Jane Austen: Emma
Pagani & Nastasia
 Introduction
Biography ( life and works) ( chronology)
 Plot ( point out the phases)
 Character analysis ( personality and relationship)
 Commentary ( critical analysis)
Conclusions ( underline what is relevant + personal appreciation)
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 Introduction
Emma is a novel about young and snobbish attitudes and love stories. The novel was first published in December 1815.
 Biography
16 December 1775 : Jane Austen was born in Steventon Rectory, Hampshire, England by close-knit family located on the
lower social class of the English landed gentry. Austen's family was large: six brothers called James, George, Edward, Henry
Thomas, Francis William, Charles John and one sister, Cassandra Elizabeth, who, like Jane, died unmarried.
1782 : the family and close friends started to stage a series of plays and she joined in these activities, as a spectator at first
and as a participant when she was older.
1783 : according to family tradition, Jane and Cassandra were sent to Oxford to be educated by Mrs. Ann Cawley. Both girls
caught thypus and Jane nearly died.
1785 : Jane left her home for boarding school with her sister after being educated at home for two years.
December 1786 : Jane and Cassandra had returned home because the Austens could not afford to send both of their
daughters to school.
1787 : she began to write poems, stories, and plays for her own and her family's pleasure. 29 of these early works are now
referred to as the Juvenilia, containing pieces written between 1787 and 1793.
1793 : Jane began and then abandoned a short play, later entitled Sir Charles Grandison or the happy Man, a comedy in 6
acts, which she returned to and completed around 1800: this was a parody of various school textbook abridgments of
Austen's favourite contemporary novel, The History of Sir Charles Grandison, by Samuel Richardson.
She began to write longer, more sophisticated works. She started writing Lady Susan, a short epistolary novel.
1795 : She finished writing Lady Susan.
1796 : Jane began to write her first full-length novel, Elinor and Marianne.
She also began work on a second novel, First Impressions.
August 1797 : She completed the initial draft of First Impressions when she was only 21.
November 1797 :Austen returned to Elinor and Marianne, revised it deeply; she eliminated the epistolary format in favour
of third-person.
1798 : after finishing revisions of Elinor and Marianne, Austen began writing a third novel with the title Susan, later
Northanger Abbey, a satire on the popular Gothic novel.
1799 : Jane finished Northanger Abbey.
December 1800 : the family moved to Bath and Jane was shocked. She began and then abandoned a new novel, The
Watsons.
December 1802 : an old friends' young brother proposed to Jane and she accepted: he was called Harris Bigg-Wither. But
by the next morning, Austen realised she had made a mistake and withdrew her acceptance.
1804 : Jane started but did not complete a new novel, The Watsons.
21 January 1805 : her father died and she chose to stop work on the novel.
Winter 1805 : Jane wrote her fair copy of 'Lady Susan' and added its conclusion.
October 1811 : Elinor and Marianne was published as Sense and Sensibility.
January 1813 : Pride and Prejudice, a revision of First Impressions was published .
May 1814 : Mansfield Park was published.
November 1815 : Austen should dedicate the forthcoming Emma to the Prince Regent.
She later wrote Plan of a Novel, according to hints from various quarters, a satiric outline of the "perfect novel"
1816 : Emma was published. Jane began to write a new novel she titled The Elliots, later published as Persuasion. Jane
Austen began to feel unwell, but she continued to work in spite of her illness.
July 1816 : She completed her first draft of The Elliots.
6 August 1816 : She finished The Elliots after rewriting the final two chapters.
1817 : Persuasion was published. Northanger Abbey was published.
January 1817 : Austen began work on a new novel she called The Brothers, later titled Sanditon upon its first publication in
1925.
March 1817 : she stopped working probably because her illness prevented her from continuing.
May 1817 : her brothers escorted Jane to Winchester for medical treatment.
18 July 1817 : Jane Austen died in Winchester, Hampshire, England at the age of 41.
 Plot
Emma Woodhouse is a rich, pretty, and intelligent woman on the estate of Hartfield in Surrey in the village of Highbury.
She’s twenty-one years old and she has got a hypochondriac father and an elder sister called Isabella.
At the beginning of the novel there’s a wedding between Miss Taylor, Emma's best friend and former governess, and Mr
Weston. She started matchmaking having met and made fall in love Miss Taylor and Mr. Weston.
Emma's friend is the gentleman George Knightley, her neighbour from the estate of Donwell, and the brother of her sister
Isabella's husband, John. Against his advice, Emma tries to match her new friend Harriet Smith, a sweet, pretty, but
orphaned girl, to Mr. Elton, the local vicar. But first Emma must persuade Harriet to refuse an advantageous marriage
proposal from an educated and well-spoken young farmer, Robert Martin: Emma snobbishly decides he isn't good enough
for Harriet. Against her own wishes, the easily-influenced Harriet rejects Mr. Martin. Then Mr Elton, thinking Emma is in
love with him, proposes to her. Mr Knightley had suggested that Mr. Elton's attentions were really directed at her, but she
had misunderstood the signs. Emma tells Mr. Elton that she had thought him attached to Harriet, but Mr Elton is outraged
at the idea of marrying the socially inferior Harriet. After Emma’s refusal, he leaves for a sojourn in Bath, and Emma
decides to interfere less in people's lives. He soon returns from Bath with a pretentious wife, Augusta Elton, and the two
women soon loathe each other. The Eltons treat Harriet deplorably: Mr Elton publicly snobbing Harriet at a dance and Mr
Knightley, who had until this moment refrained from dancing, gallantly steps in to partner Harriet.
Then in the neighbourhood arrives the handsome and charming Frank Churchill, Mr. Weston's son, who had been given to
his dead wife's brother and his wife, the Churchills, to be grown up. All the neighbourhood is excited because of his arrival,
except Mr. Knightley, who becomes irritable whenever his name is mentioned and suggests to Emma that Frank is smart
and engaging, but he is also an improper guy. Mr. and Miss Weston want Frank to marry Emma, but he has a secret love
story with Jane Farfaix during all the novel: she is the reserved, beautiful, and elegant niece of Emma's neighbour, Miss
Bates. Jane had lived with Miss Bates until she was nine, when Colonel Campbell, a friend of her father's, welcomed her
into his own home. Now Miss Campbell is married, and Jane has returned to her Bates relations to living as a governess
somewhere. She plays the piano very well and Emma, because of her jealousy, tries to find a defect in Jane and she
supposes that Jane loves the Colonel’s daughter’s husband, so Jane goes back to her aunt. This suspicion comes from the
fact that somebody unknown gives a piano to Jane.
Emma tries to make herself fall in love with Frank because almost everyone seems to expect it. Frank appears to be
courting Emma and both start flirting, but when his ill aunt, Mrs. Churchill, calls Frank home, Emma discovers she does not
miss her lover. Then Mr. Weston tells Emma that he thought that George Knightley loves Jane and Emma says that Mr.
Knightley can’t get married because of the inheritance, that would go to his nephew Henry. Later it is announced that Jane
has accepted a governess arrangement from one of Mrs. Elton's friends. When Frank’s aunt dies, the secrets behind Jane
and Frank are revealed, and Emma discovers that once again she has been wrong. Next, Harriet tells Emma that Mr.
Knightley has captured her heart, and she believes he returns her feelings. Emma realizes that she has long been in love
with Mr. Knightley, so she is jealous. When he comes back to Highbury to console Emma because of the loss of Frank
Churchill, she discovers that he is also in love with her. He proposes and she gladly accepts. With encouragement from Mr.
Knightley, the farmer, Robert Martin, proposes to Harriet again, and this time she accepts. So at the end of the story there
are three weddings to arrange: between Jane and Frank Churchill, Harriet and Robert Martin, Emma Woodhouse, the
mistress of Hartfield, and George Knightley, the master of Donwell.
 Character analysis
Emma Woodhouse, the main character of the story, is a beautiful, exuberant and intelligent young woman. Her mother
died when she was very young, so she was spoiled by her hypochondriac father and Miss Taylor. Emma makes some
serious mistakes, mainly thinking that she is always right. Although she has sworn she will never ever marry, she likes
matchmaking for others. She seems unable to fall in love, until she realises at the end that she has been in love with Mr.
Knightley all the time.
George Knightley, is a close friend of Emma, and her only critic. Mr. Knightley is the owner of the estate of Donwell Abbey.
He is the elder brother of Mr. John Knightley, the husband of Emma's elder sister Isabella. Mr. Knightley is irritated with
Emma for persuading Harriet to refuse Mr. Martin; he also guesses that Mr. Elton is in love with Emma. He is jealous when
Frank Churchill flirts with Emma because of his love for her.
Frank Churchill, Mr. Weston's son by his previous marriage, is an amiable young man. After his mother's death, he was
raised by his aunt and uncle. Frank enjoys dancing and music and he has a secret love story with Jane Farfaix during all the
novel.
Jane Fairfax, an orphan who lives with her aunt, Miss Bates, and her grandmother, Mrs. Bates. She is a very beautiful,
clever and elegant woman and is also talented at singing and playing the piano; she is destined to become a governess – a
prospect she dislikes.
Harriet Smith, Emma's young friend, is a very pretty girl who Emma takes under her wing at the beginning of the novel.
Harriet initially refuses a marriage proposal from farmer Robert Martin because of Emma's belief that he isn't the best for
her. Then she falls in love with Mr Knightley, but at the end of the novel Mr. Martin and Harriet will be married.
Philip Elton is a good-looking and ambitious young vicar. Emma wants him to marry Harriet, but he wants Emma to marry
him. Mr. Elton displays his bad nature by quickly marrying another woman because of Emma's refusal.
Mrs. Anne Weston was Emma's governess for sixteen years and her closest friend and confidante after she marries Mr.
Weston. She is a sensible woman who idolises Emma and thinks that she is a perfect beauty.
Augusta Elton Is a vulgar woman; she is the Philip Elton’s new wife.
Mrs. Anne Weston is Emma’s governess and best friend.
Mr. Weston is Anne’s husband.
Miss Bates is a lady; she is Jane Fairfax’s aunt.
Mr. Henry Woodhouse is Emma’s father; he is an hypochondriac.
Isabella Knightley is Emma’s elder sister; she marries John Knightley.
John Knightley is Isabella’s husband and George Knightley’s brother.
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COMMENTARY
Emma Woodhouse is the first Austen heroine with no financial concerns, and this is a great departure from Austen's other
novels, in which the quest for marriage and financial security are often important themes in the stories. Emma's ample
financial resources put her in a much more privileged position than the heroines of Austen's earlier works.
Emma is structured around marriages recently consummated or anticipated and the match between the characters. In
Austen’s time the social status was determined by a combination of family background, reputation and wealth, and
marriage was one of the main ways in which one could raise one’s social status. This method of social advancement was
especially central to women, who were deprived of the possibility of improving their status through hard work or personal
achievement.
The novel suggests that marrying too far above oneself leads to trouble. 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, but the inequality of
the relationship caused adversity to both. He marries Mrs. Weston in the novel’s opening, and this second marriage is
happier because their social statuses are more equal.
Emma’s attempt to match Harriet with Mr. Elton is also considered inappropriate by the other characters . Emma believes
that Harriet may have noble blood and encourages her to reject Robert Martin, but by the time it is revealed that Harriet
is the daughter of a tradesman, Emma admits that Mr. Martin is more suitable for her friend. The relationship between
marriage and social status creates hardship for other characters. For example Frank Churchill must keep his engagement
to the orphan Jane Fairfax secret because his wealthy aunt would disapprove. 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.
Emma Woodhouse thinks about the wedding only in terms of financial problems and social ambition. I think that in some
cases Emma is very similar to Elizabeth Bennet: she is genuinely surprised and somewhat disgusted when Mr. Elton
declares his love for her, like Lizy when Mr Collins proposes to her. It is only after Harriet Smith reveals her interest in Mr.
Knightley that Emma realises her own feelings for him, similar to Elizabeth’s reaction when Mr Darcy confesses her his
feelings.
While Emma differs strikingly from Austen's other heroines in these respect, she resembles them in another way: she is an
intelligent young woman with too little to do and no ability to change her location or everyday routine. Though her family
is loving and her economic status secure, Emma's everyday life is dull indeed; she has few companions her own age when
the novel begins. Her determined though inept matchmaking may represent a muted protest against the narrow scope of
a wealthy woman's life, especially that of a woman who is single and childless.
Emma has a great deal of intelligence and energy, but the best use she can make of these is to attempt to guide the
marital destinies of her friends, a project that gets her into trouble. The alternative pastimes seem relatively trivial, at
times even monotonous. Isabella is the only mother focused on in the story, and her representation suggests that a
mother’s life offers a woman little use of her intellect. Yet, when Jane compares the governess profession to the slave
trade, she makes it clear that the life of a working woman is in no way preferable to the laziness of a woman of fortune.
The novel focuses on marriage because marriage offers women a chance to exert their power, if only for a brief time, and
to affect their own destinies without adopting the labours or efforts of the working class. Accepting or rejecting proposals
is perhaps the most active role that women are permitted to play in Emma’s world.
The novel offers how people can be blinded by imagination. Emma cannot understand the motives that guide Mr. Elton’s
behaviour because she imagines that he is in love with Harriet. Meanwhile, Mr. Elton’s feelings for Emma cause him to
mistake her behaviour for encouragement. The generally infallible Mr. Knightley cannot form an impartial judgment of
Frank Churchill because he is jealous of Frank’s claim on Emma, and Emma speaks cruelly of Jane because her vanity
makes her jealous of her. Emma invents an attachment between Harriet and Frank and doesn't see that Harriet actually
has feelings for Knightley. At the same time, Frank’s desire to use Emma as a screen for his real preference causes him to
believe mistakenly that she is conscious of the situation between him and Jane. The admirable, frequently ironic
detachment of the narrator allows us to see many of these misunderstandings before the characters do, and the plot is
powered by a series of realizations that permit each character to make fuller, more objective judgments.
 CONCLUSIONS
In our personal opinion, the story is full of troubles that make Emma's life engaging, however all the love stories in the
novel aren't as romantic as we had imagined. We would have preferred that the principal love story had more depth and
was more romantic.
Austen knew how to write about her contemporary age and now we can notice the differences between our different
ways of life. However, Emma is far from the idea of what female main character used to be like, usually romantic, frail and
focused on the importance of getting married, but she is also different from woman in Regency England, because she
doesn't think about herself but only about the others' lives.
Also, Emma is an interesting novel because in many parts the story evolves with unexpected events, like when Mr Elton
confesses to Emma that he is interested in her and not in Harriet, or when we know that Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax
have a secret love story and finally when Emma realizes that she loves Mr Knightley, although initially she claimed she
didn't want to get married.
Finally, we think that Jane Austen is a capable writer, because she wrote clearly each step of the story, so in every moment
the development of the plot was understandable by readers.