Ideas in Emma

Question 1

Interactive v. Solipsistic self

Answer 1

• sympathy - the ability to step outside of the boundaries of the self
• blindness v. sight
• Mr Woodhouse - solipsistic
• Emma - development from solipsistic-interactive
  
  • moral blindness to moral insight
• Mr Knightley - interactive
  
  • ability to see from a range of perspectives
  • therefore draws correct conclusions faster

Question 2

Harriet Smith

Answer 2

• natural daughter
  
  • interesting choice of word - what is natural, what constitutes human nature
• blank slate at the start
  
  • lacks the context which the society relies on
• naturally pretty
• not the cleverest
• relationship with Emma
  
  • unequal relationship
  • Harriet will never challenge her
    - she flatters Emma, thereby reinforcing Emma’s solipsism
• relationship with Mr Martin
  
  • rejects the first proposal on Emma’s suggestion

Question 3

Mr Knightley

Answer 3

• preoccupation with social context
• possibility for a lack of allowance for social mobility
• deterministic
• possibly too conservative
• the hyper-realist
• emphasis on rationality
• the epitome of Augustan hero
  
  • therefore also expects Emma to embody tthis in their relationship
    - experiential, rational relationship

Question 4

Emma’s Choice

Answer 4

• only Austen heroine that has the material circumstance to not marry
• believes that any marriage would limit the allowances she has as the pseudo-mistress of Hartfield
• believes that there is a close link between money and personality
  
  • Miss Bates is ridiculous largely due to poverty
  • material circumstances work to a great extent to shape one’s character
    
    • not deterministic view, more a case of the link is powerful
  • circumstances may result in bad temper
    
    • but Miss Bates’ only fault is the inability to realize when to be silent
• the individual has the capacity to choose

Question 5

Frank Churchill

Answer 5

• the role of outside characters (especially from cities) in a insular community
  
  • the suspicion of change
  • unsettle the community - outcomes of change
• contrast to Knightley
  
  • K’s suspicions of him
  • the role of duty
    
    • the Augustan outlook
      
      • an individual is part of a collective
      • therefore they have a certain level of obligation to their community
• the secret engagement
  
  • K uses empirical evidence, figures it out first
    acuteness of his observation
• the creation of personal meaning
  
  • p. 361 - Cowper quote
  • man sitting in front of a fire
  • indulges his imagination
  • snaps out of it and returns to reality
  • the various characters’ creating what they see
    
    • the power and danger of creating a reality which is of one’s own imagination
    • the association to solipsistic and sympathetic self
      
      • moral blindness or sight
• revelation of the engagement before the characters find out
  
  • narrator highlighting K’s abilities
• the dual narratives
  
  • Frank pursuing Emma
    
    • his true relationship with Jane

Question 6

The Fallen Man

Answer 6

• the Augustan preoccupation with order and humanity’s innate fallen nature
  
  • therefore the ‘natural’ order should be guided by the structures of society
  • therefore, Frank Churchill is not necessarily unnatural for not showing the right amount of loyalty, but he has been lead astray by his surrogate parents
  • once again the role of circumstance in shaping one’s character
• the power of individual choice within a particular collective

Question 7

Emma’s Journey to Moral Insight

Answer 7

• post Mr Elton
  
  • if one is not particularly perceptive, it is possible to think that E and Elton had believed they were interested
  • self-interests leads to misunderstandings and moral blindness
• incident at Box Hill
  
  • terms of Knightley’s scolding
    
    • sense as the idea which guides conduct
    • focus on social circumstances, context etc.
      
      • Miss Bates’ situation, age etc.
        
        • not born poor, but sunk in fortune
      • general discourtesy
        
        • worse due to Miss Bate’ circumstances
        • seems to suggest that E should pick battles with those who could fight back

Question 8

Importance of experiential insight

Answer 8

• Augustan value
  
  • contrary to love at first sight
  • process of truly getting to know someone else
• Augustan hierarchy of values
  
  • sense, reason, logic to prevail over emotion
    
    • therefore if these reign, one becomes one’s own instructor and accountability

Question 9

Changes in Life - characters’ views

Answer 9

• Austen aware of the changes in life both micro and macro
• how to react to it
• change in novel which affects others
  
  • Miss Taylor’s marriage to Mr Weston
    - Mr Woodhouse
    - tries to deny it
    - cannot see things from another’s perspective (p. 8)
    - solipsistic - blind egotism
    - inability to realize that this marriage affords Miss Taylor more stability
    - Emma
    - melancholy
    - has to look after her father
    - “matrimony, as the origin of change, was always disagreeable” (p.7)
    - Mr Knightley
    - reprimands Mr Woodhouse
    - able to immediately understand that Miss Taylor might be happy with her choice