Mr. Darcy’s Ten Thousand a Year
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Mr. Darcy’s Ten Thousand a Year
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Re: Mr. Darcy’s Ten Thousand a Year
#2One thing I don’t see pondered upon as much as Mr Darcy’s wealth is what did their expenses look like (other than Lydia’s dresses). How much was the upkeep of Pemberley? How much did the housekeeper earn? Bingley is generous and a spender. Every re-read (and there have been many) I wish I had more detail on their budgets.
Re: Mr. Darcy’s Ten Thousand a Year
#3Consols schmonsols! The modern prospector such as Mrs. Bennet would want to know how much is that in today's money. Using the Bank of England's trusty inflation calculator and plugging in 1813 (the year Pride and Prejudice was published), Darcy's worth £681K a year and his friend half that. In the Valley or London, what's that, a director level at a FAANG, and a tech lead? Using the annual yield to derive asset, the author in another paper put Darcy's net worth at £16.8m - £28m. Pathetic! Not even a one-percenter. I would not walk three dirt miles and muddy the hem of my dress and suffer a terrible cold for half that.
I have a stupid fascination for historical finance tidbits like this. I once wrote a price comparison paper for Les Misérables, Thénardier accused Valjean: "You eat forty-franc bunches of asparagus in January!” I have lost all my sources (it was likely wildly inaccurate and didn't take into account GDP, cost of living, relative wealth) but my paper says one franc in 1830 was about £2.2 (correct me please) - so a bunch of winter asparagus was £88? Sounds excessive. Cosette was purchased for a mere £3300, and her inheritance from Valjean was £1.32m.
Re: Mr. Darcy’s Ten Thousand a Year
#4In the same respect as this post, the Golden Age made some insanely wealthy people. If you have ever visited the mansions in Newport, RI, the Breakers is something to marvel at.
But what fascinated me more was how Cornelius “the Commodore” Vanderbilt actually built his wealth. If you visit the mansions, they only talk about the social life and everything about the mansions.
But Commodore amassed some like 200 million in that day and age. There was very little regulation, and he fits the mold of someone who with very little education, excelled at business.
Re: Mr. Darcy’s Ten Thousand a Year
#5“My dearest sister, now be serious. I want to talk very seriously. Let me know every thing that I am to know, without delay. Will you tell me how long you have loved him?"
"It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley.”
Elizabeth already knew Mr. Darcy's income and despised him. It was upon learning of his wealth that her love bloomed. A practical woman, Miss Bennet.
Re: Mr. Darcy’s Ten Thousand a Year
#6In the same respect as this post, the Golden Age made some insanely wealthy people. If you have ever visited the mansions in Newport, RI, the Breakers is something to marvel at. But what fascinated me more was how Cornelius “the Commodore” Vanderbilt actually built his wealth. If you visit the mansions, they only talk about the social life and everything about the mansions. But Commodore amassed some like 200 million…
At The Breakers, all the bathrooms had hot and cold running fresh and salt water. I believe many of the fancy mansions in that area had.
I remember visiting on a field trip from nerd sleepaway camp in Massachusetts.
As an adult, I could see myself splurging to get running salt water in my seaside mansion. I've always loved salt water.
Re: Mr. Darcy’s Ten Thousand a Year
#7“My dearest sister, now be serious. I want to talk very seriously. Let me know every thing that I am to know, without delay. Will you tell me how long you have loved him?" "It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley.” Elizabeth already knew Mr. Darcy's income and despised him. It was upon learning of his we…
For someone like Me Darcy income came entirely from wealth. He wasn't working, and someone in his position wouldn't be. So Elizabeth already knew he was extremely wealthy before seeing Pemberley.
Re: Mr. Darcy’s Ten Thousand a Year
#8In the same respect as this post, the Golden Age made some insanely wealthy people. If you have ever visited the mansions in Newport, RI, the Breakers is something to marvel at. But what fascinated me more was how Cornelius “the Commodore” Vanderbilt actually built his wealth. If you visit the mansions, they only talk about the social life and everything about the mansions. But Commodore amassed some like 200 million…
At The Breakers, all the bathrooms had hot and cold running fresh and salt water. I believe many of the fancy mansions in that area had. I remember visiting on a field trip from nerd sleepaway camp in Massachusetts. As an adult, I could see myself splurging to get running salt water in my seaside mansion. I've always loved salt water.
Plumbing in general during that age was amazing. I cannot even imagine what it would cost like to build one of those mansions today.
Re: Mr. Darcy’s Ten Thousand a Year
#9One thing I don’t see pondered upon as much as Mr Darcy’s wealth is what did their expenses look like (other than Lydia’s dresses). How much was the upkeep of Pemberley? How much did the housekeeper earn? Bingley is generous and a spender. Every re-read (and there have been many) I wish I had more detail on their budgets.
I looked into buying a small estate in the midlands about 6 years ago and the price was around £1.5mm and upkeep was something like 500k/yr.
I passed.
Re: Mr. Darcy’s Ten Thousand a Year
#10Consols schmonsols! The modern prospector such as Mrs. Bennet would want to know how much is that in today's money. Using the Bank of England's trusty inflation calculator and plugging in 1813 (the year Pride and Prejudice was published), Darcy's worth £681K a year and his friend half that. In the Valley or London, what's that, a director level at a FAANG, and a tech lead? Using the annual yield to derive asset, the…
I have a stupid fascination with historical finance in literature myself. I focused on Early Modern Elizabethan literature. Wrote a thesis arguing that Spenser's Mammon in Book II of the Faerie Queene was not so much about the familiar allegory of illicit wealth but rather a vitriolic topical attack on the emerging proto-capitalist financial industry in Elizabethan England and the challenge it presented to the traditional landed aristocracy. The earliest bankers were the goldsmiths and that, if you read closely, is how Spenser depicts Mammon.
A lot of fun and led me down some interesting rabbit holes on Elizabethan monetary policy, the impact of Henry VIII's Great Debasement, and the role of the Royal Mint as central bank. Left with with a deep appreciation for the stabilizing influence of the Federal Reserve.
Anyway, for anyone interested (haha), here's the canto in question:
http://spenserians.cath.vt.edu/TextRecord.php?action=GET&tex...