Emma By Jane Austen
In this essay, I will select three chapters in the novel that helps
us, understand what is happening in the novel, appreciate the
characters more fully, appreciate the writers skill, learn about 19th
century life and to understand the writers purpose. The three chapters
that I will be using are chapter one, two and forty-two.
There is a reasonable quantity of places mentioned in the novel, all
the residents' houses help us appreciate their owners' wealth and
their social status.
The Woodhouses' consist of Emma and her father, Mr Woodhouse. They
live at Hartfield, in Highbury; a reasonably small town, described as
a 'stones throw away from London' but this was still a somewhat long
distance in those days and when travelled would be classed as a
'trip'. Emma was a 'handsome, clever and rich girl. She was the
younger of two sisters; the other had married and moved away from
home. Her mother had died 'too long ago to remember.' From the age of
five, 'Miss Taylor' was the governess of Emma and for no longer than
sixteen years she cared and looked after her, until Miss Taylor got
married to Mr Weston. Mr Woodhouse is extremely obsessive about his
health, 'a valetudinarian all his life, without activity of mind and
body, he was a much older man in many ways than in years; and
everywhere beloved for the friendliness of his heart and amiable
temper.'
Mr Knightly lives in Donwell Abbey. Mr Knightly was 'a sensible man
about seven and thirty.' He was an old acquaintance of the
Woodhouse's. He lived around a mile from Highbury. Mr Knightly was
always cheerful, which always gave others a good impression of him.
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... Jane Austen's views on marriage are very strong, she said things like
'I consider everyone as having the right to marry once in their lives
for love, if they can.' This clearly shows that Austen believes that
you should marry for love and not for wealth. She has also said
'Single women have a dreadful propensity for being poor, which is a
very strong case in favour of wedlock, Austen shows here that the
status of women is very low and they have to get married to gain
wealth and status, they can't make that wealth and status themselves.
The settings throughout the novel give us a vibrant representation of
the life in a small 19th century village. Austen makes a well-written
and witty novel about marriage and social status of the day come to
life to give interest about a straightforward and everyday thing,
marriage.
About the Author Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 at Steventon, England. She was the seventh child of the rector of the parish at Steventon, and lived with her family until they moved to Bath when her father retired in 1801. Her father, Reverend George Austen, was from Kent and attended the Tunbridge School before studying at Oxford and receiving a living as a rector at Steventon. Her mother, Cassandra Leigh Austen, was the daughter of a patrician family. Among her siblings she had
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author than Jane Austen; an author whose fanbase continues to flourish to this day. The fans of Jane Austen, known as janeites, have been known to be completely infatuated by all of the works and facts associated with this 19th century English author. So infatuated that Janeites have created the first instance of a subculture in media, which they would focus on this one author, and no more. Janeites have wished to separate themselves with the rest of the literary world, creating the Jane Austen society