Jane Austen's Emma Research Paper

Jane Austen’s Emma, takes place during the Victorian Era. During this time, women had little to no rights or options; their lives were laid out for them. People married for money and class status. If you found someone that you loved and was of the same class, then you were considered to be very lucky. Men would marry horrible women if only so that their pockets would never empty. Women had children and stayed at home to raise them. Men went out and worked to put food on the table. Those who had money and property were considered to be the middle class, and that was where Emma was born into. While the novel does generally stay with the cultural contexts of the time, it is still fiction. The novel is structured around numerous marriages, both occurred as well as announced. The marriages in the novel solidified the social status of those already married as well as those to be married. In Jane Austen’s lifetime, social status was determined by a combination of family history, reputation in the eyes of the public, and most importantly, wealth. Marriage was one of the most important ways a person would raise their social ranking. Marriage was especially crucial to women, because they had …show more content…
During this time the home had displaced the church as a place of safety as well as a place of religion. The wife was belonged to her husband, and was not treated as an equal. Wives never contributed to the finances of their families. Thus, there was an absolute lessening of her social status within her society. Emma, however, did not let that bother her. She let her opinions be known and enjoyed making educated conversations with men such as Frank Churchill. Middle class women were encouraged not to get an education. They had pursues hobbies such as painting as well as playing the piano. Both Emma as well as Jane Churchill played the piano as a hobby. Jane was particularly talented at both the piano and