Enl 185A Jane Austen Emma

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JANE AUSTEN

(1775-1817)

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Wrote Emma (1816)
wrote Lady susan (1st pub. 1871 )

Died on 18 July 1817 in winchester

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EMMA

(1815, dated 1816 VOL I)

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SUMMARY: 20 year old Emma of Highbury feels she has a knack for matchmaking. After "matching Miss taylor and Mr. Weston, she tries to do the same with her new friend Harriet. After trying to get harriet with Mr. Elton the vicar, she finds out that Elton has feelings for her not harriet. Elton is upset that emma sees harriet as his equal and he goes to bath to marry mrs. Elton. After that there is the whole thing with the churchills and jane fairfax. marriages at the end.. yeah.

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HISTORICITY

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Historical authenticity; meaning tied to and reflecting historical context.

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TRANSHISTORICITY

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Meaning exceeding, and not limited to, historical context; the temporal equivalent of the spatial concept of universality.

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FREE INDIRECT DISCOURSE

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a style of third-person narration which combinessome of the characteristics of third-person report withfirst-person direct speech. Passages written using freeindirect discourse are often ambiguous as to whetherthey convey the views of the narrator or of thecharacter the narrator is describing, allowing a flexibleand sometimes ironic interaction of internal andexternal perspectives.

EX: Emma considers the character of Harrier Smith: "She was not struck by any thing remarkably clever in Miss Smith's conversation, but she had been used to, that she must have good sense and deserve encouragement. encouragement should be given. Those soft blue eyes and all those natural graces should not be wasted on the inferior society of Highbury and its connections. The acquaintance she had already formed were unworthy of her." (24)


EX2: Mrs Weston reflects: "She knew that at times she must be missed; and could not think, without pain, of emma's losing a single pleasure, or suffering an hour's ennui, from the want of her companionableness: but dear Emma was of no feeble character; she was, more equal to her situation than most girls would have been... And then there was such comfort in the very easy distance of Randalls from Hartfield, so convenient for every solitary female walking, and in Mr. Weston's disposition and circumstances, which would make the approaching season no hindrance to their spending half the evenings in the week together. Her situation was altogether the subject of hours of gratitude to Mrs. Weston..." (19)

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MAIN THEMES IN EMMA

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1. Perception and Misperception

2. Preconception and prejudice


EX: "A likeness pleases every body" (43). BUT IS IT A LIKENESS?

3.Marriage and Social Status

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CHARACTERS IN EMMA

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Emma Woodhouse: Main protagonist of the story. She wants to match Harriet Smith with Mr. Elton despite her own lack of wanting to be married causing trouble and misinterpretation to occur. Eventually marries Mr. Knightley

Mr. Knightley: Emma's sister's brother-in-law, he serves as Emma's source of guidance showing her right from wrong. Eventually falling in love with her and marring her.

John Knightley: Mr. Knightley's brother; married to Emma's sister.

Frank Churchill: biological son of Mr. Weston but given to the Churchill's after his wife dies and they couldn't bear their own son. Has a secret relationship with Jane Fairfax. Emma shows a romantic interest in him before realizing this.

Jane Fairfax: Niece of Miss Bates and secret lover of Frank Churchill. Great at the pianoforte, Jane is seen by Emma as being a goody two shoes who does everything perfectly and can't seem to understand why everyone adores her.

Mr. & Mrs. Weston: Miss Taylor (later Mrs. Weston) was Emma's nanny type figure (governess) who marries Mr. Weston is one of the four principal landowners in the village of Highbury and the surrounding parish, making his home at Randalls.

Harriet Smith: a girl of seventeen, whom Emma knew very well by sight, and had long felt an interest in, for account of her beauty. steers her away from mr. martin to get with mr. elton only to have her fall in love with mr. Knightley realizing she loves him and regretting the whole thing thus ruining Harriet's love life. all isn't too bad when mr. martin takes her back.

Mr. Woodhouse: Emma's father who is kind of a cry baby and likes to keep her locked inside the house. Emma is the last person to take care of him and therefore keeps her in the house even once her marriage with Mr. Knightley is announced.

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LOCATIONS IN EMMA

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Highbury: where Emma lives
Boxhill: Climax of the story where Emma insults Mrs. Bates
ESTATES: Hartfield, Donwell Abbey, Randalls

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MUSIC IN EMMA

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music provides an opportunity for Austen to convey many facets of character:
class and gender status,
cultural affectations,
Artistic sensibilities, taste and grace,

dedication and discipline (or lack of it)
moral understanding, social awareness, and capacity for harmony.

Jane is very gifted at piano
Frank Churchill (talented, willing to entertain) sings.
(Knightley and Mr. Weston don't though suggesting that music isn't something a "serious man" should do?)
Mrs. Elton (forward, uneducated, ill-bred) has given up music now that she is married because she doesn't want to put out for anyone.
Mr. Martin brings the little s

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CLASS IN EMMA

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“Emma can generate two readings of class: a progressive one, which emphasizes the insidious workings of class in Emma’s disposal of Harriet; and a reac3onary one, which sees and accepts this working as part of the price of social stability. Each reading turns on assump3ons about the narra3ve voice: whether it is silently indignant…or simply complicit

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GENDER IN EMMA

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“Emma assumes her own en3tlement to independence and power…and in so doing she poaches on what is felt to be male turf….Unlike Mrs. Elton, Emma has a proper regard for public opinion that—with a few very important exceptions—restrains her impulse to abuse….Knightley is a far more extraordinary character than a monitor…In moving to Hartfield, Knightley is sharing her home, and in placing himself within her domain, Knightley gives his blessing to her rule.”


“Immobilized by the large economic forces that created the unprecedented possibilities of upward mobility for men, the poor thus reflect woman’s reality in the novel. Emma’s failure to draw this connection is central to Austen’s construction of this heroine as she ‘dwindles into a wife’ in spite of her emotional and economic independence.”

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SLAVERY IN EMMA

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"Edward Said is wrong to imagine the references to the slave trade in Mansfield Park as morally neutral-- any more than are the references to Emma. Said does not take into account the inflections of gender in the passages he cites... As in the overt reference to the slave trade and its abolition, Emma is explicit about the moral corruption that follows from the exercise of power over others."

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MARRIAGE IN EMMA

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WOMEN'S POSITION IN SOCIETY IN EMMA

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-ECOMONIC
-SOCIAL

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CUSTOM/ RELIGION IN EMMA

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