In Jane Austen’s social class and coming of age novel, Emma, the relationships between irony, insight and education are based upon the premise of the character of Emma Woodhouse herself. The persona of Emma is portrayed through her ironic and naive tone as she is perceived as a character that seems to know everything, which brings out the comedic disparities of ironies within the narrative. Emma is seen as a little fish in a larger pond, a subject of manipulating people in order to reflect her own perceptions and judgments. Her education is her moral recognition to love outside her own sheltered fancies and her understandings of her society as a whole.
Within the novel, Jane Austen’s exploits of irony are shown linked throughout Emma’s notions of love and the real within her own society. Emma’s lack of education on the concepts of love is quite evident within her apathy towards Frank Churchill as her opinions are deeply rooted within her own affections, as she states, “Emma continued to entertain no doubt of her being in love. Her ideas only varied as to the how much. At first, she thought it was a good deal; and afterwards, but little. She had great pleasure in hearing Frank Churchill talked of; and for his sake, greater pleasure than ever in seeing Mr. and Mrs. Weston; she was very often thinking of him. But, on the other hand, she could not admit herself to be unhappy, nor, after the first morning, to be less disposed for employment than usual; she was still busy and cheerful; and, pleasing as he was, she could yet imagine him to have faults,” (Austen 264). Emma’s sketch of Harriet is another illustration of irony surrounded by Emma’s arrogance as it does not portray an accurate depiction of Harriet as Emma has altered ...
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...ghtley humbles Emma and makes her rethink her rude and insensitive treatment of others.
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.
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.
Emma increases in humility throughout the novel. In Volume 1, Emma is saddened that her friend Miss Taylor has recently gotten married, because now she will have no one to talk to. She is happy that she made a match for Miss Taylor but admits that “the want of Miss Taylor would be felt every hour of every day” (2-3) . This attitude of selfishness diminishes as Emma matures, and by the end of the novel Emma’s focus is more on others than herself. Emma’s newfound selflessness is evident in Volume 3 when she is trying to decide if she should accept Mr. Knightley’s proposal. She carefully considers the effects of her decision on her father as well as Harriet, wanting to “guard the comfort of both to the utmost” (285). Emma does not want to hurt her relationship with Harriet any more than she already has and wishes only to “spare her from any unne...
Johnson, Claudia Durst, ed. Issues of Class in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
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 was fooled by what she thought was love with Frank but she also found herself comparing Frank to Mr. Knightley (Austen 176-183). She goes on with a debate with herself trying to compare the two men, it is like she is trying to compare which man is nicer, wittier, more handsome, and which one she connects with. At the end of the novel Emma ends up falling in love with Mr. Knightley. Emma could not have allowed herself to fall in love if it were not for the experiences she had gone through. She had a self revaluation in the novel that made her realize that is what her heart wants, to find love with a man who knows her in’s and out’s. Jane Austen uses this a lot in the novel, for Emma she took a social issue and made that the main character’s objective to get past. In this case, Emma was fighting feminism and fighting to be independent in the nineteenth century (Samina np). She lived twenty one years thinking she did not need a man in her life but by thinking this way she caused a lot of problems getting involved in other’s lives.
In the term of realism, Emma’s society value view represented the problematic old society. Austen was very suspicious to sustain the significance of social class construction in “Emma.” The exi...
... But in fact her powers and beauty cannot change the foundation of her society. Emma’s circumscription within the boundaries of her class kept her world under control. This prevents her from considering another society beyond her existence. The confusion from her failed attempts with Harriet due to her guidance, allows her to embrace reality. Jane Austen uses Emma’s character to reveal the quality in the structures of the nineteenth century society. Based on the conclusion of the novel, when Emma is forced to look beyond the limited power and beauty she has and acknowledge the existing order and structure of the early nineteenth century English society.
England, under James 1st rule was a vastly altered period compared to our now modern society. So many of the values held during this time, have now been discarded and forgotten. Jane Austen grew up in the Romantic period and experienced a world which was divided, whether through education, class, status, fashion, abilities, gender and etiquette. Her novel, Pride and Prejudice is counted as one of the great classics of English Literature. Austen engrosses readers to live in her world for a time and experience a society filled with matchmaking, romance, marriage and gossip. Every one of her characters is so distinctive and has a clearly outlined caricature. Each of their diverse values conveys a different thinking of the time. Pride and Prejudice is preoccupied with the gentry and most of the social aspects which consumed these people’s lives. There were so many expectations of how you would behave in public, but of course not all of these were upheld. Elizabeth Bennet, Mr Darcy, Mrs Bennet and Charlotte Lucas are four characters which keep such strong beliefs about the social norms. These characters are expressed so descriptively and through their personalities readers can learn just how the numerous social standards were received.
middle of paper ... ... During his first marriage, Mr. Weston experiences troubles with his wife because of the social class difference, resulting in their fall out. His marriage’s failure epitomizes this theme for people in Emma’s society who were confined to their social class and if one were to move too far away from their class, “an unsuitable connection, and did not produce much happiness” (Austen, Emma 12). As President Lincoln once said, “Character is like a tree and its shadow is its reputation.
...f society and the desire to marry into a higher class, she is able to expose her own feelings toward her society through her characters. Through Marianne and Elinor she displays a sense of knowing the rules of society, what is respectable and what is not, yet not always accepting them or abiding by them. Yet, she hints at the triviality and fakeness of the society in which she lived subtly and clearly through Willoughby, John Dashwood and Edward Ferrars. Austen expertly reveals many layers to the 19th century English society and the importance of having both sense and sensibility in such a shallow system.
Emma Woodhouse tries to use her influence to manipulate everyone around to her likings, and she only accepts the advice of mentors who agree with her. Emma knows that she is clever, and, having grown up as the smartest person among in Hartfield, she is continually being praised for her wit. As Mr. Knightley told Mrs. Weston, “Considering how very handsome she is, appears to be little occupied with it; her vanity lies another way” (33). She believes herself to be in the right without considering any other possibilities, or she rationalizes those possibilities away. More often than not, she is wrong.
...ied about his intentions during the entire novel, no one truly knows him. Frank’s uncle, Mr. Churchill is inferior to his wife in regards of control. Throughout the novel the reader hears more about his wife than they hear about him. Their relationship represents complete switch of the traditional idea of man being superior to woman. The Knightleys however, John and Isabella, are purely conventional and are ideal couple for Nineteenth Century society’s times. Mr. Elton does not represent true gentility while Mr. Weston too gentle. Although all of these characters have their flaws, Austen finds her perfect figure in George Knightley. His infallible nature is unrealistic, yet it gives society the ultimate gentleman to aspire for. Austen’s Emma is more than a comedic novel of manners but also a quintessential piece that fits perfectly into the lives of today’s society.
...Emma’s voice in order to relate the inside ideology, while simultaneously using a somewhat ironic third-person narrative voice in order to provide critical social commentary on the social attitudes of the Highbury society depicted in Emma. Emma’s voice allows the reader to gain an unadultered insight into the lives of the people of Highbury, providing the narrative with a Austen uses a somewhat similar dichotomous technique in Persuasion, in which she splits the novel into two halves -- one in which advocates for the traditional system of formality, and another that works to eradicate the very same system that she extolled so highly in the first half. Under the deceptive guise of “political inaction,” Austen actually provides commentary on the underlying social and political issues that pervade the novel through the literary technique of heteroglossia (Parker 359).
Emma by Jane Austen Setting Emma took place in a 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 determines their social status.
In Jane Austen's Emma the eponymous heroine is "handsome, clever, and rich" but she also suffers from arrogance and self-deception. With the good judgement of Mr Knightley, and her own self scrutiny, Emma experiences a movement of psyche, from arrogance and vanity through the humiliation of self knowledge to clarity of judgement and fulfilment in marriage. The tone of the novel and the episodes where Emma is self deceived progresses from the light comedy of Mr Elton's gallantry and the eventual mortification to the sombre depression of Emma's belief that she has ruined her own chances of happiness by bringing Mr Knightley and Harriet together. Although at times the reader is able to laugh at her mistakes, as she moves slowly and uncertainly to self knowledge and maturity, the reader, like Mr Knightley, comes to take her seriously, for in the novel serious moral and social issues are dealt with, issues which directly concern her. While we may be 'put off' by her mistakes, and flights of illogical fancy, these are also the very qualities which endear her to us.