Jane  Austen  

An  Introduc/on  to  Austen,  the  novel,  and  the  /me  period  in  which  the  

novel  takes  place.  

Jane  Austen  

•  Jane  Austen  was  born  December  16th,  1775  at  Steventon,  Hampshire,  England  to  Rev.  George  Austen,  (the  local  rector,  or  Church  of  England  clergyman),  and  his  wife  Cassandra  

Austen’s  Educa/on  

•  1783:  Jane  and  her  older  sister  were  taught  by  Mrs.  Crawley,  who  was  a  sister  of  one  of  their  uncles.      

•  1785-­‐1786:  Jane  and  Cassandra  aPended  Abbey  Boarding  School  –  Jane  was  almost  too  young  to  benefit  from  this.  

•  Learned  piano,  how  to  draw,  etc.  from  family  •  Read  novels  all  the  /me    

– Her  father  had  over  500  in  1801.  

Early  Adulthood  

•  Austen  enjoyed  aPending  social  events  (dances  and  par/es)  and  visi/ng  London,  Bath,  Southampton,  etc.  where  she  aPended  plays.  

•  1801:  family  moves  to  Bath  

Austen’s  Love  Life  

•  1795-­‐1796:  brief  fling  with  Thomas  Lefroy  – He  couldn’t  afford  to  marry  her.  

•  Possible  serious  rela/onship  with  a  nameless  man  in  Devonshire.    All  we  have  are  Cassandra’s  accounts  of  their  rela/onship.  – This  suitor  died  unexpectedly.  

•  1802:  Harris  Bigg-­‐Wither  proposed  – He  was  6  years  younger.  – She  said  yes  but  then  backed  out  the  next  day  

Austen’s  Adulthood  

•  1805:  her  father  died  and  income  was  reduced  

•  Moved  around  to  many  ci/es  including,  Winchester,  Southampton,  etc.  for  a  few  years.  

•  1810  (Hampshire)-­‐  began  wri/ng  again  •  1816-­‐  became  ill  •  July  18th  1817:  death  at  age  41  

– Buried  at  Winchester  Cathedral  – Women  not  allowed  to  aPend  funerals  at  this  /me  

 

Austen’s  Gravestone:  What’s  missing?  

•  In  memory  of  JANE  AUSTEN,  youngest  daughter  of  the  late  Revd.  GEORGE  AUSTEN,  formerly  Rector  of  Steventon  in  this  County.    She  departed  this  Life  on  the  18th  July  1817,  aged  41,  acer  a  long  illness  supported  with  the  pa/ence  and  the  hopes  of  a  Chris/an.    The  benevolence  of  her  heart,  the  sweetness  of  her  temper,  and  the  extraordinary  endowments  of  her  mind  obtained  the  regard  of  all  who  knew  her,  and  the  warmest  love  of  her  in/mate  connec/ons.  Their  grief  is  in  propor/on  to  their  affec/on  they  know  their  loss  to  be  irreparable,  but  in  the  deepest  afflic/on  they  are  consoled  by  a  firm  though  humble  hope  that  her  charity,  devo/on,  faith  and  purity  have  rendered  her  soul  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  her  REDEEMER.  

Addi/on  to  the  Gravestone  

•  JANE  AUSTEN  known  to  many  by  her  wri/ngs,  endeared  to  her  family  by  the  varied  charms  of  her  Character  and  ennobled  by  Chris/an  faith  and  piety,  was  born  at  Steventon  in  the  County  of  Hants  Dec.  XVI  MDCCLXXV,  and  buried  in  this  Cathedral  July  XXIV  MDCCCXVII.  "She  opened  her  mouth  with  wisdom  and  in  her  tongue  is  the  law  of  kindness.”  

 

Austen’s  Literary  Works  •  1787-­‐1793:  Juvenilla  •  1795-­‐1799:  began  Sense  and  Sensibility,  Pride  and  Prejudice,  and  Northanger  Abbey  – Working  /tles:  Elinor  and  Marianne,  First  Impressions,  and  Susan.  

•  1803:  began  The  Watsons  (never  finished)  •  1812:  began  Mansfield  Park  •  1814  began  Emma  •  1815-­‐  began  Persuasion  •  1817-­‐  began  Sanditon  (never  finished)  

Reputa/on  

•  Reputa/on  is  everything,  especially  to  women.  

Class  

•  Lower  class?  •  Life  for  the  middle  and  upper  class  was  strictly  regulated  

Educa/on  

•  No  organized  educa/on;  local  charity  or  church-­‐run  schools  were  popular.  

•  “Genteel”  social  levels,  like  those  in  Pride  and  Prejudice,  did  not  aPend  these  schools.    – They  would  be  taught  by  parents,  a  tutor,  or  be  sent  away  to  live  with  a  tutor  when  young.    

•  Some  grammar  schools  existed  but  were  only  for  males.  

Educa/on  cont.  

•  The  prime  symbol  of  academic  knowledge,  and  masculine  educa/onal  aPainments,  was  the  Classical  languages  Greek  and  La/n,  to  which  a  great  deal  of  /me  was  devoted  in  "genteel"  boys'  educa/on,  but  which  few  women  studied.  

Women’s  Educa/on  

•  As  for  domes/c  training,a  rela/vely  large  amount  of  girls'  and  women's  /me  was  spent  on  sewing  or  needlework  

•  For  women  of  the  "genteel"  classes  the  goal  of  non-­‐domes/c  educa/on  was  thus  ocen  the  acquisi/on  of  "accomplishments",  such  as  the  ability  to  draw,  sing,  play  music,  or  speak  modern  languages  (generally  French  and  Italian).  – Generally  just  done  to  aPract  men.  

Gender  Differences  

•  Men  had  greater  power  and  contribu/on  to  society  as  a  whole  

•  Women  were  viewed  more  as  reserved,  gossipy,  and  highly  held  by  reputa/on.  

•  Women  were  expected  appear  and  behave  with  a  certain  manner,  and  easily  became  a  social  outcast  if  any  societal  deviance  was  displayed  

Gender  Differences:  Men  

•  man’s  primary  role  is  to  be  the  provider:    •  work,    •  propose  an  engagement  for  a  wife,    •  earn  the  family’s  only  income,    •  make  final  decisions,    •  physically  and  fiscally  support  and  protect  the  family,  and    

•  provide  a  home,  food,  and  clothing.  

Gender  Differences:  Women  

•  During  this  /me  period,  it  was  unacceptable  for  women,  or  a  woman,  to  travel  alone.  

•  Women  were  to:  –   tend  to  the  children,    – cook  the  meals,    – do  the  shopping  and  sewing,  and    – uphold  the  daily  rou/nes  for  the  family,  primarily  tending  to  the  husband’s  needs.    

Jane  Austen  as  a  Novelist  •  Austen worked hard on her novels, constantly revising

them. •  She wrote her first work when she was only of fifteen

years. It was a satire. •  It was in 1790s that she started writing most of here

novels. Thus Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey were all started during this time.

•  However, since she revised and edited each of her works heavily before they were published, so there was a lot of delay in the publication of her works.

•  Anyhow, Before 1801, while Jane was still in her early twenties, she had written three unpublished novels: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Northanger Abbey.

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Jane  Austen  as  a  Novelist  •  Sense and Sensibility was not published until 1811. •  Pride and Prejudice appeared in 1813. •  Mansfield Park was published in 1814, and Emma appeared in

1816. •  Publishing her novels was important to Austen, though nearly

all were published long after they were written. •  Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published

posthumously that is after her death. •  Her desire to publish anonymously was not unusual. In the

times she lived as a woman writer, fame could often lead to problems so she preferred to publish anonymously.

•  It was only after her death in 1818, that a biographical note was added to her novels and people started knowing her as the author of her novels.

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Jane  Aus/n  as  a  Great  Novelist  •  The  novelist  Virginia  Woolf  said  of  Jane  Austen,  "Of  all  the  

great  writers  she  is  the  most  difficult  to  catch  in  the  act  of  greatness."    

•  Austen  was  a  keen  observer  of  social  class  and  customs,  and  Emma  is  no  excep/on.    

•  She  had  family  and  friends  read  and  rate  the  book,  and  many  preferred  other  of  her  works.  But  readers  liked  Emma,  both  novel  and  character,  and  this  admira/on  is  a  credit  to  the  author's  skill.    

•  Though  a  master  of  prose  and  observa/on,  Austen  did  not  receive  much  acclaim  by  the  /me  she  died  of  Addison's  disease  in  1817.    

•  Today  she  is  a  highly  respected  and  well-­‐read  author.  

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 Jane  Austen  as  the  author  of  EMMA  

 •  EMMA was written from January 21, 1814, to March 29, 1815.

•  Pride and Prejudice is generally considered to be Jane Austen's most widely read and most popular novel. But as far as the perfection of art is concerned, most of the critics believe EMMA to be superior.

•  As an artist this is the masterpiece of Austen out of all her six completed novels.

•  Austen herself saids she had created "a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.“

•  A comical book largely about Emma's errors of judgment, Austen adeptly keeps us from disliking her blundering heroine.

•  Since Emma was written at a time when Jane Austen had attained maturity as a writer, and she had reached a calm high point in her development as an artist, a point of steady, relaxed control over both her subject matter and her technique, the novel reflects this maturity and grip.

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The  Novel  EMMA  •  “Emma” was the last of Austen’s novels to be published before her death. It

was published anonymously like all her earlier works. •  Shortly before the publication of “Emma,” Austen was invited to meet with

the Prince Regent’s librarian, who encouraged her to dedicate her next novel to the Prince Regent a great admirer of her work. Although Austen was not particularly fond of the Prince, she chose to follow the librarian’s suggestion and later satirized her meeting with him in “Plan of a Novel, according to hints from various quarters.”

•  There were two thousand copies of “Emma” printed in the first edition. Unfortunately more than five hundred were unsold even after four years of its publication.

•  However, the novel was generally well-received by the public. •  Unfortunately, Austen earned very little from its publication as most of the

profits were used for the ill-timed printing of a second edition of “ Mansfield Park” a few months later, and she ended up earning only 40 pounds from the novel in her lifetime. 23  

What  EMMA  is  about?  •  “Emma” is different from all other works of Austen

because, unlike her other novels, the work focuses on a wealthy and beautiful heroine with no financial concerns or need to marry.

•  The quest for financial security and an appropriate husband is central to her other works and adds a serious element to their narrative structures of those novels.

•  In contrast to these “Emma” is written in a lighter tone, with a streak of humour and as such without being based on a dramatic conflict.

•  The heroine of the novel is also unique because of her seeming immunity to romantic sensibility.

•  It is only at the end of the work that the heroine is shown to be interested in love; before that point, she shows minimal romantic interest in any of the male characters.

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Recep/on  of  EMMA  and  her  other  works  

•  Because Austen’s works were published anonymously, they received little critical attention during her time period. Although her books sold well and were favored by prominent figures in British society.

•  Austen received only a few short reviews. After her death, her works continued to be steady sellers but were not widely popular among readers in the 19th century. In general, audiences preferred the dramatic style of George Eliot and Charles Dickens over Austen’s mild projection of the limited life of provincial British society.

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Recep/on  of  EMMA  and  her  other  works  •  However, Austen’s work was still highly praised by prominent literary

scholars. Authors Sir Walter Scott and Henry James and philosopher George Henry Lewes lauded Austen’s narrative style; Henry James, in particular, compared her writing to that of Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Henry Fielding. After James Edward Austen-Leigh published his biography of his “dear aunt Jane” in 1869, Austen was introduced to the wider public, who clamored for new editions of her works. Austen-Leigh’s biography also spurred a rift between the literary elite, who called themselves “Janeites,” and the larger public, who was presumed not to properly understand her works.

•  In the 20th century, Austen’s works began to receive major scholarly attention, specifically with the publication of A.C. Bradley’s essay on Austen in 1911. The 20th century also saw a surge of adaptations of Austen’s works, including films, prequels, sequels, and revised novels.

•  “Emma,” in particular, has been adapted for film multiple times, including the 1995 film “Clueless” with Alicia Silverstone.

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More  About  Emma    •  Emma, like Jane Austen's other novels, deals with the subject of

young ladies finding proper husbands. On the surface this is what the story line of Emma is about. However, beneath the surface the book concerns much more than that.

•  Jane Austen is mainly concerned with the way people behave. •  Within the chosen limits of upper-middle-class society and within the

even more limited strict feminine point of view for telling the story we find her mastery of art to present the detailed picture of this kind of life.

•  All the events are presented from within a domestic or social context, though not, as has been claimed, merely from within a drawing room.

•  And this is the broad area of the moralist. •  If the moralist chooses, as Miss Austen does, to focus on the

common rather than the exceptional behavior of people, s/he is more likely to write comedy than tragedy.

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More  on  What  EMMA  is  About?  

•  A  tunnel  vision  •  A  drawing  room  story  •  A  superficial  view  of  life  BUT  •  A  very  clear  vision  •   A  picture  with  details  •  A  true  picture  

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Character  List  •  Emma  Woodhouse:  "Handsome,  clever  and  rich,"  Emma  is  a  twenty-­‐one  year  old  daughter  of  a  

wealthy  gentleman.  She  is  the  imagina/ve  and  self-­‐deceived  heroine  of  the  novel  who  is  very  much  accustomed  to  "having  her  own  way"  and  has  a  "disposi/on  to  think  a  liPle  too  well  of  herself”.  

•  Her  main  job  as  such  is  to  be  companion  of  her  widower  father.  Although  a  meddler  who  demonstrates  a  maddening  self-­‐confidence,  Emma  is  generally  well  inten/oned.    Her  hobby  throughout  the  novel  is  match-­‐  making.The  novel  is  essen/ally  a  story  of  how  Emma  matures  from  a  clever  young  woman  to  a  more  modest  and  considerate  woman,  able  to  accept  the  idea  of  love.  

 

•  Henry  Woodhouse:    He  is  Emma's  father.  He  always  resists  any  kind  of  change,  compensa/ng  somewhat  for  his  selfish  whims  by  being  kindly  and  concerned  about  people's  health.  

•  George  Knightley  A  well-­‐to-­‐do  man  of  about  thirty-­‐seven  or  thirty-­‐eight.  He  is  a  very  calm  and  ra/onal  man  who  for  years  has  befriended  and  advised  Emma.  His  personality  fills  in  all  the  gaps  that  we  see  in  the  maturity  of  Emma.  Courteous,  noble,  sincere  and  intelligent,  he  is  a  paragon  for  behavior,  yet  not  afraid  to  correct  Emma  for  her  mistakes.    

•  His  brother  had  married  Emma's  elder  sister,  Isabella.  He  marries  Emma  at  the  end  of  the  novel.  

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Character  List  •  Miss  Anne  Taylor:  She  is  Emma's  devoted  governess  and  friend  since  long.  

At  the  beginning  of  the  novel  she  has  just  married  Mr.  Weston.  

•  Mr.  Weston  A  near  neighbor  to  the  Woodhouses,  whose  son  by  a  former  marriage  is  Frank  Churchill.  

•  Philip Elton: He is the rector of Highbury. He is a twenty-six-year-old clergyman, and one of the most eligible bachelors in the area.

•  Frank Churchill Mr. Weston's son, who has never visited Highbury but who has a reputation for his manners and sophistication.

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Character  List  •  Jane Fairfax Miss Bates' orphan niece, elegant and accomplished,

who has visited her aunt in Highbury before but not for two years now.

•  Harriet Smith The illegitimate, seventeen-year-old girl. She is a short, plump and fair girl in appearance. Emma is mostly responsible for bringing Harriet into Highbury society and constantly instructs and advises her, although not always to her benefit. Emma fills her with a pretension that is inappropriate for her status. Emma tries to marry her off to Mr. Elton. In the end, she marries Mr. Martin, a farmer that Emma considers too coarse but is more appropriate in status for Harriet.

•  Robert Martin A respected young farmer who wants to marry Harriet Smith.

•  Augusta Hawkins A vain and talkative young lady whom Mr. Elton meets on a trip to Bath and to whom he quickly gets himself engaged.

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Major  or  main  theme  of  EMMA  •  Common human absurdities •  Not exceptional absurdities of tragedy such as presented by Swift in his satire •  Rather she dealt with those that are more common and frequent, and more

laughable ones of society. •  These human absurdities are more based on code of manners, and its

fabricated engagement of man's time, thought, and energy as such in the system of a society.

•  Beneath Austen's satiric comedy is a moralistic realism. I would like you to compare this with Fielding’s moralistic works.

•  By picturing the real incongruities of social matters, she implies what may be right: the ideal balance between head and heart, between common sense and goodness, between rationality and imagination or emotion. Hers is not a naturalistic world inimical to or destructive of the individual. Rather, it is a fairly stable social world that operates comfortably as long as there is no major aberration from it. It can, in fact (if we judge from the outcome of the story), operate effectively in spite of an aberration, secure that the deviation can be rectified and absorbed so that the deviant (Emma) finds and accepts her proper place.

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Con/nued…  Major  or  main  theme  of  EMMA  

•  It is against this background that Emma pursues her willful and subsequently crossed-purpose way. In the end her change is not into something new and different from her time and place, but into something that is the standard of her environment. Her change is not the kind associated with a liberal idea of progress, but the kind found in the conservative idea of progress: she develops into, not out of, a social tradition.

•  Thematic Irony: A major thematic irony of the book is that at the end Austen enables the reader to understand that as such there was never any real danger to the environmental fabric within which Emma was operating. Nor there was threat of any change in this social fabric because of Emma.

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Con/nued…  Major  or  main  theme  of  EMMA  

•  This triumph of this social order or social world does, however, mean that it is necessarily the best of its kind.

•  The beauty of the whole novel is its thematic satire at the expense of the manners and people of this world throughout the text.

•  This mildness of satire is the unique quality of Jane Austen.

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Other  Important  Themes  •  Courtship and Marriage •  Emma is structured around a number of marriages. •  All the time the plot and story revolve around some recently

consummated marriage or an anticipated marriage. •  In fact in all of Austen’s novels, courtship and marriage play major

roles. •  As far as “Emma” is concerned the entire novel is structured around

various courtships and romantic connections, from Harriet and Robert Martin to Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill to Emma and Mr. Knightley.

•  All of the conflicts in the novel also revolve around this topic, particularly in terms of characters striving to find appropriate matches. In this way, Austen presents marriage as a fundamental aspect of society during the time period.

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Other  Important  Themes  

•  Inter-relationship of Marriage and Social Status •  Social status is the keyword in all these marriages. •  In Jane Austen’s works marriage not only promotes families

and serves romantic purposes, it also upholds the class structure of the community by ensuring that individuals marry appropriately and according to their status.

•  We can see examples of this marriage and social class matching in the case of Harriet and Robert Martin for example, who are from the same class.

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Con/nued…  Inter-relationship of Marriage and Social Status  

•  At the same time, Austen also uses marriage to highlight the social limitations faced by Emma and other characters: in their small village, marriage and courtship are the sole catalysts of excitement or conflict.

•  The institution of marriage itself plays a vital role in solidifying the participant’s social status.

•  This leads to the question of as to what was meant by social status during Austen’s times.

•  Well, in Austen’s time, social status was determined by a combination of family background, reputation, and wealth. And, marriage was one of the main channels through which one could have the possibilities of changing his or her social status. It could raise one’s social status.

•  This method of social advancement was especially crucial to women, who were denied the possibility of improving their status through hard work or personal achievement.

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Other  Important  Themes  Cont…  Inter-relationship of Marriage and Social Status •  The  novel  suggests,  marrying  too  far  above  oneself  leads  to  

strife.  Mr.  Weston’s  first  marriage  to  Miss  Churchill  had  ostensibly  been  a  good  move  for  him,  because  she  came  from  a  wealthy  and  well-­‐connected  family  whereas  Mr.  Weston  is  a  tradesman.  

•  What  Austen  points  out  is  that  the  dis-­‐balance  and  inequality  of  the  rela/onship  caused  hardship  to  both.    

•  He  marries  Mrs.  Weston  just  prior  to  the  novel’s  opening,  and  this  second  marriage  is  happier  because  their  social  statuses  are  more  equal—Mrs.  Weston  is  a  governess,  and  thus  very  fortunate  to  be  rescued  from  her  need  to  work  by  her  marriage.    

•  On  the  same  grounds  Emma’s  aPempt  to  match  Harriet  with  Mr.  Elton  is  considered  by  the  other  characters  as  inappropriate.    

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Other  Important  Themes  Cont…  Inter-relationship of Marriage and Social Status •  The relationship between marriage and social status

creates hardship for other characters. Frank Churchill must keep his engagement to the orphan Jane Fairfax secret because his wealthy aunt would disapprove. Jane, in the absence of a good match, is forced to consider taking the position of a governess. The unmarried Miss Bates is threatened with increasing poverty without a husband to take care of her and her mother. Finally, the match between Emma and Mr. Knightley is considered a good one not only because they are well matched in temperament but also because they are well matched in social class.

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Other  Important  Themes  •  Social class and role as a member of a social class •  Austen highlights the theme of social class throughout the

novel, particularly in terms of Emma’s relationship with Harriet Smith.

•  As a member of the wealthiest family in Highbury, Emma holds the highest social position in the community.

•  While she interacts with other characters at an equal level (such as Mr. Knightley), she also has social responsibilities to less fortunate individuals, such as Miss Bates, Harriet Smith, and the poor families who live on her estate.

•  Jane Austen believes in the importance of class distinctions. •  At the same time we see that Jane Austen encourages

compassion and charity in members of the higher classes.

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Other  Important  Themes  •  The Confined and Limited Existence of Women: •  The novel presents a tunnel view of social life. •  It presents even a narrower and almost claustrophobic scope of action

throughout. •  Women as the live, think and act in the novel give us a strong sense of the

confined nature of a woman’s existence in early-nineteenth-century rural England.

•  Emma as a young potential girl has a great deal of intelligence and energy, but the best use she can make of these is to attempt to make matches of people around such as her friends, servants etc.

•  Despite being a member of the privileged class of the society, she does not have much alternatives in life to do something or to be involved in some activity.

•  The novel show that the maximum she can do is to pay social visits, charity visits, to play Participating in the rituals of courtship and accepting or rejecting proposals is perhaps the most active role that women are permitted to play in Emma’s world.

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Other  Important  Themes  •  Economic Oppression of women •  As a heroine, Emma possesses beauty, wealth,

intelligence, high social standing, and financial independence. However, Austen makes it clear that Emma is unique in her position; most of the women in the novel lack Emma’s financial independence and, as a result, have much more limited options for their futures.

•  Most occupations were thought to be inappropriate for women.

•  Women could not support themselves economically. •  Either to marry or to work as a governess are the limited

options available to them.

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Other  Important  Themes  Biasness and the Blinding Power of Imagination •  Austen uses the novel to convey her an important

theme of biasness. The novel offers sharply critical illustrations of the ways in which personal biases or desires blind objective judgment.

•  Emma is misguided by her imagination in the understanding of various characters and their behavior such as she cannot understand the motives that guide Mr. Elton’s behavior because she imagines that he is in love with Harriet.

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 Other  Important  Themes  •  Miscommunication and Misunderstanding •  Many of the major conflicts in the novel are a

direct result of miscommunication between characters.

•  One major example is Mr. Elton’s courtship of Emma during which Emma assumes that Mr. Elton is actually courting Harriet Smith. This misconception goes a long way in the novel.

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Other  Important  Themes  •  Moral relativism •  For the majority of the novel, Emma operates under the assumption that she

knows what is best for those around her. A prime example of this is Emma’s relationship with Harriet Smith, in which Emma assumes that she has the right to determine Harriet’s choice of husband and future happiness. She even takes responsibility for Harriet’s personality: taking it upon herself to “improve” Harriet. Emma indulges in similarly condescending behavior with many other characters in the novel, including Mr. and Mrs. Weston, her sister and father, Mr. Elton, and Frank Churchill. Emma’s belief in her own infallibility is undermined by her behavior toward Miss Bates at the picnic at Box Hill. Although Emma had made mistakes with Harriet and Mr. Elton, this is the first time that Emma is blatantly wrong in her behavior. This forces her to acknowledge that her seeming infallibility regarding those around her is nothing more than ego and arrogance.

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Other  Important  Themes  •  Love vs. Marriage •  Austen makes it an important point in the novel that love is not a requirement for

marriage. •  For the majority of the novel, Emma considers herself to be immune to romantic

love. Although she considers the possibility of marriage to Frank Churchill, she acknowledges that she does not actually love him, as she is just as happy during his absence as she is during his presence. This ability to exist without love relates to the larger theme of marriage that permeates the narrative.

•  To her, an individual must first consider social position, fortune, and other logical qualities when determining an appropriate match.

•  However, because of Emma’s financial independence, these logical considerations are superfluous: she is in the unique position to be able to marry solely for love. Ironically, while Emma’s ultimate choice is made out of love, Mr. Knightley also combines all of the logical qualities of wealth, social status, and breeding that make a good husband. In the end, Austen also ensures that Harriet Smith and Jane Fairfax are able to marry for love’s sake, though their marriages also serve the important purpose of providing them with financial and social security.

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Cont…  Other  Important  Themes  

•  Social conduct and Mannerism •  The whole novel revolves around the issue of appropriate

mannerism and social conduct. •  Characters are measured by Emma against their ability to perform

appropriately in the social context.

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