A Henry Tilney Moment

There are many cases in my life that resemble moments out of Jane Austen novels [1], and today there was a reminder of one of Jane Austen’s less famous novels, where part of the plot involved the sartorial interests of someone who is not normally associated with being particularly concerned with excellence in clothing. That is surely the case for me, and I am generally amused when like Mr. Henry Tilney (one of Austen’s wittier and more obscure romantic heroes) I am able to surprise others by being somewhat informed on good fashion, because such moments do not happen very often and they are always enjoyable, especially given that there are very few occasions where I have ever been in costume in my life (and mercifully, few of those occasions have ever been recorded for posterity). For those who are not aware of Henry Tilney and his wit, here are some good quotes from him.

Here is this quote about the desirability of ignorance:

“Where people wish to attach, they should always be ignorant. To come with a well-informed mind is to come with an inability of administering to the vanity of others, which a sensible person would always wish to avoid. A woman especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing any thing, should conceal it as well as she can.” [2]

Here is a quote about writing in a journal every night:

“How are the civilities and compliments of every day to be related as they ought to be, unless noted down every evening in a journal? How are your various dresses to be remembered, and the particular state of your complexion, and curl of your hair to be described in all their diversities, without having constant recourse to a journal?” [3]

Here is a quote about the power of women, not particularly gallant:

“Man has the advantage of choice, woman only the power of refusal.” [4]

Or this comment about smirking:

“Now I must give you one smirk, then we can be rational again.” [5]

Here is Henry, more gallantly this time, about the difficulties between his father and mother:

Henry Tilney: Your imagination may be overactive but your instinct was true. Our mother did suffer grievously and at the hands of our father. Do you remember I spoke of a kind of vampirism?
Catherine Morland: Yes.
Henry Tilney: Perhaps it was stupid to express it so but we did watch him drain the life out of her with his coldness and his cruelty. He married her for her money you see. She thought it was for love. It was a long time until she knew his heart was cold. No vampires, no blood. But worse crimes, crimes of the heart.
Catherine Morland: It was stupid and wicked of me to think such things as I did … [5]

These particular quotes help demonstrate the character of Henry Tilney as someone who is a keen and somewhat critical observer of others, as someone with a certain philosophical turn of mind, a taste for deliberate and somewhat heavy irony, as well as someone who is ultimately humane and generous in his spirit towards others, and someone who does not like others who are cruel and mercenarial in their motives. I happen to admit that it is an immensely flattering thing for me to think of myself as being somewhat like Henry Tilney, a man of honorable behavior towards others, and a bit of sound knowledge about clothing, at least enough that he could sensibly advise his younger sister on clothes and be a sensitive person to her own tastes and social well-being. It’s not a bad thing to be well-versed in many areas, at least if it can provide a good opportunity for conversation as well as the chance to help others and show a quirkiness that reflects a side that others do not tend to see very often. That is a part of what makes life fun, after all.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/05/19/book-review-all-roads-lead-to-austen/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/book-review-the-prince-of-pleasure/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/05/18/gout-and-decrepitude/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/and-if-she-is-a-door-we-will-enclose-her-with-boards-of-cedar/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/a-product-of-my-age/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/as-she-lay-dying/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/ever-had-one-of-those-catherine-morland-days/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/comedy-is-a-choice/

[2] http://www.austenquotes.com/conceal-it-well/

[3] http://www.austenquotes.com/a-necessity/

[4] http://www.austenquotes.com/the_power_of_re/