Ah. That is not the order of the one I have with all seven. It ends with Lady Susan.
Well yes, Lady Susan is at the end, I started reading it because it was so short and then went back to Emma, which was where I'd ended last time around when I started reading front to cover. Likely we do have the same one, then - does your copy have a picture of Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth on the front cover, too?
Yes
' />At least, that is one of the editions I have. I have a tendency to buy Austen books. Even if I already have them. The Ehle/Firth one was the first. It is almost falling apart, as are some of the standalones I have. I have a glorious leather bound one from 1928, though. I suppose that is the one I will pick up if I feel like rereading Emma soon. Which is a distinct possibility now that you have corrupted me. I wasn't going to start another Austen book in a while, precisely because they are so hard to put down.
Elinor, yes. But Marianne....
Marianne, yes. But Elinor is the protagonist of that book, surely?
I don't know. I think of that as a dual protagonist-book. The two only make sense in relation to each other.
See, this bit irritates me a little in Emma. I balk somewhat at the idea of this wayward young woman who needs to be shown the true path to proper thinking by the much older suitor. It is there in all the novels, but it is there a little too much in Emma.
Yes... except that I actually think he's remarkably open to things going in both directions, considering the age gap, he's really not patronizing in general and has full respect for her mind and her opinions. And she does arrive at most of her conclusions on her own.
But he keeps voicing them first. And he is right, of course. All the time. If you want to look for a guiding voice in the book, that is where I'd look for it. And he, as I recall, puts much less stock in rank than Emma. He says that he would gladly elevate Mr Martin, I think.
Still, there is something decidedly creepy about the part where he says he's been in love with her since she was thirteen. And the fact that he's really been the only man in her life except for her father for all these years, and knew her as a child and then fell in love with her when she was still a teenager.
True. Although I am slightly inured to that having read Dickens. He is, after all, famous for his child brides.
Clearly you are nuts.
What, for coming up with theories that would've made Jane Austen faint? 
Yes.
As I read it that section is giving Emma's view in free indirect discourse, or even the view of society. Nailing it on Austen is very tricky. I am not saying Austen could not have it, but there is no way you can tell. Even the fact that Harriet has to be established as not of noble birth in order to be able to marry Martin only tells us that Austen is pandering to her readers, to the general view of society, distinctly avoiding being terribly provocative. No great surprise for the unmarried sister of a clergyman.
I can't argue with that, of course. Can't read her mind or determine whether she actually believed in the stances she took in her books. All I can do is point out that in the books she does take those stances, and that might bother some people - certainly it makes it harder for us to sympathize.
I am not sure I agree that it is even the view of the "books". There is a very distinct subtext in much of Austen's writing, which suggests that the whole rank system is not ideal. Have you read Persuasion yet?
In Emma, this subtext is voiced by Mr Knightly, usually (if I recall correctly -- I'll get back to you when I probably put everything aside to reread it soon. Dammit). In P%P it is present in the rejection of the "engagement" with miss De Burgh (though I will grant you that in that book there is an equally strong counter-current in the unhappy marriage of Mr and Mrs Bennet, although they in turn are outweighed by the horror that is Mr and Mrs Hurst, I think). In Northanger Abbey I'd say it is quite a main theme, actually.
It's an interesting question, though - whether she might have written a more satisfying ending to Mansfield Park if it was only up to her. Or perhaps even did, and then rewrote it to make the book more edifying...
It has been a while since I read it, but I remember analysing it once and I swear I found a subtext which was appealing to me as a modern feminist. I think it may have been the momentary resistance Fanny actually shows in opposing Mr Bertram's plans for her marriage. The heroes always marry less well than they could have. And Miss Bertram is wildly unhappy in her choice.
*MySmiley*
structured procrastinator
structured procrastinator
Jane Austen - Emma
- 29/09/2010 06:37:01 PM
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It has been a while since I have read the book, but I am not sure I agree on all counts.
- 29/09/2010 08:17:35 PM
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All the better, it's so boring when everyone agrees. 
- 29/09/2010 09:01:09 PM
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- 29/09/2010 09:01:09 PM
602 Views
Re: All the better, it's so boring when everyone agrees.
- 29/09/2010 09:39:25 PM
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- 29/09/2010 09:39:25 PM
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Okay, fair enough, I'm talking about her view as appears in her books, there might be a difference.
- 29/09/2010 09:48:31 PM
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Pet peeve, sorry.
- 29/09/2010 10:19:03 PM
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Re: Pet peeve, sorry.
- 29/09/2010 11:24:21 PM
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Re: Pet peeve, sorry.
- 29/09/2010 11:32:50 PM
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