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$Unique_ID{bob01232}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Works of Jane Austen
Emma: Chapters 1 - 13}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Austen, Jane}
$Affiliation{Instructor Of English, Rutgers University}
$Subject{emma
harriet
knightley
elton
harriet's
emma's
martin
chapter
weston
father}
$Date{}
$Log{}
Title: Works of Jane Austen
Book: Emma
Author: Austen, Jane
Critic: Fitzpatrick, William J.
Affiliation: Instructor Of English, Rutgers University
Emma: Chapters 1 - 13
Chapter 1
"Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and
happy disposition seemed to unite some of the blessings of existence; and had
lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex
her." Because her older sister is married and her mother dead, Emma is the
mistress of her father's house. She has been brought up by a governess who has
let her have her own way, and Emma has "a disposition to think a little too
well of herself." Her former governess of sixteen years, Miss Taylor, has
recently married Mr. Weston - a pleasant, easy-going man. Emma and her father,
however, very much regret losing the company of Miss Taylor, even though, as
Mrs. Weston, she is now living only half a mile away. (But Emma is somewhat
consoled by the thought that she had promoted the match.)
Mr. Woodhouse is a "valetudinarian" - a man who exaggerates his sickly
constitution, whose chief concern and anxiety is his health and comfort.
Furthermore, he is generally opposed to marriage because it disturbs settled
situations. Emma's older sister, Isabella, is married, has five children and
lives at Brunswick Square in London, sixteen miles from Hartfield. Hartfield,
the Woodhouse residence, is in the village of Highbury, where Emma has no
equal for cleverness and wit. Emma tries to console her father, who complains
about losing Miss Taylor to Mr. Weston. That evening, Mr. George Knightley,
elder brother of Isabella's husband, calls on the Woodhouses. Mr. Knightley,
who is thirty-seven or eight years old, lives about a mile from Highbury at
Donwell Abbey and is the first gentleman of the vicinity. Mr. Knightley
congratulates the Woodhouses on Miss Taylor's good fortune.
Mr. Knightley is the only person in town who presumes to criticize Emma.
Emma brags to Mr. Knightley that at least she has the consolation of knowing
that she planned the marriage herself between her former governess and Mr.
Weston, who had been a self-contented widower so long. But Mr. Knightley
rebukes her, saying that she only made a lucky guess and that anyway she has
no business wasting her time trying to bring about marriages. He insists that
interference in the lives of others can bring only harm to Emma.
Mr. Woodhouse says that Emma never thinks of herself if she can do good
to others. Emma then goes on to say that she wants to find a wife for Mr.
Elton, the village priest (Anglican Church). Mr. Knightley warns her to leave
him alone, for a man can take care of himself.
Comment:
In this chapter we learn the basic faults of Emma's character. Because,
with her superior wit and will, she dominates Highbury, because she is the
mistress of her household and of her rather simple-minded father, because she
has been "a spoiled child," she tends to be a proud, self-willed, vain, and
dominating young woman (and remember, she is not yet twenty-one). We also
learn the basic motive of the plot -that is, Emma's meddling in the lives of
others through matchmaking. The reader should take note of Mr. Knightley's
warnings (his chief role in the novel is that of Emma's critic and educator).
As the novel goes on, the reader will see the unconscious irony in Mr.
Woodhouse's remarking that Emma "never thinks of herself if she can do good to
others."
Chapter II
Mr. Weston is a gentleman and a retired military man. His deceased wife
was a member of a great Yorkshire family, the Churchills. Miss Churchill's
brother and his wife would have nothing to do with the young couple because
they did not consider Mr. Weston a good "connection." Captain Weston's wife
died, however, after three years of marriage, and left him with a little boy.
When Mr. and Mrs. Churchill offered to bring up young Frank, Mr. Weston
consented because of the advantages of wealth and position he would have, and
sent him to live permanently with them. Although he continued to meet his
father every year in London, he grew up to adopt the name of Churchill and
became his childless uncle's heir. In the intervening years, Mr. Weston had
left the army, engaged in trade (business) and was able eventually to retire
on a decent income and to purchase Randalls, a small estate near Highbury,
before he married Miss Taylor.
Mr. Weston's boasts of his son have made Frank Churchill (who is about
twenty-three or four) well thought of and talked about in Highbury even though
he has never visited there. But now that his father has gotten married, he
wrote to say that he would come to visit him and his new bride.
Chapter III
Mr. Woodhouse enjoys having a few friends in for dinners and evening
parties. The Westons, Mr. Knightley, and Mr. Elton come very frequently. Also
Miss Bates and her mother, Mrs. Bates, and Mrs. Goddard (who ran a school for
girls in town) are frequently invited. Mrs. Bates is the widow of a former
vicar (pastor) of Highbury and is beginning to approach senility. She lives
with her daughter, Miss Bates, who is "neither young, handsome, rich, nor
married." She is a happy, amiable woman, in spite of her gossip,
scatter-brained run-on talk, and trivial intelligence. Although these three
ladies kept her father good company, they could afford Emma no pleasure.
One day, Mrs. Goddard brings Harriet Smith with her to Hartfield. Emma is
happy to make the acquaintance of this pretty and well-behaved young girl of
seventeen, who is the illegitimate daughter of an unknown person who
anonymously maintains her as a boarder at Mrs. Goddard's school. Impressed
with Harriet's deference to her, Emma decides to undertake Harriet's
"improvement." She decides to separate her from her friends, the Martin
family, who rent a farm from Mr. Knightley. Mere farmers would be unworthy in
manners and elegance for a friend of Emma's.
Comment:
Emma's decision to take charge of Harriet's social life derives from her
boredom, her vanity at Harriet's being impressed by her, and the joy she gets
in exercising her power to mold another's life.
Chapter IV
Harriet Smith soon becomes a steady visitor at Hartfield, always ready
to be guided by Emma. Mrs. Weston, on the other hand, remains Emma's true
friend with whom she is on terms of singular intimacy and equality.
Harriet does not know who her real parents are, and Emma is unable to
find out. She does discover that she spent two months at the Martins' (at
Abbey-Mill Farm). When Emma finds out that Mr. Martin is young and unmarried
and that Harriet is very impressed by him, she decides to "save" Harriet from
marrying "beneath" her. Mr. Martin appears to be an intelligent, practical
man who reads the Agricultural Reports and Oliver Goldsmith but has not wasted
his time reading the superficial romances (Romances of the Forest, The
Children of the Abbey) that Harriet knows. Emma informs Harriet that she would
have nothing to do with "yeomanry," in an effort to give Harriet the
impression that farmers are beneath her. Emma reminds Harriet that she is a
gentleman's daughter and, therefore, should be careful not to degrade herself
by associating with the woman Mr. Martin will marry, for in all likelihood he
will marry an inferior person. She should stay away from odd acquaintances.
The next day Emma and Harriet meet Mr. Martin while out walking. Harriet
asks Emma what she thinks of him, and is told that he is "remarkably plain"
and wants "gentility" (graceful and elegant manners and bearing). Emma advises
her that he is a "very inferior creature." Emma invites Harriet to compare
Mr. Martin with Mr