Not So Innocent

I look back on Emma and realize that Jane Austen actually had to think a lot harder than I thought she had to in the beginning. In the first volume, the context, plot, and characters were being developed and I was more focused on those characteristics than the actual underlying events that were occurring. I started to realize how well Austen’s style of writing was in the second and third volume when I noticed that I was thinking exactly what Emma was thinking. Looking back on the first and second volume, I realize that I missed a lot of important things, and this exemplified how Austen was considered one of the best authors of the time period.

One of the things that I took away from the seminar though was a different perspective on Mr. Woodhouse. He was always a timid and frightened character that I always saw as a small underlying character. Throughout the seminar though I realized that he was actually very influential in how he manipulated and got his point across.

Emma remained in the house and was determined to be an “old maid” simply because she could not leave her father. Mr. Woodhouse always had people come over whenever HE wanted them to come over. And whenever there was a party or outing, he was always ensured that special events or places were set up for him. Whenever news came in, Emma always had to ensure that her father would not be unsettled by it. Mr. Wood house’s character used all of these techniques to ensure that Emma would stay with him and that others would do as he wanted them to do.

He didn’t want Ms. Taylor to leave and continued to call her “poor Ms. Taylor” because she had to leave his household. Although she was leaving for a happy future he continued to lament about this because she went against what he wanted, which rarely occurs.

Also when Emma decides to marry Mr. Knightley, Mr. Woodhouse is deeply opposed. In marrying Mr. Knightley, Emma would be leaving his household and moving in with another man. He would be left alone, which is ironic because they have plenty of money for them to pay for an individual to come live in the house and take care of Mr. Woodhouse. In the end though, Mr. Woodhouse gets his way because Emma and Mr. Knightley end up living in his own house (he never loses Emma).

This realization was very important to me, because it helped me open my thoughts to other characters throughout the book that I didn’t see as major figures. This also showed the complexity of the novel as a whole and opened my point of view on Emma.  

The End of Emma

The ending of Emma, by Jane Austen, was very disappointing to me. I suspected from the beginning the ties and relationships that were going to occur, and in the end, all of my presumptions were correct. I do not enjoy knowing exactly what is going to occur in a novel in the very beginning chapters of the first volume. Ms. Clinch explained it to me though, that in every romantic comedy, no matter the time period, a specific archetype is followed. There are almost always two people that “shouldn’t” or do not want to be together, and then something climatic happens, and in the end, the fall desperately in love with each other, ending the novel or movie. This allowed me to view the ending of the novel in a better light, and I was happier after today’s class.

The most obvious relationship was that of Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax. My first inclination came when they were discussing that Jane and Mr. Churchill had met earlier. Jane quickly changed the topic and did not discuss that matter further. This sparked my suspicion, and after that I was on the lookout for facts that they were in a secret relationship. The next suspicion came when Jane received the piano forte. This came from a secret lover, which sparked everyone’s intrigue. Like Emma though, I began to consider if maybe the secret lover was Mr. Dixon, who was travelling in Ireland at the time. But then I realized that Mr. Churchill was not present. He had departed from Highbury to London, and was not present at the party at the Coles. Although this was not valid evidence, it seemed questionable that he was not there and then suddenly this lovely piano arrived.

The next hint was the largest for me that clinched the fact that they were in a secret relationship. When Frank Churchill at the gathering asked to play with the alphabet he only made one notable word for Jane and that word was blunder. Before this part of the scene, Frank had observed that Mr. Perry did not have a carriage and that he had thought that he was planning on it. Mrs. Bates observes that this was true, but that it was only told to them and it was to remain a secret. Only she and Jane knew about it. He then says this to her in the form of one word later when they are playing with the letters. Jane and Frank must have been in contact with one another quite frequently for this to have arisen in their conversations. This was not a formal letter, or else more important discussions would have taken place. Because these letters must have been constant, small things were talked about like whether or not Mr. Perry was going to pay for a carriage.

All of these facts were not as obvious to Emma though, until she walked to the Weston’s’ house and was told of this engagement. Although she believed that she was to have a relationship with Frank (even though she wanted to remain an old maid), he showed many instances of love for Jane, and although he flirted with Emma, he meant none of it.