Irony And The Idle: Form And The Importance Of Work In Collier And Austen

Whilst Jane Austen's distinctive ironic narratives have immortalised her within the literary canon, Mary Collier remains a comparatively obscure figure. This essay however emphasises Collier's own use of irony as a means of binding the two writers together, despite their almost century long gap, posthumous statuses and radically different forms. By looking closely at Collier's The Women's Labour (1739) and Austen's Sanditon (1817), it aims to showcase how, despite different forms, both writers use irony as a means of criticising the idle and in doing so, emphasise the importance of work. After defining the Georgic and its relation to Collier's narrative, I will explore how she uses epic form to ironically respond to Stephen Duck and establish her own sex as the more industrious, before refuting the idea that Collier laments the crippling amount of work working class women endure. I will instead argue that she feels a kind of reverse pride in listing her hardships, a positive account of work that, not only relates well to her epic form, but is comparable with Austen's bitingly ironic portrayal of a family of hypochondriacs. After taking note of the insight Austen gives of the working world at the start of her narrative, I will offer the conclusion that these texts, despite appearing to have little in common, are bound by their common values and shared irony in a way that transcends form.

Primarily, when discussing Collier, it is important to explain the concept of the Georgic and how this relates to her poetry. Griffin identifies the Georgic as a "poem that is discursive, didactic and concerned with . agriculture" (866), traits that, although are present in Collier, do not explore her use of form. Like Stephen Duck (the poet to whom she is responding) Collier combines the Georgic with an epic form that "provides an image of conflict, war and heroism" (Murdoch, 181). I maintain that this is particularly true with Collier as, in terms of "conflict", Thompson notes how "Collier . uses the structure of the couplet to . emphasize her complaint[s]" (515), a notion that can be related to her condemning the idle. "Now Night comes on, from whence you have Relief,/ But that, alas! Does but increase our Grief" (261) sees Collier contrast the continuous toil woman undergo with the respite men enjoy at the end of their day. Significantly, not only does the form of heroic couplets place emphasis on the final words of each line, but this emphasis is reinforced by the antithesis between the two words. Whilst women suffer "Grief", men are granted "Relief", two emotions in complete opposition which in turn, allow Collier to portray masculine efforts in a condescending manner, not just to belittle them, but to highlight the superior working ethos of her own sex. Thompson, although correct in identifying that the "force of . accusation [in the poem] is underlined by the rhyme" (516), fails in identifying the irony that saturates the poem at the expense of Duck and his dismissal of "prattling females" (143). By referring to him as "great Duck (258)" and referencing his poem, Collier ironically challenges his conceptions. For example, whilst Duck mentions how even in sleep men "perform our Labours o'er again" (145), Collier surpasses him by noting how "we have hardly ever Time to dream" (260). In short, the confrontational epic form enables Collier's ironic chastisement of comparatively idle men.

One should be careful however in interpreting The Women's Labour as Collier's despair at her sex's ordeal. Rather, whenever she may seem to complain at what women endure, I propose that the nature of this complaint comes, not from a desire for less work, but out of outrage at Duck's condemnation of women. In explanation, although she may seem to abhor the blood that "runs trickling down/ Our Wrists and Fingers" (261), I offer that, in hyperbolising the toil of the working woman, she feels a sense of reverse pride and quasi-martyrdom that her women outwork Duck's men. Whilst Duck mentions "sweat" (141) as the bodily sacrifice of the working man's day, she outdoes him and sheds "blood". As well as reaffirming the sense of ironic condescension she feels towards Duck and the inferior efforts of men, one shares her excitement in proving how much harder women work. Notice the enjambment in the aforementioned quote and how this serves to place emphasis on the word "Our". Interestingly, Collier decides not to use the singular personal pronoun 'my', but instead pluralises her sentence. Hence, I interpret the blood that "trickles" down as a makeshift badge of honour constructed by Collier who takes pride in her sex's excessive labour. Once again, form lends itself well as, the epic's aforementioned connotations of "heroism" concurs with her account of her gender's hardship. Thompson's assessment that "Collier makes the form of . men work for her" (517) therefore seems particularly relevant as; ironically she uses said form to chastise the comparatively idle sex who constructed it.

Despite the difference in form, Austen's Sanditon too uses irony to explore idleness. Besides the obvious difference between poetry and prose, Austen uses a distinctive omniscient narrator within a third-person narrative to focalise the story through several characters via free indirect discourse i.e. "a third-person narrative [that] exploit[s] a first-person point of view, often with a subtle effect of irony" (Baldick, 136). This form can therefore be considered more conducive to irony than the epic and indeed, Austen's portrayal of the hypochondriacs and their aversion to manual work is some of the cleverest and most scathing irony of her career. Notably, when comparing Sanditon to Emma, Halperin argues that "the attack on hypochondriacs is less gentle and less subtle" (185) and, indeed how can we not laugh at these hypochondriacs who "fainted away twice this morning on poor Arthur's trying to suppress a cough"? (314). I postulate that any illness felt by the characters is a result of their constructing a lifestyle that satisfies their idle dispositions and enables them to abstain from real work. Regardless of form therefore, Austen too uses irony as a tool to criticise the lazy (an argument I will build on through further analysis of the material).

I read Sanditon as a debate between the Georgic and the Pastoral, two bucolic forms that, as Crawford identifies, differ because the former "emphasizes work instead of ease" (124). As explained, Austen's use of irony is similar to Collier's in that it criticises the idle however, there are further similarities in their perception of work i.e. it is a noble practice. Interestingly, Austen has Mr Parker comment how "it is unfortunate . that, at [Arthur's] time of Life he should fancy . himself too sickly for any Profession" (316) as it solidifies my argument that Austen abhors a life spent moping over imaginary illness. This contrast between the Georgic and the Pastoral is structurally significant as it comes to a head at the beginning of the novel when the Pastoral Mr Parker, who thinks of little but the healing properties of his town, is forced into the world of the Georgic when he suffers an accident near a "Hayfield" (295). Parker's backstory is effectively contrasted with the Haywood's: "had their family been of reasonable Limits to have allowed them ... symptoms of the Gout" (303). Significantly, this implies that for Austen, illness is a luxury "allowed" only to those who have means. When Lady Denham complains that a doctor would serve only to encourage "the Poor to fancy themselves ill" (319) one appreciates how for Austen, illness is a state of mind as opposed to genuine physical malfunction (a poignant thought in relation to her own terminal illness). Here, like Collier, Austen's allegiances lie with the industrious Heywood's as opposed to the pastoral Parker's and their obsession with respite. Further, when Austen's pro-work stance is considered in relation to her ironic mocking of the hypochondriacs, the argument that her main objection is their aversion to work, is strengthened.

That both writers use irony to challenge the idle and reinforce the importance of work cannot be doubted. What is interesting in these texts however, is the different forms that facilitate this irony. Through Collier's first person narrative one gets, not only an insight into the hardships of working class women, but an insight into Collier's pride at belonging to a gender able to outwork comparatively lazy men. Although Austen's form is traditionally thought of as more advantageous to irony (and is used effectively to mock the hypochondriacs), Collier is also successful in using irony to counter Duck's slanders. With regard to work meanwhile, in listing women's various labours, one feels Collier's excitement at the productivity of her "industrious bees" (262) and reconciles this with Austen's disdain for her lazy hypochondriacs. Therefore, despite their differences, shared irony and values transcend these two texts: the timescale that separates them, canonical status and above all, the form in which they are written.