Coming "out"
Posted by The Mysterious H.C. on June 27, 1998 at 10:55:41:
In response to Debutantes, written by LauraB on June 27, 1998 at 10:15:20
] interested in the whole notion of "coming out".
] Was it as formal as in Victorian times and at what age did young ladies "come out"?
I don't think that the word "débutante" was yet the regular term in Jane Austen's day. For rural gentry such as she herself was, coming "out" was usually basically decided by one's mother, and wasn't necessarily marked by any particular ceremony or formality (the closest thing to this in her writings is the December 22nd. Mansfield ball, which is the families of the surrounding neighborhood consider to mark Fanny Price's "coming out", though neither Fanny herself nor Sir Thomas Bertram really think of it that way). Among the true upper classes, the first London season would be fancier...
I have some info and links on the notion of "coming out" in Jane Austen at http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/mansfout.html
- Thank you for your answer (nfm) LauraB 15:00:53 6/30/98
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