The City of Bath Marissa Burdett

The City of Bath

• What and where is Bath?

• What is the history of Bath?

• What do people do in Bath?

• Jane Austen’s connection to Bath

• In her novels and in her life

• Bath’s meaning for people

• What makes Bath so popular, even today?

What and where is Bath?

• Bath is a large and prosperous city located in Somerset, in England.

• Famous for its natural hot springs/ Roman baths

• Thought to have healing powers

• Became a spa resort

The History of Bath

• Roman control of Britain between 43 and 410 A.D.

• Thought natural springs were an act of the gods

• Minerva/Sulis

• Built a great temple and bath-house

• Once Romans left, the baths were buried and lost

The History of Bath

• 1738- Hospital built in Bath

• Known as Royal Mineral Water Hospital

• continued belief that water could heal

• 1800- Year before Jane Austen moved there

• All the baths had been excavated

• Became a popular spa resort

Bath’s attractions- Why go there? VIDEO: http://www.bath360.co.uk/

• Roman baths, of course

• Vacation from home- weeks or months at a time

• Sought cures for illnesses

• Entertainment

• Balls, gatherings, theater, music, shopping

• A place to see and to be seen

• Pump-room

Jane Austen and Bath

• Setting for two novels: Northanger Abbey and Persuasion

• Able to comment on hypocritical, vane, snobbish society through the various scenes and settings in Bath

• Mentions Bath in all of her novels in some fashion

• Mostly as a place where the more “scandalous”characters go and seek trouble

• Assume her belief that people behave much more carelessly in Bath than in the countryside

Jane Austen and Bath

• Jane’s real life

• Forced to move to Bath by her parents in 1800 (age 25)

• Jane’s parents met and fell in love in bath- place for husband-hunting

• Bath was “vapour, shadow, smoke, and confusion”“Another stupid party last night; perhaps if larger they might be less intolerable”“I cannot anyhow continue to find people agreeable” (Tomalin 173).

• Depressed; couldn’t write

Why is Bath so popular, even today?

• It looks relatively the same as it did in the 1800s

• Georgian architecture, Roman baths, preserved buildings

• Janeites gather there

• Jane Austen Centre and Jane Austen Festival

• Great shopping, culture, arts, and entertainment

Works Cited

• PICTURES:http://www.sjsu.edu/studyabroad/img/Bath41.jpghttp://www.bugbog.com/images/galleries/england_pictures/bath-bridge-2.jpghttp://www.backpack-uk.com/images/BathMap.jpghttp://www.traveleden.com/images/upload/266_Roman-Baths-Bath.jpghttp://images.travelpod.com/users/cullism/england_first_t.1057038060.15_roman_baths_in_bath.jpghttp://carlaspathways.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/regencydance.jpghttp://cache.virtualtourist.com/2906188-Jane_Austen_Museum-Bath.jpghttp://photos.igougo.com/images/p361796-Bath-Jane_Austen_Center.jpghttp://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/bathcard.png

• Tomalin, Claire. Jane Austen; A Life. New York: Vintage Books, 1999. 172-173.

• Bath 360. 6 Sept 2009.<http://www.bath.co.uk>.

• Colloff-Bennett, Tamara. “Jane Austen in the City of Bath, England.” The Quillcards Blog. 1 Feb 2009. 6 Sept 2009. <http://quillcards.com/blog/index.php/articles/jane-austen-in-the-city-of-bath-england/>.