The reading plan for Emma may be found in a dropdown tab under the “Course Schedule” tab. This is a big undertaking but I hope that we’ll be able to begin some fruitful discussion of Jane Austen, the novel, and its characters on this page.
Writing About Literature
Edit Site Title and Tagline from Dashboard > Appearance > Customize > Site Identity
Reading Chapter 1, the first thing that sticks out to me about Jane Austen’s writing style is that it is laden with irony. Take the following excerpt, for example–Emma is saddened that her governess, Miss Taylor, is leaving the family after sixteen years to be married:
“Sorrow came–a gentle sorrow–but not at all in the shape of any disagreeable consciousness.–Miss Taylor married” (4).
The ironic sadness the Emma and her father, Mr. Woodhouse, feel at the marriage of Miss Taylor (now Mrs. Weston) continues in Chapter 2. Another layer of irony: Mr. Perry, the apothecary, advises Mr. Woodhouse to abstain from eating wedding cake because it might disagree with his weak stomach. Wedding cake, says Mr. Perry, should be eaten in moderation. But the chapter closes with this:
“There was a strange rumour in Highbury of all the little Perrys being seen with a slice of Mrs. Weston’s wedding-cake in their hands: but Mr. Woodhouse would never believe it” (16).
I was aware that in Chapter Two when Mr. Perry advises Mr. Woodhouse to refrain from eating wedding cake, however later there was a “strange rumor” Mr. Woodhouse “would never believe” that all the little Perrys were seen with a slice of wedding cake is a form of irony. However, I did not understand why Mr. Perry contradicts himself in this way. I also could not understand why Mr. Woodhouse was so naive and did not believe this to be true. It makes me wonder if he chooses to see the good in people as he does with Emma and not noticing her flaws. It may be a reach, but just curious as to what you (Professor Nolan and classmates) think.
I find it interesting that opening Chapter One, the narrator describes Emma as “handsome, clever, and rich with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence,” however Mr. Knightley finds fault within her character. (Why is a female being referred to as “handsome?”) She is attractive, intelligent, wealthy and one could say spoiled for a lack of a better word. This description would lead one to think she is close to perfect, if not it. It is clear that her “most affectionate and indulgent” father does not see any of her flaws and I would assume that others do not as well, however Mr. Knightley does. Emma is well aware of this. Her father and Mr. Knightley view Emma very differently. I wonder why this is. I am intrigued as to why Mr. Knightley is able to see her faults, unlike others, including her own father. In addition, Mr. Knightley is honest or blunt one could say, and he is not afraid to speak on them either.
The friendship that exists between Emma and Harriet is not one where they are equal to each other. It’s clear that Emma holds the power whether it’s her wealth, her age or status. Harriet holds a deep admiration for Emma, and she takes advantage of this. Emma views Harriet as a person who needs guidance in the society of Hartfield, even though she was doing perfectly fine on her own. Interestingly, in chapter IV it says “Harriet would be loved as one to whom she could be useful. For Mrs. Weston there was nothing to be done; for Harriet every thing” (21). Emma has found the perfect “victim” to manipulate and easily control, even if she has the best intentions at heart. Emma believes if Harriet associates to the Woodhouse name, she may have a better life and enjoy the more finer things. Mr. Knightly takes note of Harriet’s blind admiration in a conversation with Mrs. Weston in chapter V. “She knows nothing of herself, and looks upon Emma as knowing everything … How can Emma imagine she has any thing to learn herself, while Harriet is presenting such a delightful inferiority?”(31) He acknowledges that this “inferiority” may bring problems in the near future for both parties. Emma may convince Harriet to do something and later regret it. Finally, I find it strange that so many adults are invested in Emma’s friendships. Don’t they have other things to worry about? Emma is an adult.
Emma has a very fixated mindset about what she wants and how she wants it. After her prediction of Mr. Weston agreeing to remarry was successful, she immediately gave herself a capability to make the correct decisions for other. This drives her to Harriet Smith, who she wants to mentor and match-make with Mr. Elton. Emma is so set on this match that she refuses to accept any other way. For example, when Emma finds out Harriet is connected to the Martin family and might be interested in Robert Martin, she quickly tries manipulate Harriet into thinking Robert Martin could never be a possible match for her and that he is “very plain” (Austen 26). Emma has given herself a “power” to see what is destined, and thus she believes that her idea or fantasy of Harriet and Mr. Elton is accurate. She is trying her best to eliminate anything that comes in the way of this match while disregarding how Harriet and Mr. Elton actually feel. In reality, Emma’s fixated mindset could be her desire for control.
This desire for control may also be a concealed reason why she won’t look for a match for herself. If she gets married, she will lose the privileges and freedom her father spoils her with, along with the “power” she currently has.
One thing I noticed early on when reading chapter 1 is Emma and her constant lack of a mother figure or woman’s presence. It is established early on that Emma’s mother has been dead for some time as Emma can does not have any “remembrance of her [mother’s] caresses”. Emma’s sister gets married and moves away, and after some time her governess Miss Taylor also marries and moves away. Left with only her father Emma is now prone to loneliness and lack of anyone to talk to. According to the book Emma’s father is not able to replace the bond Emma and miss Taylor shared, this is shown when it states “for her father was universally civil, but not one among them who could be accepted in lieu of Miss Taylor for even half a day”. The constant loss of a mother figure for Emma was the main thing I noticed when reading through chapter 1.
Emma is a very interesting character to say the least. She can come off as if she is in la la land at times, but one thing I am learning about her is how persistent she is. She seems to care about stuff like social class and being Harriets friend she wasn’t shy on telling Harreit her opinions about the Martins because of how they are farmers. It makes sense to me though because she did come from a family that has good social class so it was kind of expected that she would act like that knowing her nature. She also tries to push Mr.Elton and Harriet together as she thinks Mr. Elton has fallen for Harriet, but that isn’t really the case yet Emma chooses to keep believing in what she wants even though their is signs that it might not work out the way she thinks.
There was an insane amount of symbolism in chapters 11-16. I wasn’t able to mention them in class today, but here are a few that I found:
Ice and cold weather
Cold weather is often associated with approaching tension throughout chapters 11-16. Inclement weather exposes tumultuous relationships (such as Mr.Woodhouse and his daughter) and emotional unrest. However, from Emma’s perspective, severe weather is seen as “favorable” (once again distinguishing her from the other characters in the novel). She fears what will happen when the snow thaws (forcing her to face reality). Freezing weather represents a frozen period of comfort for her. This is seen in the final few paragraphs of chapter 16.
Gruel
*This one is a stretch, but this was my interpretation.
Gruel is brought up about two times within these chapters and is used as a symbol of foreshadowing. Once protending to a climactic event (chapter 12 by “Here was a dangerous opening”), and the second foreshadowing a deceptive resolution (end of chapter 15).
“Human nature is so well disposed towards those who are in interesting situations, that a young person, who either marries or dies, is sure of being kindly spoken of”
This opening line for chapter 5 bleeds passive-aggressiveness, revealing Austen’s feelings towards marriage: Marriage is like death. While there is no direct opposition to the idea of marriage within this quote, they are seen parallel to cynical good wishes (death and marriage are synonymous). Mr.Woodshouse speaking of Ms.Taylor’s marriage as a “misfortune” (making it seem as if she passed away), Emma’s disdain to ever being married herself, and Mr.Elton’s shallow view of marriage- the contempt for matrimony is made clear. Austen’s relationship with marriage seems to be illustrated through most of the characters in this novel.
https://www.history.com/news/why-jane-austen-never-married
*link for some biographical context regarding Austen’s view of marriage
Although being a highly gifted critical thinker, Emma severely lacks emotional intelligence. Love and attraction are viewed as byproducts of strategy and equation rather than deep emotional connection. By describing love interests as “agreeable” or “satisfactory”, Emma fails to understand true connections. Although the use of these words was common during this time period, Emma’s delivery (within context) lacks sentiment. Her seeking out “agreeableness” is a means to further her desire to present perfection. At this point in Emma’s character development, companionship is nothing but a business transaction.
It’s also worth noting that Emma’s inability to notice signs involving romantic interest (from Mr.Elton or Mr.Knightly), further illustrates her emotional ignorance.
Something that I wanted to write about before was Frank Churchill’s departure and how Emma responded to it. In volume II chapter XIII Emma spends a great deal reflecting on her feelings towards Frank. She seems sure that Frank was going to confess his love to her. Emma claims “she must be a little love with him, in spite of every previous determination against it” (208). She creates different scenarios where he would propose and in every single one, she finds herself rejecting the proposal. Emma’s inability to decide how she feels shows that Emma does not love him at all. If Emma was even a tiny bit in love with him, she would not see herself rejecting his proposal. I think what really happened was that Emma was in love with the idea of what they could represent as a couple in Highbury. In the chapter where the Coles hosted their party, the narrator highlighted that Emma liked being associated to Frank Churchill. She wouldn’t mind if people spoke about them being together. As a reader, I know that Emma finds her reputation important in the Highbury. If Emma and Frank were in a relationship, many would gossip about it. However, in the end Emma decides that she is not in love him and that her happiness does not depend on anyone but herself.
Great reflection, Guadalupe. I think you’re onto something regarding Emma’s feelings towards Frank Churchill and how their winding up together might appear in Highbury. I wonder if a parallel examination of Frank’s motivations might also add to the discussion you want to have? Either way, you’ve got a lot of good ideas to work with.
For anyone interested in doing a character analysis on Emma for their final paper, I highly recommend looking into Kantian ethics, specifically Kant’s notion of self-deception. It gives insight into Emma’s problematic behavior from a philosophical standpoint.
Here is a link if anyone is interested:
https://onesearch.cuny.edu/permalink/f/1u1g26u/TN_datacite7032007
Love this, Cory! If you haven’t read much Kant, I strongly recommend the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. This is a shorter essay (under 100 pages), but it contains Kant’s strongest expression of his notion of the “categorical imperative,” which boils down to this: if a given moral situation were to be infinitely repeated, my choice should be the same choice every time. This is how I know it is the right and good choice. Kant is very difficult, but (coming from someone who didn’t read Kant until grad school) every undergraduate in any field of study would greatly benefit from reading Kant, whether you agree with his ideas or not (I go back and forth).
Here’s the expanded passage from William Cowper’s long blank verse poem, The Task (1785). The lines quoted below come from book 4 of the six-book poem. This book is titled “The Winter Evening.” Line 290 is quoted in Emma, Volume 3, Chapter 5. This passage is also echoed in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s famous poem “Frost at Midnight” (1798). Themes pertaining to mental faculties: imagination, contemplation, fancy, idleness, ennui, understanding, and self-knowledge arise from these beautiful lines:
Not undelightful is an hour to me
So spent in parlour twilight: such a gloom
Suits well the thoughtful or unthinking mind,
The mind contemplative, with some new theme [280]
Pregnant, or indispos’d alike to all.
Laugh ye, who boast your more mercurial pow’rs,
That never felt a stupor, know no pause,
Nor need one; I am conscious, and confess,
Fearless, a soul that does not always think.
Me oft has fancy, ludicrous and wild,
Sooth’d with a waking dream of houses, tow’rs,
Trees, churches, and strange visages, express’d
In the red cinders, while with poring eye
I gaz’d, myself creating what I saw. . [290]
Nor less amus’d, have I quiescent watch’d
The sooty films that play upon the bars,
Pendulous, and foreboding, in the view
Of superstition, prophesying still,
Though still deceiv’d, some stranger’s near approach.
‘Tis thus the understanding takes repose
In indolent vacuity of thought,
And sleeps and is refresh’d. Meanwhile the face
Conceals the mood lethargic with a mask
Of deep deliberation, as the man [300]
Were task’d to his full strength, absorb’d and lost.
Thus oft, reclin’d at ease, I lose an hour
At ev’ning, till at length the freezing blast,
That sweeps the bolted shutter, summons home
The recollected pow’rs; and, snapping short
The glassy threads, with which the fancy weaves
Her brittle toys, restores me to myself.
In Chapter 43, a realization happens to Emma about her behavior when Mr. Knightley scolds Emma saying, “How could you be so unfeeling to Miss Bates? How could you be so insolent in your wit to a woman of her character, age, and situation?––Emma, I had not thought it possible.” (294). This makes Emma acknowledge how inconsiderate her behavior is and she starts to feel remorseful for the way she treated Miss Bates. This is an eye-opening moment for Emma, as she genuinely feels she had wronged someone and is overcome with sadness at the thought of her actions towards Miss Bates, whose underprivileged background and delayed reaction to Emma’s quip only furthers the blow from Emma’s uncompassionate sentiments. Furthermore, the lack of resolve between Emma and Mr. Knightley’s conversation along with the situation with Miss Bates, results in Emma’s depressive state at the end of the chapter as she ends up crying the entire carriage ride home. This emotional moment also seems to be where we see that Emma might have an even deeper connection that she shares with Mr. Knightley. With her silence being misinterpreted by Knightley as her being ignorant to the situation and that the conversation ended on a sour note, Emma is shown deeply affected by his criticism. It could be interpreted that Emma, at this moment of the book, feels very attached to Mr. Knightley, and perhaps is slowly/slightly developing romantic feelings for him based on her reaction to the situation.
Emma has been critiqued as being inconsiderate to others from the beginning of the piece. She is incapable of truly connecting with others and believes romance to be almost mechanical between people. She measures people up in order to analyze their worth in a relationship while dehumanizing them. She presents an idea of perfection in relationships, yet her inability to pick up on emotional cues from those who are interested in her further shows that such perfection cannot be attained. Emma preaches an ideal that she is also not able to live up to. Her fixation on social standing is entwined with her idea of perfection which causes her to appear cold in comparison to those by her side. As the story progresses, she grows to understand that the emotions of those around her matter. Her behavior towards others has not been satisfactory, and she comes to the realization that she is unreasonably hurtful. She is inconsiderate and demeaning towards those who are not of her class, as can be seen with Harriet and Miss Bates. The regret that she begins to feel once her actions finally catch up to her allows the reader to view her growth as a person. Compassion for others and understanding of love for another person are seemingly creeping up on Emma.
Throughout the novel, we can see that Emma is a manipulative and spoiled woman. Living as a wealthier person, she fails to be empathetic to everyone and even lacks the ability to comprehend her own emotions. Through her status, she believes she is able to control those around her, as seen by her attempts of matchmaking. Though Emma has always sought the perfect relationship, she contradicts herself by not understanding fully how love works. She believes fully through looks and status, one would be perfect together. She is inconsiderate of how those people actually feel, and only have caused more problems between them. Though she has plenty of suitors seeking her attention, she doesn’t acknowledge them and even so unaware of how she really feels towards them (as can be seen with Frank Churchill). Eventually, we begin to see Emma not only realize her own feelings, but also the acknowledgement that what she was doing before wasn’t appropriate. Her ‘ideal relationship’ couldn’t be controlled and she shouldn’t have been inconsiderate of how others felt. Through her growth, Emma eventually gets her happy ending and she can finally understand what its like to love.
As we we’re discussing Emma, and how it is about the misunderstandings, lack of communication and spiraling of feelings, I realize that a lot of it mirrors the society that we still live in. In reality, if you think about it, many people don’t express how they feel, and thus it creates this drama filled with misleading information. It can be seen not only through high school drama and reality tv show drama, but also a lot of real-life adult drama. I’m not sure where this drama builds up from, maybe a natural ego or simply being afraid to lose and be incorrect. By reading this novel, I found that Jane Austen hid a message and formed a scenario that can be juxtaposed to any generation or society.
While reading Emma, it occurred to me that Emma could have mirrored Jane Austen, this being the reason why Emma was a character only she would like. Like Emma, Austen also came from a wealthy family and she was well educated. In the few letters that have survived, many of them show her forthrightness as her sister Cassandra describes. Austen appears to be as opinionated as Emma, perhaps being as snobby as Emma with the penchant of thinking her opinion/beliefs are above others. Many of Austen’s novel touch upon marriage and the little social standing women have if they are not married or rich. In Emma this is no different, she brushes upon talks about class and the desire to be married, but only to the man who can ensure the highest social standing.
Frank and Emma share similar characterizations within the novel. Both come from wealthy and privileged backgrounds, have a cleverness about them that they utilize in certain situations, etc. But I noticed something about Frank and Emma in Chapter 43 when they were flirting with each other for fun. In their eyes, the constant flirting was playful and used to liven up the dull mood, but onlookers could mistake this silly playfest as a genuine, flirty interaction between the two. From an outside perspective, it seems they used their cleverness as a way to unintentionally mess with people’s emotions or treat people as their toys with no regards for how they feel. Jane, for example, would later dislike Emma because of the way Frank flirted with her at Box Hill, and Mr. Knightley would also be very annoyed by their frivolous display. You can also compare them both in the context of treating people as toys with Frank toying with Jane and Emma’s emotions throughout the novel, and Emma “toying” with Harriet by dictating her life with no acknowledgement of what she feels and wants. What I got from closely looking at Frank and Emma and their characterizations, their actions, intentions, etc. is that they seem to resemble one another in the book.
It seems as though the ending of Emma has the protagonist right back to where she started in regards to her views on class structures. Now that she realizes that Harriet is the daughter of a tradesmen, she reverts back to her original beliefs and essentially gives up her friendship with Harriet due to both of them pertaining to different social classes.There seems to be no growth on Emma’s part and she merely used Harriet as her “toy to play with”, or in other terms, Harriet was a project for Emma to test her (matchmaking) skills. Emma comes off kinda selfish in the ending and I would think all the events, especially her relationship with Harriet would put her on a track to grow and develop as a character. Nonetheless, Emma ends her friendship with Harriet on the basis that they are of different social classes and they can never interact because of it. Emma values personal beliefs rather than personal relationships and it is quite a bummer to see that their relationship ends like this.
Harriet claims she will not marry because the man she loves is superior to her in society. In Emma’s eyes, this confirms her belief that Harriet is in love with Frank. Emma does not realize that Harriet is referring to Mr. Knightley. Emma advises Harriet to not be sanguine, or courageous and hopeful; this word appears in the book eight times. It appears when Mr. Elton professes his love to Emma “in a sanguine state of mind.” Characters must be careful to not be too sanguine in their love for others as they tend to be disappointed.