Portrait of Captain Benwick
Paintings
Captain Benwick had a small miniature painting of himself done by a German artist. He meant to give it to his fiancé at the time, Fanny, but she passed away. After he is engaged to Louisa, he asks his friend, Fanny’s brother, Captain Harville, to have the painting reset for Louisa instead. Captian Harville is hurt to see his friend moving on so quickly after his sister’s death, and the task of resetting the painting prompts a pivotal conversation with Anne Eliot about the nature of faithfulness in men and women. When Captain Wentworth overhears Anne’s words about feminine faithfulness, he is persuaded that after all the years, she never fell out of love for him. While she talks to Capitan Harville, he writes a letter to Anne, declaring his love.
unknown German painter
Persuasion, Jane Austen
Brianna Sumption
Novel
Captain Harville's Wood Furnishings
Decorations
Captain Harville’s home is furnished with several varieties of exotic wood, excellently worked up, that he brought back from his travels around the world in the navy. His modest home has all the necessities, but he brings it to life with tokens from his adventures. His emphasis on the unique and exotic objects he brings back from his travels puts him and the others in the navy in contrast with the Elliot’s and the other nobles who are more concerned with expensive and inherited furniture and decor.
Unknown
Persuasion, Jane Austen
Novel
Sir Walter’s looking glasses
Tools
When the Crofts moved into Kellynch Hall, they change very little about the estate, but they admit to Anne that Admiral Croft did remove several large looking classes from his dressing room. The mirrors are symbolic of the Elliot’s (especially Sir Walter’s) vanity and pride in their appearances. The act of removing the mirrors illustrates the practicality of the Crofts. Admiral Croft ops for just a small useful shaving mirror.
Unknown
Persuasion, Jane Austen
Brianna Sumption
Novel
Musgroves's Grand Piano
Instrument
The Musgroves own a grand-piano, but their grown daughters are only passable players. The piano is scattered amongst Henrietta and Louisa’s other accomplishments, but they are much more oriented toward laughing and socializing than practicing music or their other talents. It is Anne who plays the Musgroves’s piano, and when contrasted with her supposed rivals for Captain Wentworth’s affections, Anne is the more accomplished and sophisticated, in music and mind.
Unknown
Persuasion, Jane Austen
Brianna Sumption
Novel
John Thorpe’s Gig
Land Based Vehicles
When Catherine first meets John Thorpe, he is recklessly driving his new gig through Bath. He is very proud of his new open vehicle, boasting about its worth and demanding admiration for it. The pressure he puts on Catherine to take a ride in it when she had already committed to walking with Mr. Tileny sets up the conflict between Catherine’s two suitors. When Catherine learns from Mr. Allen that is was inappropriate to ride in an open carriage with a man, she realizes Mr. Thorpe does not have her best interests in mind.
Unknown
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
Brianna Sumption
Novel
Mrs. Tilney’s Portrait
Paintings
Eleanor Tilney has a portrait of her late mother in her bedroom. Catherine believes the portrait’s subject is lovely and pensive, but she also finds the portrait mysterious because she believes that General Tilney should have it in his room. His dislike for the portrait of his wife becomes evidence for Catherine’s belief that he may have killed his wife, demonstrating the unreliability of Catherine’s evidence.
unknown
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
Brianna Sumption
Novel
High Black Cabinet
Furniture
Catherine discovers a high black cabinet of black and gold Japan wood in her bedroom, and it reminds her of a gothic mystery Henry told to tease her. Before bed, Catherine opens the chest and pulls out a manuscript that she cannot read in the dark. She spends the night believing she has found a secret document only to discover in the daylight that it is a laundry list. This is her second mistaken assumption about Northanger Abbey, but it is still not enough to stop her from imagining herself in a gothic novel.
Unknown
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
Brianna Sumption
Novel
High Cedar Chest
Furniture
On her first evening at Northanger Abbey, Catherine discovers the large heavy cedar chest tucked away in her room. The chest has a tarnished silver lock and broken silver handles. Catherine struggles to open the chest, believing it to hold a dark secret, only to find it full of white cotton bed sheets. This mistaken assumption is the first of many she makes about Northanger Abbey’s mysteries, and though she vows to learn from her mistake and tame her imagination, she does not follow through.
unknown
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
Brianna Sumption
Novel
Jane Fairfax’s Piano
Instruments
Jane Fairfax’s piano is an anonymous gift, leading all her acquaintance to speculate on the giver. Frank encourages Emma to believe that Mr. Dixon gave it to Jane, evidence of an improper attachment, but Frank was her actual benefactor. The piano demonstrates the pains that Frank goes through to keep his and Jane’s engagement a secret, even to the point of hurting her feelings and reputation. The gift also revels Frank’s impulsivity and lack of foresight, because Jane does not have the resources to maintain it. Throughout the novel, Jane’s accomplishment on the piano is compared to Emma’s, which wounds Emma’s pride.
Unknown
Emma, Jane Austen
Brianna Sumption
Novel
Gruel
Food
Mr. Woodhouse eats a bowl of gruel at every opportunity and recommends it to every guest in his home. The gruel shows that he cares much more about his health than his pleasure, and he is certain that the gruel is necessary for good health. His insistence that his guests have some gruel rather than the rich food his hospitality binds him to serve shows how caring he is. His daughter Isabella’s willingness to eat the gruel shows that she is much more similar to her father than Emma.
Unknown
Emma, Jane Austen
Brianna Sumption
Novel