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Jane Austeen

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VICTORIAN NOVEL – COMEDY OF MANNERS
The novel was written during the middle of the Romantic period in western literature, but it is itself rather uncharacteristic of other fictional works of the period.
Unlike the great Romantic novels and poems of the period, which usually praised youthful passions, Austen's work minimizes them

EMMA
PLOT
Emma is a love story in which young men and women who live in the same area meet at dances, in each others’ homes or while walking in the village. Emma is a young, pretty 21 year old who lives alone with her father, Mr. Woodhouse, near the village of Highbury. She becomes friends with 17 year old Harriet who has been abandoned by her parents. Emma decides to find a suitable husband for Harriet, but stops her marrying Robert Martin, a local farmer because she thinks he is not good enough for her. She believes that Mr. Elton, the local vicar would be a much better match. Her attempt to make a match between Harriet and Mr. Elton fails miserably but she tries to pair Harriet off with Frank Churchill. However Frank announces a surprise engagement with to Jane Fairfax while Harriet herself believes that Mr. Knightley, a close friend of Emma’s is in love with her. As it turns out, Mr. Knightley is really in love with Emma and asks her to marry him. She accepts and decides to stop interfering in other people’s life. So, when she hears that Hrriet has accepted Robert Martin’s second proposal of marriage she wishes the couple all the best.

THEMES

TRADITIONAL VALUES OF THE MIDDLE / UPPER CLASSES - property, money and marriage are Austen’s major concerns - marriage provides the basis of the plot, as the women of the time were totally dependent on their husbands or fathers

NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE & POINT OF VIEW - is a development of the 3rd person narrative - sometimes the narrator is omniscient - at other times he sees thing from the main characters point of view - this technique of shifting between an objective account and subjective interpretation is called free indirect speech - it makes the reader feel less detached from the story and helps him get the idea that anything can happen in the course of the novel just as it can in real life - it adds an element of humor as the reader contrasts the way Emma sees the world around her and the way it really is
SETTING
- Emma perfectly exemplifies the limited background of Austen’s work - except for the picnic excursion to Box Hill, all the action takes place in the village of Highbury - the characters belong to the social environment she knew best (aristocracy, gentry, middle classes) - the confines of her settings define the limits within which her fools and snobs her bores and gossips must be endured and accepted - she has a great understanding of female mind

CHARACTER CONSTRUCTION - she is probably best remembered for her analysis of character - her characters have strength and weaknesses, they go through time and trials and they learn lessons - they are not driven by wild passions - the strong impulses and emotional states they experience are regulated and controlled
EMMA
- Emma Woodhouse, is difficult to love but, she engages the reader's sympathy and understanding - she is a girl of high intelligence and vivid imagination who is also marked by egotism and a desire to dominate the lives of others - she exercises her powers of manipulation on a number of neighbors who are not able to resist her prying into their lives - most of Emma's attempts to control her friends, however, do not have happy effects for her or for them - influenced by John Knightley, an old friend who is her superior in intelligence and maturity, she realizes how misguided many of her actions are

STYLE - the novel is a result of the author’s careful thinking, and revising - the balanced irony and simple language are essential elements of her style, hence simple, yet witty, style - the tone of the novel is light, satirical, and vivid - the vividness of the characters and the lively dialogue make the novel excellent material for theatre adaptation

CRITICAL APPROACHES - the novel connects itself to the 18th century period because of the emphasis on man in his social environment rather than in his individual conditions - Austen’s commitment to reason and common sense rather than great passions links her work to the 18th century tradition of classicism - there’s little evidence of the passionate romantic themes of the turn of the century - in spite of the fact that she writes during the political turmoil of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, the growing Industrial Revolution, and the escalating political and social upheaval in England, , there is no evidence of any of this strife in her novels - Austen herself notes that she knows little of the world at large and instead chooses to write about what she does know

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