Lady Susan

by

Jane Austen

Miss Manwaring Character Analysis

Miss Manwaring is Mr. Manwaring’s sister. She was previously engaged to Sir James Martin, but this engagement ended because Lady Susan seduced Sir James, hoping to secure him as a husband for her daughter, Frederica Vernon. Miss Manwaring continues to try to get Sir James back—at the end of the novella, she returns to London in search of Sir James, only to find that Lady Susan has already married him herself.

Miss Manwaring Quotes in Lady Susan

The Lady Susan quotes below are all either spoken by Miss Manwaring or refer to Miss Manwaring. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Gender, Power, and Manipulation Theme Icon
).
Letters 1–10 Quotes

But I was determined to be discreet, to bear in mind my being only four months a widow, and to be as quiet as possible,—and I have been so; my dear creature, I have admitted no one's attentions but Manwaring's, I have avoided all general flirtation whatever, I have distinguished no creature besides of all the numbers resorting hither, except Sir James Martin, on whom I bestowed a little notice in order to detach him from Miss Manwaring. But if the world could know my motive there, they would honour me. I have been called an unkind mother, but it was the sacred impulse of maternal affection, it was the advantage of my daughter that led me on; and if that daughter were not the greatest simpleton on earth, I might have been rewarded for my exertions as I ought.—Sir James did make proposals to me for Frederica—but Frederica, who was born to be the torment of my life, chose to set herself so violently against the match, that I thought it better to lay aside the scheme for the present.

Related Characters: Lady Susan (speaker), Frederica Vernon, Alicia Johnson, Sir James Martin, Mr. Manwaring, Miss Manwaring
Related Symbols: Letters
Page Number: 4
Explanation and Analysis:

I congratulate you and Mr Vernon on being about to receive into your family, the most accomplished coquette in England. As a very distinguished flirt, I have always been taught to consider her; but it has lately fallen in my way to hear some particulars of her conduct at Langford, which prove that she does not confine herself to that sort of honest flirtation which satisfies most people, but aspires to the more delicious gratification of making a whole family miserable. By her behaviour to Mr Manwaring, she gave jealousy and wretchedness to his wife, and by her attentions to a young man previously attached to Mr Manwaring's sister, deprived an amiable girl of her lover.

Related Characters: Reginald De Courcy (speaker), Lady Susan, Catherine Vernon, Sir James Martin, Mr. Manwaring, Mrs. Manwaring, Miss Manwaring
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 7
Explanation and Analysis:
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Miss Manwaring Quotes in Lady Susan

The Lady Susan quotes below are all either spoken by Miss Manwaring or refer to Miss Manwaring. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Gender, Power, and Manipulation Theme Icon
).
Letters 1–10 Quotes

But I was determined to be discreet, to bear in mind my being only four months a widow, and to be as quiet as possible,—and I have been so; my dear creature, I have admitted no one's attentions but Manwaring's, I have avoided all general flirtation whatever, I have distinguished no creature besides of all the numbers resorting hither, except Sir James Martin, on whom I bestowed a little notice in order to detach him from Miss Manwaring. But if the world could know my motive there, they would honour me. I have been called an unkind mother, but it was the sacred impulse of maternal affection, it was the advantage of my daughter that led me on; and if that daughter were not the greatest simpleton on earth, I might have been rewarded for my exertions as I ought.—Sir James did make proposals to me for Frederica—but Frederica, who was born to be the torment of my life, chose to set herself so violently against the match, that I thought it better to lay aside the scheme for the present.

Related Characters: Lady Susan (speaker), Frederica Vernon, Alicia Johnson, Sir James Martin, Mr. Manwaring, Miss Manwaring
Related Symbols: Letters
Page Number: 4
Explanation and Analysis:

I congratulate you and Mr Vernon on being about to receive into your family, the most accomplished coquette in England. As a very distinguished flirt, I have always been taught to consider her; but it has lately fallen in my way to hear some particulars of her conduct at Langford, which prove that she does not confine herself to that sort of honest flirtation which satisfies most people, but aspires to the more delicious gratification of making a whole family miserable. By her behaviour to Mr Manwaring, she gave jealousy and wretchedness to his wife, and by her attentions to a young man previously attached to Mr Manwaring's sister, deprived an amiable girl of her lover.

Related Characters: Reginald De Courcy (speaker), Lady Susan, Catherine Vernon, Sir James Martin, Mr. Manwaring, Mrs. Manwaring, Miss Manwaring
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 7
Explanation and Analysis: