Chelsea Tsang

Ext English_2014

Jane Austens Emma has endured because it promotes values that are still respected
today. Austens novel promotes many values that are still present in todays society
such as marrying for love, understanding the evils of presumption and the
importance of introspection. Emma clearly displays constant examples of all these
values throughout the whole novel.
Emma has endured as it displays and upholds the value of marrying for love. Austen
gives her audience numerous examples of marrying for love, subtly conveying her
approval. Despite the fact the Emma was rich and seemed to unite some of the
best blessings of existence, Austen could be implying that women in their context
could not afford not to get married, or should, even if they didnt want to so that
they could elevate themselves in society, as married women were considered higher
up than single women. Miss Bates is an example of what happened to a women
who didnt get married, someone who has sunk from the comforts she was born
to, and ending up having to rely on the kindness of others. Women in Emmas time
were almost always married so that they wouldnt be a burden on their family, to
gain money, status, and connections and to provide heirs. So it could be said that
Austen approves of marrying for love because of the matches in her book such as
Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill, who despite their different social positions chose
to marry for love even though it is of no equal benefit to either party. However,
Austen shows us how ironic it is that their relationship was so full of misery to
each, despite the happy outcome. It could be concluded that Austen is trying to
promote that marrying for love is perhaps too difficult or may not be worth the
confusion of (the) mind or the very just displeasure that resulted from having a
secret engagement. Marriage in todays western society is almost always for love,
although it can be broken without excessive scandal whereas in Emmas time
marriage was seen as a life binding contract, as an alliance between families and
reprehensible to break. Austen uses irony to show how marrying for love could be a
cause of happiness, however the journey there is perhaps not worth the suffering.
Austen promotes a universal value of marrying for love and could be the reason why
Emma still prevails in todays society.
Emma has endured because it demonstrates the evils of presumption. Austen gives
many examples of why clarification is essential to understand each otherwithout
the possibility of farther mistake. She uses dashes between fast-paced parts of her
novel in which characters are speaking quickly, rambling on and or trying to collect
their thoughts. A paramount example of this is when Mr Knightley is struggling to
express his feelings to Emma, Emma, that I fear is a word - - No, I have no wish - Stay, yes, why should I hesitate? Austen has very cleverly used dashes to
demonstrate the rushed pace of the speech and how hard it was for Mr Knightley to
cohesively speak to Emma, as obvious by the unfinished sentences and almost
visible half-formed thoughts. Another example of the evils of presumption can be
seen when Mr Elton proclaims his love to Emma, who reacts with shock and
indignity for Harriet. The evils of this situation is that Mr Elton presumed that
Emma had encouraged his pursuit and was trying to impress her by taking interest
in Harriet, and Emma presumed that Mr Elton was falling in love with Harriet. These
situations clearly demonstrate Austens approval for the need for clarification of

Chelsea Tsang

Ext English_2014

intention to the opposite gender, which goes against her context in the regency
period, where signs of emotions had to be contained and extremely subtle to be
appropriate and avoid scandal. However it could be also stated that Austen
disapproves of excessive clarification, of outbursts of emotion such as flirtation. An
example of this is when Mr Knightley comes back to comfort Emma after he hears
of Frank Churchills engagement. He assumes that Emma is heartbroken because
she allowed his attentions, such permitted, encouraged attentions. Austen
could be suggesting that Emmas being so insolent in (her) wit and yet so amiable
a creature is harmful to not only her own person but to the people around her.
Austen shows us through her characters how one can suffer so much because of the
evils of presumption through lack of clarification or outbursts of emotions.
Emma has withstood in our society because it promotes introspection. Austens
heroine Emma is considered to be her most introspected character with numerous
chapters in the novel dedicated to Emmas own reflections and the examination of
her feelings. Dashes are used in the faster paced sections in the book such as the
end of chapter 49 after Mr Knightley proposed to Emma and this indirect speech is
used to show Emmas own examination of her feelings and thoughts, past and
present. Austen applies untagged indirect speech to still refer to Emma in third
person but to still allow the audience to perceive Emmas thoughts as though in first
person. A pattern occurs in Emma, there is an event that occurs to send Emma into
shock or an introverted state; she examines what has occurred and then decides on
the best response to that event. Austen could be seen as displaying her approval for
the value of introspection or having moments of self-examination, having Emma
as a character always growing, learning and acknowledging her mistakes after
moments of introspection. Ironically, perhaps Austen is also subtly criticising
exorbitant amounts of self-examination as it could lead to paranoia. As
demonstrated by Mr Woodhouse, who overly worries, likes his comforts and could
not be soon reconciled. He is used to everything be(ing) for his happiness and
perhaps by over-thinking he examines every likely scenario and reasons the worse
that could happen, would happen which would then effect his own comfort and
well-being. In a sense, Austen could be implying that extreme introspection could
lead to selfishness.
Jane Austens Emma has endured because it promotes values that are still respected
today. Values such as marrying for love as shown through Jane Fairfax and Frank
Churchill, which is now the main basis of marriage. Austen also demonstrates the
evils of presumption and gives numerous examples, like that of Mr Eltons intentions
towards Harriet to promote clarification of intentions. Emma also sets precedent
for the emergence of the importance of introspection, with the whole novel riddled
with chapters on Emma in an introverted state. The values displayed in Emma show
how Austen has examined what is valuable to humanity and recognises that they
will continue to endure.