when angrywords are exchanged there are "justenough" to keep life interesting p. 2). The ladies' happyindifference o each other's opinionsreflects complicatedsystemof ritualsand social mores,what in Gaskell'sverysimilar evocation of village life in Wives nd Daughtersstermed therules ofdomesticmorality"p. 638). Opinionisclearly ubordinate o functionn a societywhere thereare"rules and regulations"governingvisits, nd where such"calls" are strictly egulatedso as to get the most out ofCranford'srare and highlyvalued visitors.Visits akeplaceonly within prescribedhours, each visit imitedto fifteenminutes;visits re "received" nd "returned," lso withinprescribed ime; the conductof thesevisits s similarlyman-aged so as to limit onversation o small talk:"Wekeptour-selves to short entences f smalltalk, nd werepunctualtoour time" p. 3). The ban on "absorbing" ubjectsreflectsnot merely ormaldecorumbut,as soon becomes evident nthe novel,a genuinewish to keep coveted tems of gossipforoccasionswhenthey an be morefully ppreciated.People and news thuscarry highvalue in Cranford.Even something s innocuous as a game of Preference anpose problems fa trickyconomical ort-for example,thedilemmaof what to do with ixpersons, ive f whom MarySmith gladly excepts herself) want to be of the "pool" (thephlegmatic Mrs. Jamiesonfinds the solution bydefault whenshe nods off to sleep [p. 66]). Earlier in the novel, at theJenkyns's ard party, he first hree guests to arrive sit downto play Preference, thistime withMary Smithas the fourth;accordingly, the next four comers were put down immedi-ately to another table," while the carefully apportioned re-freshments, the tea-trays,which I had seen set out in thestore-room as I passed in the morning,were placed each onthe middle of a card-table" (p. 7). Captain Brown, mean-while, a scarce yet potentiallysuperfluous quantity in this


15/21

350 NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATUREfeminine society, immediately nd quietly assumed theman's place in the room;attended o every ne's wants, ess-ened the prettymaid-servant'sabourbywaiting n emptycups, and bread-and-butterlessadies" (p. 7). If gentlemenare scarce in Cranford,however,younghandsomemen ofthe lowerclasses-butchers, oiners, or gardeners-aboundand threaten to draw off the Cranford adies' supplyofyoung maidservants, uch as Miss Matty'syoung servantFanny,who protests oheranxiousmistress,Please,ma'am,I never had more than one at a time" p. 25). Even Mrs.Jamiesonmust come to termswithproblemsof supply nddemand whenLady GlenmirevisitsfromScotland:havingcut her villagefriends, he discoversthere are simplynotenough county amilies vailabletoentertain er aristocraticrelative, nd she is forced to alterherdetermination f ex-cludingtheCranford adies,and sendnotesofinvitation llround for a small party" p. 72).Minorthoughtheymight eem,thesundry malleventsofvillage ife re theprincipal n whichCranforddrawsforitsbarely ventful ubsistence. ertain malldetails oncern-ing Captain Brownand histwodaughters' esidencenCran-ford,for xample, provideresourceful ossipswithgrist, utit is a small storeneedingtobe carefullymanagedif t is tolast:

There wasnothing ew o bediscoveredespectingheir overty;for heyhad spoken implyndopenly bout hat rom heveryfirst.heymadenomysteryfthenecessityor heir eing co-nomical.All thatremained o be discoveredwas theCaptain'sinfiniteindness fheart,nd thevariousmodesnwhich,ncon-sciouslyohimself, e manifestedt.Some ittlenecdotesweretalked boutfor ome ime fterhey ccurred. (p. Io)

Thus the most minorof eventscarries premium n Cran-ford. n the absence of sensational r prurient iscoveries obe made about the Browns,the Cranford adies are com-pelled to retail "little anecdotes," such as one concerning theCaptain's aidinga poorwomanbycarrying erdinnerhomeon a slippery unday, n actionthought ery ccentric ytheladies but hardly matter fany greatmoment-nor would


16/21

ECONOMIES OF LIVING IN CRANFORD 351it be thought o in London or even Drumble.But from heperspective f economy political rcottage), alue srelative,proceeding fromthe scarcityr abundance of the article nquestion.Not surprisingly,visit rom n armymajorandhiswife, ecently rom ndia, alongwith heir xoticEastIndianservants, is a subject of conversation ven now with MissMatilda" (p. 28). In chapter 1 Mrs. Forrester rrives atMatty'swithnewsof Lady Glenmire's candalous relativelyspeaking, fcourse)alliancewith hevulgarMr.Hoggins ndsuffers fit f coughingbefore he candisclosehernews;herdistress, s Mary Smith observes, rises ess fromthe newsitself han from her fear of losing the benefit f using it,clearlyan unconscionablewaste: "I shall never forget heimploring xpression f her eyes, s she ooked at us overherpocket-handkerchief. hey said, as plain as words couldspeak, Don't let Nature depriveme of the treasurewhich smine, althoughfora time can make no use of it.'And wedid not" (p. i i6). The letters hatMarySmith receives nDrumble fromMiss Pole and Matty eflectimilar conomies,as Miss Pole's letters arefully ationtheirdisclosuresn re-turnfor other articles-"at the end of everysentence ofnews,came a freshdirection s to somecrochet ommissionwhich was to execute forher" (p. I 2)-while Matty's remoregenerous or profligate, ependingon one'sview)withtheirnews. Even the pranks played by Peter,Matty's ong-absentbrother, ad theirpart nthis conomy, houghMattyherselfdisputes this: "He used to say,the old ladies in thetownwanted something o talk bout; butI don't think heydid. They had the St. James'sChronicle hreetimes -week,just as we have now, nd we have plenty o say" p. 5n).Butthen, as she demonstrates ater in the novel, Matty an dowithvery ittlefshe must.

Narrative, oo, is a matterof economy.Accordingto Heinzelman,"in its largest sense, [economy]assertsour capacityforcreating ntellectual tructures ndfor imaginativelyregulatingthem" (p. ix). In the quiet back-


17/21

352 NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATUREwaterof Cranford n "absorbing ubject" s a valuablecom-modity hat, iketheorangestheJenkynsisters etire o theirseparate rooms to eat, are made themostof.Mary Smith,Gaskell's narrator, s sucha commodity erself, o thatdur-ing her visits from neighboringDrumble she is sharedamong the Cranford adies: afterher annual visit o theMissJenkynses,he is alwaysMiss Pole's guest"for supplemen-taryweek" (p. 23). In return he ladies of Cranford upplythe small store of incident nd anecdote so carefullyman-aged in hernarrative. he basisof thisnarrative smemory,collective nd individual, onserving xperienceso that themost can be made of the past. After he sudden death of amother n Mary arton, heattending octor onsoles familytoo stunnedby their oss to understand nything e has saidbut who"yetretainedhis wordstoponder on; wordsnotputtoimmediateuse inconveyingense,but to be laidby,nthestore-house of memory,for a more convenient season" (p.20). In Cranfordarrative rovides meansofmanaging hisstore,as in the double-entry iaries kept by Matty nd hersisterDeborah: "'My father nce made us,' she began, keepa diary n two columns;on one side we were toputdown inthe morning what we thoughtwould be the course andeventsof thecomingday, nd at nightwe were toputdownon the other side whatreallyhad happened. It wouldbe tosomepeople rather sad wayoftelling heir ives'" (p. 107).The point, hough, s that his sa "way," ad or not,of regu-latingexperience,of balancingexpectations gainstrealiza-tions nd reckoning ain or loss.Cranford ight e describedas a kind of hybridmoral/cottageconomy dispensing tsadvice by means of narratives hat constitute he economythat s Cranfordnd Cranford like. They may combinead-vice on washing old lace in milk with n anecdote about agreedycat or involve majorevent n the life of Cranfordlikethe failure f the Townand CountryBank-the circum-stancesprecipitatingt,thecontingenciesrising romt, ndthearrangements evisedto cope with t.Or theymay con-cernsomeold familyetters hroughwhichMatty nd MarySmithsift, aving some,destroying thers-letters contain-ing everything rompracticalhousehold hintsto expressions


18/21

ECONOMIES OF LIVING IN CRANFORD 353of deep love, from heelder MissJenkyns'sohnsonian pis-tles "Her hand was admirably alculated, ogetherwithheruse ofmany-syllabledords, ofill p a sheet, nd then amethepride and delightof crossing" p. 47]) to theReverendJenkyns'setters o his wife with their "short homelysen-tences,rightfreshfrom the heart" p. 43). In turn, theseelementsare themselvesmanaged by a narrative conomythatmakesthe most fa slender tore f ncident, ecountingevenas it demonstratestheuse thatwasmade of fragmentsand smallopportunitiesn Cranford"p. 15).Two such narratives-Matty'svisitto an old beau andthe savingsbankfailure-show how lossand gainare ratio-nalized into economies of living n Cranford.Mary Smithbroachesthestory fMatty's ngagement o Mr. Holbrook na manner that eaves no doubt that she has been carefullysaving t for ust suchan occasion- "And now come tothelove affair" (p. 28). Mattyhas not seen her old beau sinceyouth, nd her visit o Mr. Holbrook'sfarm nchapter4 setsthe waste of manyyears gainst he hard-won nd treasuredwindfall fa singledaythatprovides ome smallreturn orlifetime f regret.BothMatty nd Mr.Holbrookhave vari-ouslymade do with he portions ispensed hemby ife:whatlittle romantic ove she has experiencedMattyhas kept"shut... up close in her heart" (p. 36), and MarySmithobserves of Mr. Holbrook,who has led an isolated, olitarylife, hat"I nevermet with man, beforeor since,who hadspentso longa life na secludedand not mpressiveountry,with ver-increasingelightnthedaily nd yearlyhangeofseason and beauty" p. 32). Following hisvisit,whichthenarrative as allowedthespace of "a longJuneday" p. 30),both make the most of their remainingtimein differentways-Mr. Holbrook visitsParis ("I mayneverbe in such alikelyplace again, and it's like wasting n opportunity"p.37]), whileMatty ifts ban on beaux for her maidservantMartha ("as if she were providing for some distant contin-gency" p. 40])-but thesearrangementsmade forthepres-entclearly ompensatefor osses ncurred nthepast.Ifshehas recoupedsomesmallportion f past oss,how-ever,poor Mattymust soon face losses in the presentthat


19/21

354 NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATUREthreaten future security. he retrenchment he immediatelysets about following he failureof the Town and CountryBankis not only materiallynecessarybut something she knew toberightunder her altered circumstances" p. 128). Matty'splansinclude selling her furniture, odging with her maidservant,and settingup as an agent for the East India Tea Company,though the success of even these material economies owesmuch to other moral economies at work at the local level.Matty'sworries about takingbusinessawayfrom local shop-keeper, for example-scruples Mary Smith'shard-nosed fa-ther dismisses as nonsense-prove prudent after all: "And,perhaps, itwould not have done inDrumble, but inCranforditanswered verywell; fornotonlydid Mr.Johnson kindlyputat restall Miss Matty's cruples,and fear of injuringhis busi-ness, but I have reason to know,he repeatedly sentcustomersto her, aying thatthe teashe kept wereof a commonkind,butthatMiss Jenkynshad all thechoice sorts" p. 144). Thus thematerial economy of Cranford,based on the same businessprinciplesthatapply in Drumble and elsewhere, depends onmore intangiblebutequally necessaryeconomies. (And no lessdoes Drumble, forMarySmithwryly bservesofher father'swarybusiness dealings that "in spite of all his many precau-tions,he lostupwards of a thousand pounds by rogueryonlylast year" [p. 145].) Chief among them is the "elegant econ-omy" supporting the carefullymaintained society fthe Cran-ford ladies. When these old friendsgather to pledge theirsuperfluity" o Matty's support ("it is not only a duty but apleasure-a true pleasure, Mary!" [p. 137]), their spokes-woman Miss Pole acknowledges the careful habits that havemade this upport possible: "I imaginewe are none of us whatmay be called rich, though we all possess a genteel compe-tency, ufficient or tastesthat are elegant and refined,andwould not, if they could, be vulgarly ostentatious" (p. 136).Despite their sundry minor pettinesses and eccentricities,then, these ladies have fostered an economy of living thatsustains theirneeds while ensuringa "superfluity" gainstun-foreseen contingencies. SurelyCobbettcould not have imag-ined a bettermanagement of scarce resources.So Mattyhas her security nd theauthor has her resolu-


20/21

ECONOMIES OF LIVING IN CRANFORD 355tion.The title f the penultimate hapter,AHappy Return,"serves to focus the various aspectsof economyworking nCranford. iterally,t refers o Peter's ong-duehomecoming(thanks o MarySmith), utthis vent s only ne aspectof thehappyreturnsMissMattysrealizing orthe ife he has led.The novel'sfortuitousnding s a final asting p ofaccountsforMatty ndherfriends,ssuing rom he amecarefulman-agement f tsfictionaltore hathas characterized henarra-tive conomy hroughout.fMatty'sittle ea-shop as foundmodest marketfor more exotic teas, the "choice sorts"towhich rosperous radespeople nd farmer's ives reat hem-selves, so Gaskell allowsherself luxury n her denouementnormally orbiddenn thesimple, lainfareofCranford.hestory f howMatty's eterwent osea,related oMarySmithin chapter6, is a chronicle f mismanagement.fPeterwenttoofarwithhis pranks, he ReverendJenkyns asprofligatewithhis punishment "Peter said, Have you done enough,Sir?'" [p. 53]). A letter ent o Peterbyhismother numeratesthese mbalances nd attempts o redress hem "You are toogood.... he has been too severe... I have notbeen kindenough .... Come back, nd make ushappy,who oveyousomuch"[p. 56]), butitnever reacheshim, nd hismother t-tempts o see him offat Liverpool onlyto arrive here "toolate" p. 57). Though she neverrecoupsher oss,dying yearlater,her daughterMatty ives to see this ad waste partiallyredressed yPeter's happy eturn" rom he rient, hus end-ing the novel's onclusion noteof exoticism hatmight eemextravagantwere itnotforthe prudentnarrative andlingthathas made itpossible and plausible).DuringMatty's inan-cial crisis,Mary Smith secretly ends a letterto Peterandbrieflyalls ntoa romantic everie fter osting t: "It wouldgettossedabout on thesea, and stainedwith ea-wavesper-haps; and be carriedamong palm-trees,nd scentedwith lltropical ragrance;-the little ieceofpaper,butan hour agoso familiar nd commonplace,had set out on its race to thestrangewild ountries eyond heGanges!" p. 128).But morepressing ircumstances ringher backtoherself, or I couldnot afford o osemuchtime n this peculation,"nd she andGaskell address themselves o thebusiness t hand. Having


21/21

356 NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATUREcarefullyttended his usiness, owever, ranford nd Cran-ford likecanafford hetreat f Peter's eturn nd hisvaluablestoreof exotictales.Peter'sprovidential eturn othe simple ifeofCranfordconstitutes narrativeuxury f"choicesorts." ts inclusionfinally ervesto pointup the connectionbetweenthe localeconomy fCranford/Cranfordnd the argerfictionalcono-mies directingGaskell'snarrative.This narrative conomy,like the material nd moraleconomies t describes,mainlycompriseswhat n an 1838letterGaskell erms thecommonthings nd dailyeventsof life" Letters,. 33), while llowingfor a measure of superfluity,n occasional uxury mid theplainfare of rural ife.Cranford aynot constitute he "his-tory f English domestic ife" thatGaskell callsfor n "TheLast Generation n England" (p. i6i), but,as a character nher shortstory Cousin Phillis" aysof stillusefulpracticalhints contained in Virgil'sGeorgics,it is all livingtruth nthesedays" p. 334).UniversityfAlberta

economies of living in mrs. gaskell's cranford

Documents