Jane Austens Emma Essay -- Jane Austen Emma Essays Society

Jane Austens EmmaBeautiful dresses, passionate romances, elegant parties, a general landed estate of leisure and happiness these are only a few of the deluxe take ins of the nineteenth century. In her novel, Emma, Jane Austen paints a much more realistic moving-picture show of the ins and outs of high golf club in England of the 1800s. through and through the presumptions and pride of the characters of heroine, Emma Woodhouse, and secondary character, Mrs. Elton, Austen presents a stark critique of the social assumptions and diplomatic maneuvering so common of the society of her time, however, by the end of the novel, Austens critique is made clear by a subtle foil of these twain characters Emma having been the only one of the two to learn her less(prenominal)on. Both of these two ladies, each high in status, debunk somewhat of a god-complex, taking it upon themselves to partially assist, but mostly re-mold, women whom they view as inferior to themselves. Though Mrs . Elton does this in a much less tactful and more forceful way, she and Emma both view their respective pupils as a pawn to be toyed with and, ultimately, a display of their superiority. Emmas fancies of beseeming a puppet-master begin when she is in the company of Harriet Smith, a girl attending Mrs. Goddards boarding school. Austen tells Emmas thoughts, writing, She would notice her improve her detach her from her hard acquaintance, and introduce her into good society she would form her opinions and her manners. It would be an interesting, and certainly a very kind undertaking highly becoming her own billet in life, her leisure and powers (37-38). This passage makes clear Emmas intentions of whittling Harriet into what Emma deemed best, not on the dot to better Harriets situati... ...Emma tells Jane her preference of having things in the open. These two situations, back to back, cause to foil the two characters of Emma and Mrs. Elton Emma coming away the more respecta ble of the two. Through Emma and Mrs. Elton, Jane Austen makes clear her vast understanding of the society in which she lives, and she shakes her finger to it. The heartbreak that both characters cause, Mrs. Elton in Jane Fairfax and Emma in Harriet, serves as a reproach to the gossipy, haughty, conspiring women in her society. Mr. Knightly, who serves as Emmas conscience through most of the novel, best portrays the lesson by telling Emma, Mystery Finesse how they pervert the understanding (352), and it is this advice that Austen makes clear passim her novel.Works CitedAusten, Jane. Emma. Ed. R.W Chapman. Rev. Mary Lascelles. Oxford Oxford UP, 2006.