EMMA QUOTES Flashcards
(34 cards)
1
Q
Social Class 1/3
MHA
A
“Mr Woodhouse was fond of society in his own way. He liked very much to have his friends come and see him”
- simplistic, short sentences
We are also able to see the wealthier end of the spectrum through Mr Woodhouse, with the use of simplistic, short sentences a reflection of him as a person and the little that a person of his social status has to worry about.
2
Q
Social Class 2/3
MHA
A
“Harriet certainly was not clever, but she had a sweet, docile, grateful disposition”
- juxtaposition
- satire
- In using satire and the juxtaposition of Harriet’s lack of intelligence with beauty, readers are positioned to understand Emma’s desire to provide Harriet with a higher level of social class – purely based on its contextual value.
3
Q
Social Class 3/3
MHA
A
“A young farmer, whether on horseback or foot, is the very last person to raise my curiosity”
- condescending tone
- Emma inserts her individual perspective on class to Harriet through the use of a condescending tone, emphasising her value on class as a deciding factor of relationships and in particular marriage.
4
Q
Pride and Vanity/social class 1/4
PHHS
A
“Poor Miss Taylor…what a pity it was that Mr Weston ever thought of her”
- condescending tone
- homonym ‘poor’
- emphasises his personality in holding himself to a higher position than other individuals
5
Q
Pride and Vanity 2/4
PHHS
A
“handsome, clever, and rich…seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence”
- paradox
- Emma’s pride is somewhat questioned through the paradox of verb “seemed”, suggesting that perhaps this is of a detriment to her characterisation.
6
Q
Pride and Vanity 3/4
PHHS
A
“highly esteeming Miss Taylor’s judgement, but directly chiefly by her own”
- paradox, contrast
- Allows for a grasped understanding of the extent of Emma’s pride, utilising the paradox of external ideas against her own to highlight her inability to stray away from her own conscience.
7
Q
Pride and Vanity 4/4
PHHS
A
“She would improve her; she would detach her from her bad acquaintances and introduce her into good society”
- irony ‘good society’
- oxymoron
- emma’s misunderstanding of the outside world
8
Q
PRIDE AND VANITY CONCEPT
A
when individuals are flawed by a level of pride or egotism, they are often unaware of the realistic happenings of society, in their perspective of holding themselves above others because of wealth or opportunity.
9
Q
SOCIAL CLASS CONCEPTS
A
- Social class is often an indication of obligations and roles between characters
- It is when violations of class occur, that there is great indignation predominantly by those wealthier, resulting in conflict
10
Q
Foolishness of Youth 1/5
IIITS
A
“It was foolish, it was wrong, to take so active a part in bringing any two people together”
- free indirect discourse
- emma
- Emma is able to have a realisation of her mistakes to interfere with other people’s love, when she is inexperienced herself. The consistent use of free indirect discourse allows us to follow Emma’s maturity – maintaining textual integrity.
11
Q
Foolishness of Youth 2/5
IIITS
A
“I hope so…for at that time I was a fool”
- emma
- Declarative statement + irony
- Ironic that she is able to realise her faults after being called out. Establishes her transformation as a character, who is able to reflect on her early behaviour and her newfound awareness.
12
Q
Foolishness of youth 3/5
IITS
A
“I wish you would not make matches…for whatever you say always comes to pass”
- mr woodhouse
- foreshadowing
- Due to her naïve nature and privileged upbringing, Emma is unable to understand the consequences of her actions because no one calls her up for it, in part because of her youth.
13
Q
Foolishness of youth 4/5
IITS
A
“The real evils…of Emma’s situation were the power of having rather too much her own way”
- foreshadowing
- Emma is completely unaware of her flaws, because of her privileged upbringing. This foreshadows future action within the text, as this foolishness ultimately results in a series of errors of embarrassment.
14
Q
Foolishness of youth 5/5
IITS
A
“She knows nothing of herself, and looks upon Emma as knowing everything…presenting a delightful inferiority”
- mr knightley
- oxymoron and contrast
- The use of oxymoron by Mr Knightley suggests that Harriet is unable to display her own sense of independence, being so caught up in the wealth and poise that Emma radiates, that she is unable to properly think for herself.
15
Q
FOOLISHNESS OF YOUTH CONCEPTS
A
- It is because of the prevalence of power and class, that a foolishness of youth is created, that which ultimately results in conflict
- The inability for individuals to be self-aware is a result of the foolishness of youth
- The foolishness of youth can often be a result of the influence of wealth and privilege
- A widespread truth universally, is the position of young people in feeling that they hold a higher level of knowledge and insight than what is actuality
16
Q
Gender 1/3
ESA
A
“Emma was not struck by anything remarkably clever in Miss Smith’s conversation, but she found her altogether engaging”
- allusion, symbolism
- The comment on Harriet’s conversation alludes to gender roles of the time, with Emma feeling that because of this lower level of intelligence, that it was her duty as a higher class individual to play matchmaker and allow for marriage.
17
Q
Gender 2/3
ESA
A
“Such beauty and such temper, the highest claims a woman could possess”
- mr knightley
- axiom, irony, allusion
- The use of axiom, specifically alludes to the contextual view of women in the Georgian era, especially through the lens of men, who were prominently put into specific societal roles depending on their beauty.
18
Q
Gender 3/3
ESA
A
“a woman neither young, handsome, rich, nor married. Miss Bates stood in the very worst predicament in the world”
- miss bates
- foil to emma
- juxtaposition
- Displaying the lack of MSB prospects as she relies on charity from everyone due to her being unmarried
19
Q
GENDER IDEAS
A
- Lack of opportunity for women in terms of their role in society – motivating Emma toward matchmaking
- It is through the insertion of a composers context, that we are able to see a reflection of gender roles within the text
20
Q
Marriage 1/2
AI
A
“A woman is not to marry a man merely because she is asked, or because he…can write a tolerable letter”
- aphorism (observation containing general truth)
- Emma’s observation shows her view on marriage, with it needing to have equal parts of benefit for women in terms of their social mobility and the presence of romance.
21
Q
Marriage 2/2
AI
A
“I have none of the usual indictments of women to marry”
- proclamation
- We see Austen’s agenda come through within the text, through Emma’s proclamation, challenging societal ideas on marriage at the time to suggest that love and feelings within a relationship should be considered, especially when marriage is sought out without intention of improving class.
22
Q
EMMA CONTEXT
A
- set in England early 1800s – romantic comedy
- Emma lives with hypochondriac father and is raised by Mrs Weston
- Novel was seen as progressive, with Austen bringing in ideas of love as a consideration of marriage as oppose to a means of class improvement
- (Georgian England) = looking at society for middle class women, with the focus on property inheritance within males
- the only way to ensure maintenance of affluence is through marriage
• Ironically Austen’s characters appear entirely concerned only with their small town’s affairs—even though the novel
23
Q
Austen on Emma
A
“a heroine whom no one else but myself will like”
24
Q
Academic quote on austen’s decision to focus on meaningless events
A
“they may be witty and intelligent…but she doesn’t allow them to pursue individual courses of behaviour”
- KATHRYN SUTHERLAND
25
Durkheim sociological theory
- that there were various means by which individual and society could be connected.
- individuals look towards social cohesion and the assimilation of commonly held values to avoid anomie (alienation, lack of norms of behaviour)
26
HARRIET CHARACTER
- begins and ends with the same desires and held values, holding a completely different character development to Emma. In this case, it is when she has a self-recognition of value in her nature that she is able to grow. This means that throughout the text her beliefs are rather affirmed and strengthened, as oppose to completely changed.
- She gains a new perspective of herself as her social status transforms with the discovery of herself and her marriage, highlighting the importance of confidence of self in womanhood, despite difficulties with class.
- “change in harriet’s character is not in the perspective of society but in the perspective of herself” – (mis)education of harriet smith by emmabel orendain
27
MR KNIGHTLEY CHARACTER
"I am inclined to think very well of her disposition"
- Acts as a foil to Emma in every regard – with them being seen as equal because of their socioeconomic position but able to act in kindness to others as oppose to snobbish behaviour portrayed by Emma.
- He has no problem with the recognition of good in people despite contextual ideas on social class
- He is the only one with the power to critique Emma, determined to encourage her moral development
28
MR WOODHOUSE CHARACTER
"it is never safe to sit outside dear"
- “Nobody is healthy in London, nobody can be. It is a dreadful thing to have you forced to live there! so far off!—and the air so bad!”
- Mr. Woodhouse’s ill health is a main concern not only for Emma but also for everyone, it strengthens his power and makes people, including Emma, accept his authoritarian conduct, which makes Emma a victim of subjugation. Emma is not aware how her father shackles her to him although she appears to act as free from any constraints.
- Mr. Woodhouse is an effective contribution to her immaturity; being all the time beside her father, she has been deprived experiencing not only the wider world but even the very limited society around her. Because he is unwilling and also hates to go out, Emma finds herself forced to stay at home as well. Thus, Emma’s world is restricted to her father, two friends, and very few acquaintances. Emma’s devotion to her father has made her a prisoner to a narrow circle and very limited social relations which consequently hinders her maturity.
- He is oblivious to anything that doesn’t revolve around him or his comfort/health
29
JANE FAIRFAX CHARACTER
- “because [Emma] saw in [Jane] the really accomplished young woman, which she wanted to be thought herself”
- "I would rather you did not mention the subject…I do not wish to be giving anybody trouble”
- Emma fails to identify herself through her relationship with Jane Fairfax. Although Emma realizes that Jane Fairfax is imbued with many amiable traits, she is not willing to admit these qualities, Emma indeed rejects Jane before she meets her due to Miss Bates’s continual praises on Jane’s behalf.
- When Jane arrives in Highbury, Emma immediately rejects her. Jane Fairfax is the most appropriate peer for Emma to identify herself. Jane Fairfax is the type of character who would, in contrast to Harriet, reveal Emma’s shortcomings and be of much challenge to her rather than Harriet’s blind obedience. Jane’s experience in the real life and her conduct overweighs Emma’s limited world in Highbury.
- Jane Fairfax is a threat that forces Emma to act rationally, and is far away from submitting to Emma’s immature actions and imaginations, these are the main reason why Emma disregards her. By dismissing Jane, Emma is actually losing a great opportunity to grow up and mature. Mr. Knightley urges Emma to get closer to Jane because he knows that Emma would benefit from her either on personal or social levels, but Emma gets more stubborn particularly when she realizes that Mr. Knightley admires Jane. Emma’s lack of maturity has been combined with jealousy which consequently makes her behave passively with Jane.
30
MISS TAYLOR
"This will certainly be the beginning of our quarrels about Emma, mr knightley”
- “with all dear Emma’s faults, she is an excellent creature”
- Mrs Weston is a representation of moving up the social rank – she also acts as something of a mother figure to Emma
- Mr Weston is Frank Churchill’s father and is considered warm, sociable and optimistic
- The education of Emma plays a major role in shaping her character and in depicting her relations with other characters. Although this description seems to tell readers about the marriage of Miss Taylor, it actually tells more than that. This description establishes what type of person Emma becomes as a result of Miss Taylor’s teaching.
- After Miss Taylor’s marriage, Emma is left alone to suffer painful loneliness that nobody would recognize but herself. She is within the young adulthood stage of identity versus role confusion in which Emma is supposed to be spending time with peers and freeing herself from serious responsibilities, she finds herself in a position no one would much like to be.
31
ACADEMIC ON SETTING
medal and greer
"the relatively closed and geographically static world of Emma has much to do with the heroine's own complacent and inexperienced mind".
- David Medal
“What makes Austen great is her awareness of the minefield that is ordinary life.”
- Germaine Greer
analysis to support
"their going to Bath was quite out of the question; "
32
Info on social class link to style of novel
And yet the mastery of Jane Austen’s Emma is that despite the ‘smallness’ of the novel—Emma’s trivial interest in matchmaking drives the plot—the novel highlights the very serious consequences of class and gender roles that limit and restrict.
33
ERIKSON THEORY OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
- Erikson maintained that personality develops in a predetermined order through eight stages of psychosocial development, from infancy to adulthood. During each stage, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis which could have a positive or negative outcome for personality development.
- Failure to successfully complete a stage can result in a reduced ability to complete further stages and therefore a more unhealthy personality and sense of self.
- placing Emma in Erikson’s developmental stages, the study revealed that she did not really mature neither she realized her own identity. This paper proposed that Emma should not be classified as bildungsroman because the heroine distorted the real meaning of maturity and social integrity. The education of Emma plays a major role in shaping her character and in depicting her relations with other characters.
CRITIQUE
- Bildungsroman is a genre of novel that shows a young protagonist's journey from childhood to adulthood (or immaturity to maturity), with a focus on the trials and misfortunes that affect the character's
34
Emma more on form
- Third person perspective and social realism to explore the provincial lives of early 19th century British gentry
- ability to reveal the subjectivity and limitations of our perceptions of others and ourselves.
