No this is not an analysis of the of the Bloomberg report on the S&P 500, but rather a reflection on Bloomsbury nature aesthetics. Having admittedly failed to complete Howards End, I found it difficult to connect the concept of nature aesthetics to our readings. However, I found strong evidence of this in George Eliot’s Mill on the Floss. The language used to personify the mill is grandiose and faltering of nature. Everything natural, English, and green is described in full colour, while the iron wheels of the economy are tainted and black. I also believe that Eliot attaches these ideas of nature aesthetics to feelings of nationalism. Produce cultivated in England, namely corn, is depicted in a  righteous  and honourable light, while commodities from over seas, such as the Dutch sheets described early on in the novel are seen as unnecessary – as those from England are plenty good enough.

I am left wondering then if George Eliot uses Bloomsbury nature aesthetics and images of nationalism as advocation for domestic production? Furthermore, is she foreshadowing a market where off-shore production becomes the common practice?

A connection I have made between Roxanna and Emma, is that the time period in which both novels were written coincide with distinct periods of war. To this day war seems to have a profound effect on the economy, and more specifically the ability to save a nation from economic doom, or send it into depression. The beginning of World War II marked a dramatic change in the American work force. Women were entering into predominantly male positions as a many American males were drafted and sent off to war. Comparing times in which unemployment rates in America peaked to the start and end of the WWII, a very clear negative correlation can be seen. Times of war are marked with a decrease in the unemployment rates, while peace times seem to spark a sharp spike. More recently the DotCom crash of 2000 – 2002, and the beginning of the war in Afghanistan in 2001 are also closely matched, with war being the solution to an economic down turn.

Connecting this pattern to Roxanna and Emma, and the various historical events that took place during the period in which they were written, the discourse surrounding the economy is not entirely immune from the perils of war. Miles very deliberately drew attention to this by highlighting the time period in which Jane Austen both began and completed the novel Emma. Times of war seem to question the stability of currency and shake the trust people have in the economy, and standards of currency as well.

I am curious if anyone else has anything to offer on the idea of war, money, and the world economy?