Shanon Murphy- Blog Post #5

Emma’s Happily Ever After  

~Blog Post #5~

Topic E. 

May 15, 2015

By: Shanon Murphy 

Throughout Emma by Jane Austen, particular settings play a big role in the plots and outcomes of scenes. For example, the society and time period in which Emma lives in significantly impacts the decisions that she and other characters make throughout the book. Other settings, such as dinner parties, often give readers more insight into the personality and development of characters as they grow throughout the book. In the final chapter of Emma, Emma’s growth throughout the story is captured, along with her future.

 By the end of the story, Emma turns back to her old ways of judging people based on their class without giving any thought about their personality. Once she realizes Harriet’s father does not have a high social status, Emma comes to the fact that “their friendship must change into a calmer sort of good-will” (436). Emma, who had once been great friends with Harriet, now will let Harriet’s family background break the strong relationship they formed. Emma has not changed immensely since the beginning of the book. She has gone back and forth between being vain and judgmental to being caring and compassionate. Along with that example, the relationship growth between Mr. Woodhouse and Emma is also depicted in this setting. Mr. Woodhouse, “who had never yet alluded to marriage but as a distasteful event” has always been opposed to marriage (437). In this scene, his fear of marriage is displayed; however, his fear of robbery overrules this opposition and he eventually accepts Emma’s marriage. This shows Mr. Woodhouse can always be persuaded anyway by using fear. Overall, this scene shows the development of characters and their future plans, such as who is marrying who.

The scene of the final Emma chapter ends in typical comedic style with numerous marriages. This setting gives insight into the thoughts of the characters and allows readers to guess what will happen next. It gives readers a hint that the characters will all lead a good life once they are married.

Grace Morabito - Blog Post #5

The Proposal

~Blog Post #5~

Topic E

May 15, 2015

By Grace Morabito

Throughout Jane Austen’s Emma, one special moment for the main character is during her proposal. Emma Woodhouse is always the one that has helped others with their love lives and never her own. She always said she is not ready because she is waiting for the right person. This scene might come as a shocker to a lot of people too. Mr. Knightley is the one that expressed his feelings towards Emma. He says he has “blamed her, and lectured her” throughout their relationship, but “she has borne it as no other woman in England would have” (403). In this, he is taking credit for all the teasing he has done to her in the past. He also expresses how no other woman could have possibly reacted to everything he has done to her. This is a very powerful compliment because it recognizes the person Emma is and is accepting of everything she is. Although this proposal was not very dramatic, the two are very happy together. It is simply done, but the message still is related to her and now they are to be married. Now, they go to their friends and family to share the news. Even though they want to be together, but must also get approval from Emma’s father too. This shows how important and serious marriage is during this time. This scene is significant because it is most likely not expected considering how Emma feels at the beginning of the book about marriage. It seems to be the last thing on her mind at the time, but now, she is ready due to her feelings for Mr. Knightley. As marriage also being one of the main themes in the book, it only seems fit for the main character to be involved in it. The proposal is also a kind of closure for the book because it sees the future for Emma and what it will entail. This special moment for Emma overall foreshadows what will be the next chapter of her life.

Emily Stahoviak- Blog Post #5

Significance of the Dinner Party

~Blog Post #5~

Topic E

May 11, 2015

by Emily Stahoviak

In the book Emma, Jane Austen uses three chapters to narrate a single dinner party that Emma planned for Mr. Elton's new wife, Mrs. Elton. In most novels, the description of a dinner party would have taken up a page or two, but Jane Austen turns the dinner party into an opportunity to show the characters' personalities and interactions. The author shows us the detailed opinions and characteristics of each character in just one event.

Due to rules of social obligation, Emma hosts a dinner party for Mr. Elton's newlywed, Mrs. Elton. Feeling uncomfortable going to dinner with her ex-lover's wife, Harriet asks to be excused from the dinner party, allowing Jane Fairfax to take her spot at the dinner table. Jane is normally seen as shy and quiet, but this dinner party breaks her out of her shell and shows her true personality. When Mrs. Elton thoroughly tries to make Jane her next "project" and help her to become a governess, she resists the offer and we see the true feelings of Jane. She is no longer seen as dull, but she has a mind of her own. Jane shows her opinions on the society and how she feels as though being a governess is "the sale, not quite of human flesh, but of human intellect" (425).

Another instance where we see characters' interactions is in a conversation between Mr. Weston and Mrs. Elton at the dinner event. The conversation between the two is ridiculous and almost childish. Mrs. Elton constantly turns the conversation to the topic of herself, while Mr. Weston tries to direct the conversation to his son, Frank Churchill. Mrs. Elton continues to talk about herself and fishes for compliments, showing how superficial she really is. Jane Austen thus uses multifarious amounts of imagery and detailed description to show the true characteristics and opinions of the characters attending the dinner event.

Shanon Murphy- Blog Post #4

Emma and Okonkwo

~ Blog Post #4~

Topic H

April 8, 2015

By: Shanon Murphy

Emma Woodhouse is depicted as a confident and conceited young girl throughout Emma by Jane Austen. She sees herself as superior to those around her and proves this when she takes up the hobby of matchmaking. By taking up matchmaking, Emma shows she thinks she knows everything about everyone and because of this, she knows who belongs with who. Similar to Emma’s character, Okonkwo in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart also bases his judgement of others on social status and success. He takes great pride in his achievements, like Emma, especially in his farming. Both Emma Woodhouse from Emma and Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart consider themselves better than everyone else in their societies, which causes problems later on.

Ever since she was a young, Emma was the cleverest person in her family. The problem with this situation was “the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself” (8). Because Emma was rarely wrong as a child, she never learned how to be humble. Okonkwo came from a different background, but there are a few similarities with Emma’s. Okonkwo worked throughout his young life to become the pride of his family, because his father was a big disappointment. All he thought about as a child was success and this led to him being a power-hungry man as an adult. Because of their childhoods, Emma and Okonkwo do not know how to deal with the power they earn, and they do not deal well with the idea of social statuses in their societies. They judge others not on their personalities but on their wealth and success in life.

These qualities of Emma and Okonkwo lead to problems later on in their lives. Emma becomes too caught up with her ideas and does not pay attention to the thoughts of others. "Every part of it brought pain and humiliation" as she ends up ruining the relationships of multiple people late on in the book, including Harriet and Mr. Elton (120). Okonkwo’s hunger for power ultimately leads to his death. He becomes so disappointed with his failures and lack of success that he ends up killing himself. Both Okonkwo’s and Emma’s self-centeredness hurts them in the long run. 

Grace Morabito - Blog Post #4

Emma and Her Mistakes

~Blog Post #4~

Topic B

May 8, 2015

By Grace Morabito

Throughout Jane Austen’s Emma, the main character goes through a huge change in her lifestyle. In the beginning of the book, Emma is seen as a high-class girl that gets and does whatever she wanted. Most people look at her to be perfect and flawless. One of Emma’s favorite hobbies is matchmaking; the coupling together of two people. She knows she is good at it and frequently does this for the fun of it. Also, Emma does this to help out people in her society to find each other that otherwise couldn’t on their own. One relationship she tries to put together is between her new trusty friend Harriet and Mr. Elton. During her game, Mr. Elton expresses that he does not see Harriet in that way at all because he is actually interested in Emma. This takes Emma by storm because she had no idea that Mr. Elton is seeking her, but also that it was the first time she had failed in putting together a match of two people. Emma is so shocked because this has never happened to her before. It is her first realization of a poor judgment and the fact that she could be wrong. Now Emma has to explain where she went wrong when trying to bring Harriet and Mr. Elton together. She explains that she “should have stopped, and left the rest to time and chance” (126). Emma knows that she was so concentrated on what they could be when she should have taken a step back to see what was really going on. She regrets her meddling in Harriet’s life to an extant, but she knows she cannot change things now. This is almost like a wake up call for Emma because now she needs to pay more attention to what is going on around her and not get caught up in things. Over the course of just this one experience, Emma’s life has changed forever. She knows that she can make mistakes and that sometimes she is too nosey in people’s business. Overall, everything that has happened to Emma has shaped the person she has grown up to be.

Emily Stahoviak- Blog Post #4

Ms. Elton and Emma Matchmaking

~Blog Post #4~

Topic E

May 8, 2015

By Emily Stahoviak

    Throughout Emma by Jane Austen, Emma Woodhouse is frequently seen as the best matchmaker around and takes pride in how well her matches work between her friends. After a few fails in her matchmaking, however, Emma begins to lose her touch and confidence in her work. When she fails to set up Harriet and Mr. Elton, Mr. Elton runs away and comes back to Highbury with a brand new wife, Ms. Elton. Emma demands that she and Harriet go to meet her, although it would be awkward, just to get it over with.

    Little did Emma know what she was getting into. After they meet Mr. Elton's greedy new spouse, Emma immediately forms a bad opinion on Ms. Elton's confidence and she doesn't feel as though she is a good person for him. Ms. Elton is constantly "in search of young women to whom she can attach herself and introduce into her society" and she believes that matchmaking in essential in life (286). Although Emma cannot see herself relating to Ms. Elton, she most definitely does. For example, when she engages Harriet and teaches her how to live in a high society, Emma ultimately attaches herself to Harriet as her mission to bring a low class citizen to the higher class. Mrs. Elton does the same with Jane Fairfax, as she tries to show her into the high society and all the pleasures of living in it. There is no difference that exists between Mrs. Elton's mission with Jane and Emma's behavior towards Harriet at all, although Emma cannot recognize it herself. Both Mrs. Elton and Emma are guilty of presumption.

The competition that Mrs. Elton brings into Emma's life upsets her. She feels as though she is the only matchmaker for her town and that she is the best there is. Emma's confidence continues to dwindle as Mrs. Elton takes on the project of Jane Fairfax. Emma knows in the back of her mind that she isn't as good as she once was at matchmaking, and she'll never return to normal again. Mrs. Elton was her sign that she isn't the most important person in Highbury, she's just as normal as anybody else.

Grace Morabito - Blog Post #3

Emma and Mr. Elton

~Blog Post #3~

Topic C

May 1, 2015

By Grace Morabito

Throughout Jane Austen’s Emma, the relationship between Emma and Mr. Elton changes during the book. It is Emma’s mission to find a suitable wife for Mr. Elton so he could be married. She thought Harriet would be a perfect choice. This is just one example of her matchmaking skills. She soon becomes very close to the two people as she finds ways to bring them together. Mr. Woodhouse throws a party and all of their close friends and family are invited. Sadly, Harriet is sick and can’t come. Emma is sad about this because it would have been a good chance for Mr. Elton and Harriet to get closer to each other. Mr. Elton has other intentions. While Emma and Mr. Elton are in a carriage on their way to the party, Mr. Elton is acting strange. It is almost is if he is flirting with her and doing it very comfortably. Emma is very uncertain about his intentions, so she tries to ignore it. It continues during the party too. Mr. Elton shows that he is “more afraid of its being a bad sore throat on Emma’s account than on Harriet’s” (111). Basically, Mr. Elton could care less that Harriet is not at the party, and rather is more interested about whatever Emma is doing. The big surprise comes when he proposes to Emma on the carriage ride home. Emma is so shocked that she doesn’t know what to say. She assures him that there is definitely no chemistry between them. Throughout their relationship, the two had different intentions and feelings for each other. Emma sees him as an acquaintance because she wants to set him up with Harriet. On the other hand, Mr. Elton believes that Emma is interested in him so he also has feelings for her. Through misunderstanding, the relationship between Emma and Mr. Elton causes huge complications that will cause trouble for them in the future.