Emma Deprestion
Emma's life was greatly influenced by her reading. She lived in a world of fiction rather than in the real world. She wanted the things she read about to come alive in her own life. The idea of romantic nights, old castles, and moonlight meetings supplied a satisfaction in her that she couldn't find anywhere else. She needed constant excitement and change. If she never read these romantic novels, then she would not have been a dreamer and a sentimentalist. Her normal life of everyday living would have kept her content rather than intolerable.
Emma discovered romantic novels as a young girl living in a convent. Unable to see the real world or the realities of everyday living, she was left alone with her dreams. She concentrated all of her attention on them and nothing else. These novels influenced her entire approach to life.
When Emma first met Charles she believed he could make her happy. however, after they were married she soon began finding many faults about him. Charles had no desire to do or see anything. Emma wanted a man who would introduce her to new things and inspire her to live life to the fullest. "Before she had married she thought she was in love. But the happiness that should have resulted from this love had not come; she must have deceived herself, she thought. Emma sought to learn what was really meant in life by the words "happiness," "passion," and "intoxication"--words that had seemed so beautiful in her books.". She was dissatisfied with her life and searched constanly for a way to change it. Emma constantly asked herself "My God, why did I get married?".
One of the highest points in Emma's life was when Charles and her were invited to the home of the Marquis d'Andervilliers. She was overjoyed at the idea of staying at the chateau. Everything she had dreamed and read about turned into a reality. Unlike Charles, Emma blended in with the higher class. She had the necessary qualities to get along with the aristocratic society. It was like her own little fairytale and she didn't want it to ever end. After having a taste of the higher lifestyle, it was very hard for Emma to return to her home and her very boring life.
Since Emma was so unhappy she began dreaming of another life with a new husband.
Through this prospect, she has internalized the standards in fulfilling the norms. If she does not fulfill it, she creates a sense of futility, an accurate, unvarnished replication of the guilt feelings that she suffers. Emma lives out its real, logical, and bitter conclusion of the emptiness in the traditions of marriage and the masculine customs that go with it. By marriage, a woman, specifically Emma, losses their liberty in all its physical, social, moral and even spiritual consequences. She envies the advantages of a man saying, “...at least is free; he can explore each
Emma's arrogance shines through when she brags that she is exceptionally skillful at matching couples. She believes that she is in control of fate and must play matchmaker in order for couples to discover their true love. Austen confirms, "The real evils indeed of Emma's situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself" (Austen 1). Although Emma is so spoiled and overbearing, she truly doesn't realize this fact.
Jane Fairfax plays a significant role as a rival towards Emma in terms of intelligence and beauty in the novel Emma by Jane Austen. Jane Fairfax is born to Mrs. Bates youngest daughter and Lieut. Fairfax. Jane’s father Lieut. Fairfax died and Jane was left with a widow mother who also died when Jane was three years old. After the death of Jane’s parents, Jane was took care by Colonel Campbell who was a good friend to Mr. Fairfax where Mr. Campbell believed that Mr. Fairfax has saved his life (p.128). Jane was loved by Mrs. and Miss Bates but if she lived with them, she would have had limited opportunities through her education and her social level. From Campbells kindness Jane was educated at high standards in London by Campbells support taught by the first-rate masters. However, because Campbells could not financially support Jane forever as their fortune belonged to their daughter and from Miss Campbell’s marriage with Mr. Dixon, Jane finally comes back to Highbury where her relatives Mrs. and Miss Bates live. Jane is a character in the book Emma as an only character who could be contrasted to Emma through many natures. This essay will discuss the role of Jane Fairfax through issues such as Jane and Emma’s relationship, Jane’s relationship with Mrs. Elton in contrast to Emma’s relationship with Harriet Smith, Jane’s love relationship with Mr. Frank Churchill and discuss why Jane is the conventional heroine where Emma is not.
Emma's personality is largely shaped by the nature of her upbringing. Emma had no motherly figure guiding her as she grew up, due to the fact that her mother passed away at a young age, and her governess, Miss Taylor, became her best friend instead of an authority over her. At the start of the novel Miss Taylor gets married to Mr. Weston, leaving Emma with her despondent and hypochondriac father, Mr. Woodhouse. Although Mr. Woodhouse often confines Emma to the house because of his paranoia of her being harmed, he gives her little guidance. Emma becomes accustomed to being the "princess" of her house, and she applies this role to all of her social interactions, as she develops the ability to manipulate people and control them to advance her own goals. Emma views herself with the highest regard, and feels competition and annoyance with those who threaten her position. Emma has much resentment toward Mrs. Elton, as Mrs. Elton becomes a parody for Emma's mistakes and interactions. Mrs. Elton's attachment to Jane Fairfax is much like Emma's attachment to Harriet Smith; both Mrs. Elton and Emma attach themselves to young women and try to raise their...
The narrator says, “The real evils indeed of Emma's situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself” (Austen 8). Emma is initially portrayed as someone who thinks that only her opinion matters. In his literary criticism, “Personal Virtues in the Context of Class in Jane Austen’s Emma”, Philip Gerebring describes how “Emma has had quite a privileged upbringing [...] which impacts her actions and the way she views other people” (Gerebring). Emma’s decision not to marry at first is directly related to her privilege and wealth. Her high opinion of herself affects her belief that she is “better” than others. In her literary analysis, “The Dilemma of Emma: Moral, Ethical, and Spiritual Values”, Karin Jackson says that “Emma is so engrossed in herself that [...] her fancy, her imagination, and her manipulation of people’s lives are all based on a false perception of reality, despite her grandiose trust in her own judgment” (Jackson). Although this quote can be seen as accurate, it is incorrect because Austen is not criticizing Emma directly, but rather society as a whole and is actually praising Emma’s rebellion against
As we have shown, both Seeber and Grossman point out the rules of society to the story of Emma and Pride and Prejudice respectively, but show that these are significantly different. In Pride and Prejudice marriage is important and made the business of everyone. Good manners, on the other hand, are what the society in Emma values most. It is thus right to categorize the two novels as different stories altogether. For if the expectations of society in either novel had been different, so too would the motivations of the heroine have changed.
Emma's active decisions though were based increasingly as the novel progresses on her fantasies. The lechery to which she falls victim is a product of the debilitating adventures her mind takes. These adventures are feed by the novels that she reads. They were filled with love affairs, lovers, mistresses, persecuted ladies fainting in lonely country houses, postriders killed at every relay, horses ridden to death on every page, dark forests, palpitating hearts, vows, sobs, tears and kisses, skiffs in the moonlight, nightingales in thickets, and gentlemen brave as lions gentle as lambs, virtuous as none really is, and always ready to shed floods of tears.(Flaubert 31.)
She etches the final steps of her self-destruction by taking her own life. No thought is put into it; she simply “went straight to the third shelf, so well did her memory guide her, seized the blue jar, tore out the cork, plunged in her hand, and withdrawing it full of a white powder, she began eating it” (Flaubert 294). This clearly exemplifies that Emma is, physically, the demise of her own self. She could no longer bear the unhappiness, the stress of being less-fortunate, or the constraint of her lifeless marriage. Her whole life has completely been ruined and all of the blame is on
Author Jane Austen had porttryal of arrogance that existed in upper class society. She uses Emma as a representative of the faults and lack of values of her society. Just as Emma contains these many faults, the upper class society as a whole also contains these many faults. Additionally, in Emma, Austen depicts the distorted views of gentility. Austen depicts her own message of true gentility by creating characters of differing class ranks. Bradbury relates that the characters that are socially high seem to be morally inferior and those of lower rank are "elevated" by their actions (Austen 81). Austen's development of characters, especially Emma, is very effective in relaying her message about the snobbery and lack of gentility that existed in upper class society.
In conclusion, Emma is responsible for all of her actions in the novel. She knew exactly what she was doing and why. This made her a selfish and repulsive character. She should have treated Charles with more respect and love. When one enters into a marriage, it is because they love each other and a marriage is forever. If she was discontent with Charles she should have let him know and divorced. Because of the way she acted and the way she carried out her actions, Emma should not have the reader’s sympathy.
This source is an updated study of the prevailing notion of Jane Austen, at a time in which the paradigms of classical literature were being challenged. This work points out the so-called bravado of Emma, and questions whether Austen intended to position Emma as likeable character or merely a strong and impressive character. The essay borders on Emma's apparent vindictiveness that brings into question key decisions and relationships which Emma displays in the book, all the while intonating that the fascination of Emma is not with who she is, but how she acts towards others. The question of whether Emma is virtuous and true to herself is raised, with a skeptic's eye that points out her frailties as a true heroine.
The men in Emma’s life are subpar: her father essentially sells her so he can live comfortably without thinking about her needs, Charles, her husband is bland and inattentive to her needs, Rodolphe, her first lover is a player and uses her for sex even though he knows she is in love with him, Leon, her other lover satisfied her only for a short amount of time and then could not keep her interested. Because of the disappointing men in her life, Emma must turn to novels to encourage her will to live. She clings to the romance shown in fiction because she cannot find any in her own life. Whenever Emma indulges herself and dreams of romance, she has just been heartbroken. The first scene is after Rodolphe breaks up with Emma, she goes to the theatre and thrusts herself into a dreamed life with the main character of the play: “she tried to imagine his life…the life that could have been hers, if only fate had willed it so. They would have met, they would have loved!” (Flaubert, 209). In order to help herself get over Rodolphe, she has to reimagine a life with another man. The second follows Emma fretting breaking up with Leon, as she no longer tolerate him. As she’s writing another love letter to Leon, she creates an imaginary lover to write to. Creating a man from her favorite novels, a man so perfectly imagined she could practically feel him.
Emma took place in small town called Highbury in 18th century England. During the time period set in the novel, there was a definite social rank, or hierarchy. Almost all of the scenes in the book take place in or around the estates of the characters. Their property mostly determined their social status. This setting has significance to the storyline, because of the social rank. Emma, who is constantly trying to play matchmaker, tries to convince her friend Harriet to marry someone of a higher class than her current love, a farmer. The characters are very aware of their status, and can be discriminating towards people of a lower class, such as the farmer. The book was most likely set in this place and time in order to include the conflicts of a hierarchal society.
But despite being 'put off' by some of her less becoming attributes, these are the characteristics which make Emma so unique as a heroine and by the end of the novel the readers too, rejoice in the "perfect happiness of the union" between Emma and Mr Knightley. Works Cited and Consulted Austen, Jane. A. Emma. 1972. The.
...ssions that art exaggerated.” (2/15 p.236), Emma cannot free herself from the vicious circle of imagination and reality. Therefore, confusing the imagination with the reality at some points Emma searches for reality in her imaginations up until her death.