payment page
Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove are the parents of Charles, Henrietta, Louisa, and the rest of the unnamed Musgrove children. Their primary function in the novel to serve as a means of comparison to the Elliot family. The Musgroves are a landed family, second in rank to only the Elliots, but the two households could not be more different. During her stay at Uppercross, Anne is stunned by Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove, who she describes as “friendly and hospitable, not much educated and not at all elegant.” However, Anne does not seem to care about the Musgroves’ lack of refinement; on the contrary, she relishes it. Over the course of the first few chapters, it becomes clear that Anne does not fit in with the rest of the Elliots. Sir Walter, Elizabeth, and Mary are all vain, judgmental people who are obsessed with status. Anne does not share these attributes, and she is pleased by the different topics that occupy the Musgroves' attention. Unconcerned with appearances and social standing, the Musgroves occupy themselves with hunting, newspapers, housekeeping, dress, dancing, and music, and Anne finds their presence a welcome change.
There is another key difference that sets Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove apart from Anne’s own father—they simply want their children to be happy. Sir Walter’s primary concern is himself, and he does not prioritize his own children. He, like Lady Russel, would have likely opposed Anne and Captain Wentworth’s marriage eight years prior due to Wentworth’s lack of fortune; Anne’s love for Captain Wentworth would not have factored into the decision at all. Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove, on the other hand, are more concerned with love matches than economic ones. Anne says as much to Charles Musgrove towards the end of the novel when she wistfully notes that “[s]uch excellent parents as Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove…do everything to confer happiness” on their children, and that they appear to be free from “all those ambitious feelings” which have cause misconduct and misery. It is clear here that she is thinking of her own father.
