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Emma believes herself to be a skilled matchmaker, and her pride in her discernment of good matches and her ultimate humbling in this regard highlights that she has much to learn in judging others characters, her own, and what makes a good marriage. While Austen in certain ways affirms the social conventions of marriage in pairing most of her ...
- Gender Limitations
Despite the strong-willed and confident female protagonist...
- Pride and Vanity
Emma is described in the first chapter as an extremely well...
- Gender Limitations
Emma meets Mr. Elton while visiting Harriet and is pleased by his attentions to her friend, but she remains puzzled that he refuses her suggestion to skip the party since Harriet will not be there. Mr. John Knightley witnesses the exchange and suggests to Emma that Mr. Elton has feelings for her. Amused, Emma dismisses the suggestion.
Emma realizes how foolish she was to believe that a wealthy, well-connected man would marry Harriet. Unfortunately, Harriet’s mysterious, absent parentage – which Emma refers to as illegitimacy – was already enough to dissuade men of Mr. Elton’s status from pursuing Harriet.
- Summary: Chapter 52
- Summary: Chapter 53
- Summary: Chapter 54
- Summary: Chapter 55
- Analysis: Chapters 52–55
Harriet agrees to Emma’s plan to send her to London on the pretense that she needs to see a dentist, which satisfies Emma since she does not want to hurt Harriet with news of Emma and Mr. Knightley’s engagement. Emma decides not to tell her father of her engagement until Mrs. Weston, who is pregnant, has given birth to her baby. Meanwhile, she pays...
Mrs. Weston safely delivers a baby girl, much to Emma’s delight. Mr. Knightley reminisces about how headstrong Emma was when she was a child. She expresses gratitude that he so often corrected her mistakes, and he asserts that she would have done just as well without him. Emma is grieved that she cannot speak more openly with him about Harriet. Mr....
Mr. Knightley has news for Emma: Harriet is to marry Robert Martin. Knightley had sent Mr. Martin to London with a package for his brother while Harriet was there, and Mr. Martin began to spend time with the family. Knightley worries that Emma is upset, but in fact she is thrilled, amazed, and amused at Harriet’s rapid recovery. Emma is thankful th...
Harriet returns from London, and Emma is glad to see how completely she has recovered from her infatuation with Knightley. It is revealed that Harriet’s father is a tradesman, a respectable person, but not the aristocrat that Emma had predicted. Emma receives Mr. Martin at Hartfield, but realizes that her friendship with Harriet must “change into a...
Although Emmaends in the traditional manner of a comedy, with a series of weddings to secure everyone’s happiness and reaffirm social ties, the question of whether or not the novel’s ending is truly happy is often posed. Some critics suggest that Emma regresses, rather than develops, at the end of the novel because she exchanges her independence, e...
While other Austen heroines view marriage as a financial necessity, Emma expresses no interest or desire to marry for the majority of the novel. Her fortune assures her of independence and security. In fact, her chief concern is that marriage will prevent her from maintaining that independence.
In a series of social gatherings, Austen shows Emma scheming to make Frank fall in love with her, to marry off Harriet, and to demonstrate her superiority over the new Mrs. Elton.
People also ask
Does Emma want to marry?
How can Emma convince her to marry?
Why does Emma want to marry Mr Knightley?
Why did Emma abandon her rule against marriage?
Does Emma need a husband?
Does Emma think Mr Martin is below Harriet?
Mr. John Knightley is spoiled by Isabella’s adoration, resulting in an inequality in their temperament within their marital dynamic: Emma finds Mr. John Knightley lacking in respect for her father, Isabella, and their children.
