Do leave any comments that you have. Have you ever been guilty of the same blunders as Emma Woodhouse? (Like me, I confess, when I first read the novel!)
I did too, I just went on reading assuming that Emma knew what she was talking about (up to a certain point at least) needles to say I was very wrong ahah
After watching this I made a point of re-reading Emma, being on the lookout for “appearance vs. Reality” and it is all over the place in big and small ways- it is so fun to look for it!! Jane Fairfax walks to the post office because she says it is her chance to exercise, but we know now that it is because she is looking for letters from Frank. Emma notices during the dinner party that Jane seems in better humor and complexion (she clearly got a letter that day from Frank telling her he was coming back!), and then Mr. Weston shows up with his own letter from Frank saying that he is coming back, and he says that he (Weston) is not the principle correspondent of Frank’s, meaning it is Mrs Weston, while the reality is that Jane is the person. And of course Jane doesn’t want Mrs Elton’s help getting a job because she is secretly engaged, not because she loves being with her aunt and grandmother. And this is only one small part of one chapter. It is so much fun. It’s really a mystery novel! 😂
yes, i admit to just going along for the ride. since Emma was a character that Jane Austen particularly liked, was Jane Austen also poking fun at herself?
Not quite true, Mr Knightely got most things right. Emma blundered by thinking Harriet could adopt the same attitude as herself..good enough for anyone.
This is so true! Emma, Harriet, Mr Woodhouse, Mr and Mrs Weston, Mr Elton and Mrs Bates are wrong about… well, everything. Mr Knightly and Jane are luckier, but in general nobody seem to get things right 😁 I love this book. The more you read it, the better and deeper it gets.
Honestly, Doctor Cox, I've been trying to read Emma for 4 years. I took it as a challenge when Jane Austen said that only she would love Emma. Several times I've picked it up, and I would give up after a few chapters. I would try again after a few months, go back to the beginning only to eventually give up again. Three years ago, I even told myself that maybe I could finish it if I were reading a physical copy instead of an e-book. My younger brother gifted me a copy and it sat yellowing and collecting dust. I was only able to finish Volume 1 once and that was it. Jane Austen was winning. I even waved my white flag at her, and told her in my head that I give up, Madam, you win. I'm so annoyed by Emma, I can't get myself to like her to even finish the book. Then came 2021, and you can say I cheated, or maybe got some help, think it however you like. I watched the 2020 adaptation of Emma. I didn't even watch it when it first came out because Anya Taylor-Joy played her so unlikeable, that it reminded me of my annoyance at Emma and my defeat. But then I keep seeing good reviews about it. And even those who don't like Jane Austen's work love the cinematography and overall production design, so there's that at least. So, I finally gave in to my curiosity and watched the film. And I'm glad I did! It was the boost that I needed! I've seen the film 10 times this past month, and each viewing would elucidate the story and the characters each and every time. And it gave me the push to do my research (about the characters and the context in which the novel was written) and to finally finish the novel. That's actually how I made it to your channel, Doctor Cox. And I did it! As of February 17th, 2021 I finally got to the end of Emma (and the essay in my copy)! It took me three-and-a-half weeks but I did it! There were a lot of times when I had to read a sentence or a passage multiple times to figure out what Jane Austen meant. I admit that there are still a handful of passages where I wonder what she really means. English isn't my first language, and I'm not British either, so I really had to investigate a lot to fully appreciate the masterpiece that is Emma. I also read it while reflecting, and I think it matters that I read it at this particular time in my life. Those four years that I couldn't finish Emma, I was also going through a personal journey and growth in my own life. I'm glad that I read Emma closely at a time where I can muster more compassion, wisdom, and understanding about life and the human nature. There were times when I would be in fits of laughter while reading, and there were times when my heart would just hurt for her. There is immense value in reading Emma and Jane Austen's work closely and unhurried. Hopefully, those who will embark on Emma's journey for the first or subsequent time will find themselves richer for it--in wisdom, compassion, empathy, and, well, joy. 😊❤️
How lovely to hear of your journey! I'm delighted that you've persevered and are now enjoying Austen's novels in full. Many people come to her first via an adaptation (I was first hooked by the 1980 BBC serialisation of Pride and Prejudice) before reading the novels in full. I also enjoyed the 2020 Emma movie; one thing that came across very well in that production was Emma's loneliness. She is a very young women of 20; her mother is long dead; her only sister married several years ago and Emma, being tied to Hartfield and her fussy and demanding father, seems not to be free to travel to London to see her; and at the very beginning of the novel, her governess and only real companion, Miss Taylor, has just married and departed for Randalls. 'Poor Miss Taylor!' exclaims Mr Woodhouse, but we might be more justified in saying 'Poor Miss Woodhouse!' No wonder she latches on to Harriet!
@@jogibson5851 Yes! I agree! Anya Taylor-Joy did such a great job of portraying Emma's loneliness! She actually sheds a tear when she handed Ms. Taylor her bouquet, and in the chapel, she actually lets a sad smile slip (when she thinks no one is looking), and then she takes a deep breath, and her face is carefully blank again. In the reception luncheon after the wedding, you can see her looking at the guests on the table at Randall's--she saw Ms. Bates and how she too is caring for an aging parent, she saw nobody at the table who could keep up with her, and she has a sad smile on her face when she saw Mr. and Mrs. Weston happy at the head of the table. The next day, she was also looking at the long empty table at Hartfield, and how there was only the two of them in it--her eyes looked so sad! And then she'd take a deep breath, and talk to her father. This is very true to the book in that Jane Austen describes Emma as exerting effort to be cheerful around her father. If one so much as blinks, they could miss it! That's why I savored reading the book and I re-watched the movie a lot so I can understand Emma better. I'm off to Mansfield Park now. I have been looking for some good adaptations, but I keep finding negative reviews. I hope there will also be excellent faithful adaptations of the other Austen novels in the future. And thanks so much for reading about my journey and replying!
What a wonderful message to receive. And congratulations on trying so very hard and persevering! Austen is completely worth the effort of reading her closely - you get so much back and out of deep reading her, as you say. Octavia
Hello from Spain! It happened the same with me. Thanks to the 2020 film I started to discover this masterpiece, (which I already had in the library but didn't read it yet). Thank you Dr Cox for your work, you explain it fantastically. By the way, would you be so kind to confirm how should I cite your UA-cam video in MLA last edition to do it properly? I'm not sure if I did it correctly and I want to put you in my Works Cited of the final project of university. Thank you in advanced.
But could it be that Emma doesn't pick up on Mr Elton's intentions towards her precisely because he does not in fact love her? My interpetation of the book is that he probably fancies her - she is attractive after all, but the main driving force of his wish to marry her is surely financial and social. It's clear from the disparaging way he later talks about Miss Smith that he sees her as beneath him and therefore of no consequence. He marries someone else very quickly after Emma turns him down, and then later even she admits that he cannot forgive her. This is not how a man who truly loved her would behave. So Emma is right and not wrong to perceive no love in him for her.
7:00 what also strikes me here is Emma is preoccupied with creating her portrait of Harriet, I.e. seeing her and drawing her as she wants her to appear, so much so she is totally unaware that she herself is being looked at / desired. So a bit like a “gaze” at play? I enjoyed your video!
Absolutely! That's a great observation. Emma is gazing at Harriet, while Mr Elton is gazing at Emma (while pretending through Emma to be gazing at Harriet). And, of course, Mr Elton also 'sees' Harriet filtered through how Emma wants Harriet to appear: "It appears to me a most perfect resemblance in every feature. I never saw such a likeness in my life". Not so for Mr Knightley! - "You have made her too tall, Emma" (Emma, ch.6).
I am enjoying these videos on Jane Austen’s novels. It strikes me that we have a repeated theme here. In P&P, Charlotte gives the advice that Jane should make her feelings clear, actually show stronger feelings than she has in order to get her man. In Persuasion, Anne is showing hardly any feelings towards Captain Wentworth. The feelings are there, but Anne keeps them inside and well hidden from the others. Here again is a love scene where Mr. Elton is showing his feeling towards Emma, but he does not use a language Emma picks up on. He praises the portrait, which is an indirect praise of either the subject, Harriet, or the artist, Emma. It is for the reader to decide. I agree, Mr. Elton’s love for Emma is missed the first time we read the book, but so blatantly obvious on later readings because we know how he really feels. Does Mr. Knightly show his love for Emma in the book? When does he know he is romantically in love with her. He is so blunt with her and does not use the romantic language of love until the end. He cares for her from the very beginning. While he does not flatter Emma, he is also the only one who understands the situation with her father and does not aggravate him or argues with him over his ridiculous ideas and demands. In contrast, the brother and Isabella argue with Mr. Woodhouse and let him get under their skin. I have not viewed all your Jane Austen videos yet, but I plan to. Have you examined the relationship between Emma and her father? Emma seemingly has an easy life, but does she. Her father loves and dotes on her, but he makes her life difficult with his idiosyncratic ideas. Does he have dementia? Emma is probably the decision maker, but has to accomplish this without offending her father. Thanks for another interesting video.
Emma's one of two characters in the novel who think they are very clever, but are hoodwinked by somebody cleverer; she is ricked by Frank Churchill, while clever Mr Elton is taken in by Augusta Hawkins. Similarly, Isabella Thorpe and Frederick Tilney; while Mary Crawford bamboozles herself. As my gran used to say, "You're so sharp, you'll cut yourself."
Lately I realised that when Emma's father is telling people that they won't like the food that they have chosen for themselves, that this food will be bad for them, and that they will much rather like this other food that he recommends... You can substitute people for food dishes and its an exact parallel for Emma telling Harriet who she should and shouldn't prefer romantically. Emma's father comes across as an extremely annoying man. Silly, selfish, a hypochondriac who projects his own wishes on other people instead of having any interest in other people as their own person, Only comprehending people in relation to how they affect him. He is so Interfering as to dictate what they eat against their own tastes. He is annoying at best, and pitiful and revolting at worst. I suddenly realised that I only liked Emma better than her father because she is young and beautiful, and the star of her own story. Emma is as pathetic as her father, and may well age as horribly as her father unless Mr Knightly can keep strongly and frequently prompting empathy in her, and Emma actually listens and tries. No wonder Jane Austen herself was appalled that her readers liked Emma herself as a character.
I love this insight that Austen is laughing at the readers who think they've got the story of "Emma" and Emma herself all figured out. "Emma" the novel really is a mystery that can't be fully worked out in the first read, and I think the biggest trick Austen played on the reader with "Emma" is that it's the seemingly insignificant chatterings of Miss Bates that so often come close to revealing the deepest darkest secrets of the entire novel, but she's either disregarded, or another character interjects to "casually" change the subject just in time!!
these analysis are making me appreciate the books so much more (Emma in particular, which was never my favourite from Austen), all I have to do now is find the time to re-read Emma, I know I will enjoy it much more than I did before
Another wonderful analysis, and I really appreciated your highlighting that we Janeites love her because she lets us in on the joke. I always feel like that's her main gift to her readers. And then, deliciously, that's punctured by her 'busting OUR chops'.....love it!
I think that in the introduction of Emma at the start of the book, Austen subtly tries to prejudice the readers similar to the introduction of Mr Darcy at the Meryton ball. We know and believe that Emma thinks a little too well of herself and there’s evidence for it in the way she plays with Harriet’s emotions and her conduct with Mr Elton and Robert Martin. For such a person as her, the Box hill comment where she mocks Ms Bates is not so much out of character. But this incident happens a lot later in the book. Before that readers have seen Emma maturing and accepting her mistakes and we think that now she’s reformed and then what , Box hill happens. We’re again left confused just when we thought that we’ve figured her out. So Austen definitely plays around with the readers. All people have their flaws and a heroine of a novel is no exception, at least not in Austen novels.
The very point of an Austen heroine is that she's not perfect: "He and I should not in the least agree, of course, in our ideas of novels and heroines. Pictures of perfection, as you know, make me sick and wicked" (March 1816).
Loved this one, Emma is my favorite Austen novel... The characters are so vivid and rich, the comedy is sparkling and Emma, despite her blunders, is a heroine I like to see succeed. And it holds up so well, Clueless is proof ✨😉
I would love to hear your thoughts on the relationship between Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill and what clues does Jane Austen plant about them? Are they together in the big deception? Do they have an actual falling out after the disastrous picnic? Is Frank Churchill a rake or hero? What is really going on?
On closer reading, I found that Miss Bates gives many clues as to the true nature of the relationship between Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax. Unfortunately for Emma, she ignores Miss Bates and doesn’t think much of her incessant talking. I believe that it was no big surprise to Miss Bates.
To me, it seemed like a big clue immediately that after all the years that Frank had never found the time to visit his dad, he finally showed up just at the time when Jane Fairfax had come to town. I was suspecting a connection between them from the start.
I think these are excellent ideas for future videos (hint, hint). I'm especially curious about whether "they have an actual falling out after the disastrous picnic". On another question of yours, isn't Frank Churchill both a bit of a rake AND a hero?
Upon the second read there are a lot o clues that Frank and Jane are somehow connected. As already mentioned, he FINALLY came to the town only after Jane had come. Also he ALWAYS found its way to the Bates' s house - e.g. forgotten scissors. Almost every time we meet him he was or was about to go to Bates. I was actually really surprised when re-reading that I didn't catch it the first time. That that time when Jane and Frank were left almost alone and he was "repairing" Mrs. Bate's glasses and then when Emma and Ms Bates returned they were surprised that it took him so ling to repair them.
Emma-harriet-elton plot is like the rehersal of the frank-jane plot. The reader discovers easily the former and then he thinks he knows better, but the second plot takes him by surprise or at least it needs a rereading to find all the evidences scattered around. Both times are the knightley brothers who give hints to emma. I'm watching these videos: they're amazing. Thank you! How do you work on close reading? Do you pick up an idea or a passage of the book and then ask yourself questions?
Re. The Emma-Elton-Harriet plot echoing the Emma-Frank-Jane plot. Yes! - that’s a great point. Austen does this a lot in Emma: she draws the reader’s attention to something (in this case Emma’s inability to discern other people’s feelings-or not-for each other) only to challenge the reader to find a parallel elsewhere (e.g. the reduced circumstances of Mrs Bates who used to hold the position in society now occupied by Mrs Elton, which you might hope would give Mrs Elton pause for thought). Austen almost taunts the reader by clearly exposing one example (Emma-Elton-Harriet) while obscuring the other (Emma-Frank-Jane). I would always recommend rereading Emma (or any Austen novel for that matter) - there’s always so much more to find!
Re. How to close read. Yes, exactly. Read through a text once. And then again. And then again. And then again. And each time think about how the words are acting on you. Ask yourself… What imagines are being created? What is particularly striking? How you are you, as a reader, being manipulated by the way in which the meaning of the text is being conveyed to you? Why has the author chosen to present the text in the way (form, language, tone, structure, grammar, etc) that they have? Keep asking yourself the essential question: “Why is the text the way it is?”
@@DrOctaviaCox but to answer those question do you need a knowledge of the context around the book and the author or in this method of reading you consider only the text in front of you? That is to say how close can you read? About JA I find that the most enigmatic novel is Mansfield Park; I agree with the ones who think that mary crawford speaks for the author.
I think you can just look at the text as it is (this is called formalist New Criticism), but I don’t think it’s harmful to consider contextual details too.
Took a break from listening to Emma in audio book to listen to your amusing and interesting analysis of it. If you haven't already examined Jane fairfax's personality, I'd love to hear that. 😀
I appreciate you giving us all the details -- dotting the i's and crossing the t's -- in case a watcher does not already know a point. For instance, I usually do understand the vocabulary (although it's good to have my understanding confirmed), but I definitely do not get the nuances such as the three layers of irony you explained in this video. And yes, I've made plenty of blunders due to over-estimating my knowledge -- not knowledge of relationships and feelings, but other kinds of knowledge that I do pride myself on.
Really enjoyed this video. Really clearly explained and eye opening. Could you perhaps do a video about Mr Knightley and how his feelings are revealed to readers?
this is all true, but in all her ignorance, she is glorious. i love emma and she is my favorite jane austen heros, even if she is a bit silly sometimes
I think Emma was oversexualized from an early age, perhaps by hard-core porn. she found and looked at in the home as a child (7 - 10), and then, in order to function at a private girls' junior school, she had to divide her brain into two parts, one asexual school part and one lustful part. But in doing so, when in epicene 'mode', she repressed herself from getting mildly aroused by common or garden activities, leading to her becoming over-serious, perhaps clinically depressed, and later on, to her not recognizing that she needed to unpack and examine her 'preferences' in regard to sensuality/and-or love, in order to find herself a husband, because she became confused about which section of her mind she should employ, in whatever situation. This was particularly so when she was sent to a 6th form college, which was one-third boys and two-thirds girls.
Can you please do a close reading of a scene in The Count of Monte Cristo? I'm thinking one of three very important scenes between Edmond and Mercedes: 1) When Edmond visits Albert and Mercedes recognizes him, 2) When she pleads for Edmond's life, or 3) when they meet again at his father's house at the end of the novel? Thanks for considering.
Dear Dr. Cox. Thanks for such a fascinating series ... I'm working my way through & loving it! Is there any chance you could do something on the yeoman farmer & his place in the social order. I've never really got the connection; they seem to be neither fish nor fowl nor good red meat. So, Harriet, illegitimate, possibly the daughter of a gentleman, is considered suitable material for the good farmer (whose name I've forgotten) ... or a member of the gentry. I'm confused. Please help!
Indeed... and why couldn't Emma ever 'visit' them? "A class or two below Emma was one thing... and below the farmer social order was the 'charity cases' where she could visit... but not the in-between farmer class? Does Mr. Knightly give up having Mr. Martin as a tenant now that Mr. Knightly renounced Donwell and makes his home at Hartfield? (So Emma 'cannot ever visit' Harriet after she was married to Mr. Martin? Confusing...and sad... unless Harriet and her influence/friendship had run its course)
Emma’s self-satisfaction, smugness as you say, seems to prevent her from seeing what’s right under her nose. I’m thinking Frank Churchill being so solicitous to Jane Fairfax. Emma seems to notice at the ball, but quickly forgets when Frank engages her in playful conversation. He just assumes she knows the real truth because when he comes to say goodbye to her he broaches the subject, saying something like, you might have guessed where my affections lie, etc. Frank is interrupted before finishing and Emma thinks he was going to propose to her. From Mr. Elton to Frank Churchill to Mr. Knightley, she was clueless.
I'm not sure Octavia if you're familiar with the work of Alfred Hitchcock, but your analysis of Emma includes many of the same themes including dramatic irony, presence of the author (filmmaker), moral ambiguity, use of motifs, and multiple layers of meaning. If you haven't had this chance, I hope you can thru various film studies avenues - I think you'll be amazed at the artistic similarities. Who would ever think of linking Austen with Hitchcock, but as strange as it sounds, I think it exists! Really enjoying your channel.
She was right about Mr E, too! I have wondered whether Mrs Elton, arriving in Hartfield as a newlywed, after a very short courtship, has any inkling that her 'caro sposo' had proposed to Emma just a few weeks beforehand? And does this knowledge partially fuel Emma's dislike of her, knowing how thin the foundations of that marriage must be?
@@jogibson5851 don't forget that most marriages in Jane Austen's day were made for economic and practical reasons, rather than emotional ones. Mrs Elton is clearly glad to have got a 'good' husband, so probably wouldn't care that much. Or maybe her dislike of Emma is founded partly on the awareness that Emma thought herself too good for Mr Elton.
I have a question. In the novel, whenever someone mentions Mr. Knigtley marrying, Emma gets all huffy on behalf of her nephew, Henry, being robbed of the Knigtley estate, to then be the one who robs him. But what happens to Hartfield after Emma get married? Cause Emma was in line to inherit it on the basis that her older sister was married, I assume. Would Henry inherit it, since he's Mr. Woodhouse oldest grandkid? What if Mr Woodhouse dies before Henry's grown? Would Emma get to keep it for her children? Would Isabella?
Great questions. "Mr. Knightly (the oldest of the two brothers) must never marry. Little Henry must remain the heir of Donwell." (Chap.26) Yet in chapter 53 the narrative states, " How very few of those men in a rank of life to address Emma (Mr. Knightly) would have renounced their own home for Hartfield!" So Mr. Knightly renounces the claim of being heir to Donwell Abbey so he can marry, and Henry's inheritance is still safe. But who inherits Hartfield? Would Emma (being the younger girl of two daughters) if she remained single? Now that Mr. Knightly is willing to make his home also at Hartfield, and giving that Mr. Woodhouse is so disposed to having Mr. Knightly assist him with his papers and such for so many years prior, it would seem that the home would be 'transferred' as property then to Mr. Knightly? Thoughts? This would make a great topic on its own for Dr. Cox to discuss. (That, and the questions, "Why was Frank Churchill so secretive about his and Miss Fairfax's engagement?" Were there other relatives? Was Miss Fairfax THAT unacceptable to Mrs. Churchill for Frank? Etc...)
@@Redberryfarm888 Thanks for your answer! I never knew Mr. Knigtley moving to Hartfield meant he was forfeiting his ownership of Donwell Abbey. I assumed he'd run in remotely until Mr. Woodhouse died. Does it then got to his brother John, then? Does Mr. Knigtley still run it remotely until Henry grows up? Cause it's got to stay in the family for Henry to inherit, right? I had never thought of Emma not being outright entitled to Hartfield. I know it would have been odd for the time period but she talks about being more mistress of Hartfield than she could ever be of a husbands home so often I figured she expected to be it forever. I guess she had enough money to buy another estate when her father passed, so might that's what she intended to do? Cause she certainly wouldn't have wanted to give up her rank and her lifestyle. In any case, I can see Mr. Woodhouse setting up something for Emma to inherit Hartfield, even if she's the youngest and expects to remain unmarried. It's certainly his wish that she remains so, and he wouldn't want to leave his daughter without a home. Isabella seems a bit to much of an airhead to fuss about birth order and such. Plus, her sons would inherit it from Emma if she was unmarried anyway. Regardless, going back to what you said about Mr. Knigtley giving up his own estate to accommodate for her fiancée and father in law to be, and Mr. Woodhouse already trusting him to manage his affairs, one way I could see them sorting that out is with a prenup of sorts? I know it was costumary for fathers and son-in-laws to be to legally settle how the latter ought to manage his wife's dowry and how he ought to take care of her while they were married, so maybe the settle it then? Like Hartfield becomes part of Emma's dowry?
@@carmenaguado492 - I wish that Dr. Cox would help me and give her opinion here! From what (little) I know, there are 3 separate residences and estates, so to speak. Mr. (George)Knightley the elder - who has the seat of Donwell Abbey, which is an inherited (entail?) estate to the next male relative. Mr. John Knightley the younger brother - who lives in London ( Brunswick Square neighborhood- ' so very superior to most others- so different' chapter 12) with wife Isabella Woodhouse-Knightley and whose oldest son Henry is the heir apparent to Donwell. Being that there is no other title ( Earl, Duke, etc.) to inherit, this must be the gentry class (?) ... him being a landed gentleman similar to Mr. Darcy of P & P, would be my guess. I would think that once the elder brother renounced the claim of Donwell, his younger brother would live there and do what needs doing until his six year old son Henry would come of age to inherit. (Guessing here... HELP Dr. Cox!!! Please! 😂) Then there is the estate of Mr. Woodhouse, (again another 'Mr.', no title) called Hartfield. It must not be an entailed (passed to the nearest male relative) estate, thus, the estate could be passed to a daughter. The narrative text merely states that Mr. Henry Woodhouse 'had not married early, ...having been a valetudinarian (hypochondriac as in: Hypochondriasis may be distinguished by the languor, listlessness, want of resolution and activity, fear of death, and suspicious disposition always being present. . . . [There is a] lowness and dejection of spirits, great desponding. . . . In short, it is attended with such a long train of symptoms, that it would fill many pages to enunciate them all, as there is no function or part of the body that does not suffer in its turn by its tyranny. . . . [T]ea and coffee are improper articles of diet for hypochondriasis. (Thomas 327) ) www.jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol21no2/bader.html? all his life'... but no mention of how he got his fortune and estate. How Hartfield gets divided between Isabella and Emma is not mentioned. I would think that Isabella had some sort of inheritance provided for her, like Emma's "30,000 pounds". It is just the estate that needed deciding upon, and Mr. Knightley and Emma can now have this estate as their own once Mr. Woodhouse dies. (Everyone is happy. Everyone gets what they want or deserve. The end.) 😉 Hope this helps~ These are just my guesses!
@@Redberryfarm888 Yeah, I would hope it could work out that well too! It's a shame this video is so old, we might not get an answer. It'd be ironically beautiful that Mr. Woodhouse's fear of his dearest little Emma marrying and leaving him actually brings him closer to Mr. Knigtley and brings Isabella and her children back to the area. It would even prompt more visit for Mrs. Weston for playdates and the like. So nice happy ending for him too.
@@carmenaguado492 - I found this site helpful in my understanding the class structure of the families mentioned in 'Emma' www.austenauthors.net/social-class-in-jane-austens-emma/
Rereading Emma after hearing your perspective, I’m struck with Austen’s portrayal of Mrs. Weston’s relationship with Frank Churchill. It seems unlikely that she was actually saying they were having an affair, but the timing of her confinement, her concern about him, etc. makes me wonder.
The first time I read Emma I thought Frank Churchill the worst kind of man, the same outburst that Mr. Knightley has about him-- a scoundrel! The next time I read it, much the same. And then after, when I understood that he thought that Emma was in on the secret, that surely Emma must know because she and Jane are friends, and why else would she "joke" about such a serious indiscretion on Jane's part if not out of jest, then I think I began to be more forgiving of him. I still think it not totally proper that he should be so openly flirtatious with a single lady, him being thought of as a single man himself, but it excuses his character as that of more of a happy, teasing, friendly sort of fellow, rather than someone very cruel, capricious and pressumptious.
Interesting! That's why I couldn't properly enjoy it until the second time around. When Mr Knightley knocks on her head regarding her blunder with Harriet, my insides turned inside out. 'Oh no! She's ruined that poor girl's life!' And the faux pas at the picnic? I wanted to crawl under my bed. I felt a bit like a parent waiting for their teenage daughter to come home after missing her curfew. 'Either she's done something stupid and it's resulted in tragedy, or she's fine and we'll all laugh about this in five years!'
I'd love you to do a commentary on the Crawfords in Mansfield Park (or one commentary on each, there's so much to say about them)! Perhaps for starters, one about his actual level of sincerity in falling in love with Fanny Price?
Awesome analysis. I was already a subscriber but if I wasn’t, this would make me subscribe. I just read Emma and she’s one of my favorite Austen heroines. Thank you for your videos.
Hey! I just started reading it and to be honest it gets confusing at times. Your video is really helpful, thank you very much! :) By the way, You said at first that Jane Austen uses the concept of perspectives. What exactly do you mean by that? Sorry for the stupid question :(
To add to my question, in what of these examples would perspective apply because I truly don't get the concept of perspective when analyzing a book. Again, sorry for disturbing you with these stupid questions. I hope you don't mind answering them.
Don't worry, it's not a stupid question at all! To use different 'perspectives' is to present different viewpoints & to see the action through different lenses. In _Emma_ the perspective is particularly obscure & unclear to the reader. - Are we being presented with Emma Woodhouse's own viewpoint (i.e. Emma's perspective)? - Or are we being presented with the narrative voice's perspective? - Or a detached, ironic narrative perspective? - Or Austen's own perspective? - More than one at once? (which I was suggesting in the video). Many, many readers over the centuries have been confused by this central conundrum. In part that's what makes the novel so much fun! &/or challenging...
I don't mind answering at all! Throughout the novel _Emma_ it is hard to ascertain who is in charge of the narrative, and from whose perspective we are being guided. Let's take the very opening (famous) sentence: the novel opens, "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich" (ch.1). Whose opinion is this? In other words, whose perspective are we presented with here? Is this Emma's own opinion of herself? Is this an omniscient third person narrator who is presenting us with narrative fact? Is this the collective perspective and agreed opinion of Highbury (where Emma lives)? Is this an ironic, detached narrative voice who is exposing Emma's own self-importance to us readers? ... The text leaves it up to readers to decide.
@@DrOctaviaCox What if it is ultimately Mr. Knightley's perspective behind the narrator? Throughout the novel he is extolled as a man of good judgment. Then the first line itself is a clue toward his eventual romantic attachment to her.
I would love an explanation and clarity in terms of secondary characters in Emma; I find it challenging to clearly understand the undertones of various romances.
LOL I've just finished reading the novel and I absolutely agree it's a detective novel! I had watched 2 movie adaptations before reading the book, so I know the plot, and I was surprised to see how much was hidden from the reader to be revealed later.
you could almost say that Emma's more of what she's described as, compared to Mr. Darcys' "proudest and most disagreeable man in the world" view of Meryton, which is actually nothing more than a perception of him and not an actual truth about him.
I think the shifts in perspective are one of the most engaging things in Austen's writing, particularly because Austen is so deft in how easily and quickly she shifts from one to another. She manipulates how we see her characters, only to surprise us later in the narrative as the plot reveals acpects of their personalities that she had previously only hinted at.
Finished the novel for the first time today and while Emma is very flawed I like her character very much. Relatable enough to be liked and forgiven. Unsympathetic enough to make one reflect and blush.
Emma seems to get away with it because she is rich and attractive (she could choose a husband if she wanted to, but she will not lose her fortune like other Austen female characters seem to be in constant danger of...) Everyone looks up to her as a good example, but little do they know that she is about as confused as everyone else, except for Mr. Knightly (...in shining armor ... the hero.) Characters like this remind me of, "A Beautiful Mind" and the girl's viewpoint in, "He Love Me, He Loves Me Not" - where the first 'reality' presented by the main character to the reader or audience turns out to be way off!
I have no knowledge of the law at the time of Pride and Prejudice. I understand that Longbourn is entailed to heirs male. What I don't understand is why there is never any consideration of the possibility of Longbourn moving from Mr. Bennet to a male grandson. Were lifespans just too short for this to be an imaginable future? Thank you.
"I understand that Longbourn is entailed to heirs male. What I don't understand is why there is never any consideration of the possibility of Longbourn moving from Mr. Bennet to a male grandson. Were lifespans just too short for this to be an imaginable future?" It wasn't a matter of lifespan -- plenty of people lived to be grandparents and even great-grandparents. No, the way entail works is that an estate has to pass to males THROUGH male inheritance every step of the way. A male grandson would only inherit if that grandson were the son of Mr. Bennet's son -- and Mr. Bennet has only daughters. The intervening step (Mr. Bennet's hypothetical son) must be a legitimately-born male but need not still be alive. That is, if Mr. Bennet had had a son who married, had a son himself, and then died, that son (Mr. Bennet's grandson) would inherit even though his father died before Mr. Bennet did.
If I might make a suggestion? Turn your head so that your mouth is parallel to, not facing, the mic. This may require you to get a little closer. When you face the mic and speak, you have a tendency to create "pops" that are quite jarring to listeners. They also distort what you are saying.
But isn't one of the meanings of 'Emma', the fact that women have a shorter window for choosing 'partners' than men, should they want children? Thereby, isn't Jane Austen calling on scientists to develop technology to allow females to have more time to do this, one thing which the S.E.N.S. Research Foundation experiments, if successful, would give them?
Sorry, but I don't think you have successfully made the point of Austen laughing at the reader for getting things wrong, because you have not given any instances of its being so. For all you (or Austen) know, we the readers have gotten everything right, I, , for one, don't see that I have, even after several readings and many viewings.
Do leave any comments that you have.
Have you ever been guilty of the same blunders as Emma Woodhouse? (Like me, I confess, when I first read the novel!)
I did too, I just went on reading assuming that Emma knew what she was talking about (up to a certain point at least) needles to say I was very wrong ahah
I think that's exactly what Austen expected from first-time readers!
After watching this I made a point of re-reading Emma, being on the lookout for “appearance vs. Reality” and it is all over the place in big and small ways- it is so fun to look for it!! Jane Fairfax walks to the post office because she says it is her chance to exercise, but we know now that it is because she is looking for letters from Frank. Emma notices during the dinner party that Jane seems in better humor and complexion (she clearly got a letter that day from Frank telling her he was coming back!), and then Mr. Weston shows up with his own letter from Frank saying that he is coming back, and he says that he (Weston) is not the principle correspondent of Frank’s, meaning it is Mrs Weston, while the reality is that Jane is the person. And of course Jane doesn’t want Mrs Elton’s help getting a job because she is secretly engaged, not because she loves being with her aunt and grandmother. And this is only one small part of one chapter. It is so much fun. It’s really a mystery novel! 😂
yes, i admit to just going along for the ride. since Emma was a character that Jane Austen particularly liked, was Jane Austen also poking fun at herself?
Someone once asked me what the book Emma was about. My reply was that "everyone is wrong about everything."
Not quite true, Mr Knightely got most things right. Emma blundered by thinking Harriet could adopt the same attitude as herself..good enough for anyone.
This is so true! Emma, Harriet, Mr Woodhouse, Mr and Mrs Weston, Mr Elton and Mrs Bates are wrong about… well, everything. Mr Knightly and Jane are luckier, but in general nobody seem to get things right 😁 I love this book. The more you read it, the better and deeper it gets.
Honestly, Doctor Cox, I've been trying to read Emma for 4 years. I took it as a challenge when Jane Austen said that only she would love Emma. Several times I've picked it up, and I would give up after a few chapters. I would try again after a few months, go back to the beginning only to eventually give up again.
Three years ago, I even told myself that maybe I could finish it if I were reading a physical copy instead of an e-book. My younger brother gifted me a copy and it sat yellowing and collecting dust. I was only able to finish Volume 1 once and that was it. Jane Austen was winning. I even waved my white flag at her, and told her in my head that I give up, Madam, you win. I'm so annoyed by Emma, I can't get myself to like her to even finish the book.
Then came 2021, and you can say I cheated, or maybe got some help, think it however you like. I watched the 2020 adaptation of Emma. I didn't even watch it when it first came out because Anya Taylor-Joy played her so unlikeable, that it reminded me of my annoyance at Emma and my defeat. But then I keep seeing good reviews about it. And even those who don't like Jane Austen's work love the cinematography and overall production design, so there's that at least. So, I finally gave in to my curiosity and watched the film.
And I'm glad I did! It was the boost that I needed! I've seen the film 10 times this past month, and each viewing would elucidate the story and the characters each and every time. And it gave me the push to do my research (about the characters and the context in which the novel was written) and to finally finish the novel. That's actually how I made it to your channel, Doctor Cox.
And I did it! As of February 17th, 2021 I finally got to the end of Emma (and the essay in my copy)! It took me three-and-a-half weeks but I did it! There were a lot of times when I had to read a sentence or a passage multiple times to figure out what Jane Austen meant. I admit that there are still a handful of passages where I wonder what she really means. English isn't my first language, and I'm not British either, so I really had to investigate a lot to fully appreciate the masterpiece that is Emma. I also read it while reflecting, and I think it matters that I read it at this particular time in my life. Those four years that I couldn't finish Emma, I was also going through a personal journey and growth in my own life. I'm glad that I read Emma closely at a time where I can muster more compassion, wisdom, and understanding about life and the human nature. There were times when I would be in fits of laughter while reading, and there were times when my heart would just hurt for her. There is immense value in reading Emma and Jane Austen's work closely and unhurried. Hopefully, those who will embark on Emma's journey for the first or subsequent time will find themselves richer for it--in wisdom, compassion, empathy, and, well, joy. 😊❤️
How lovely to hear of your journey! I'm delighted that you've persevered and are now enjoying Austen's novels in full. Many people come to her first via an adaptation (I was first hooked by the 1980 BBC serialisation of Pride and Prejudice) before reading the novels in full. I also enjoyed the 2020 Emma movie; one thing that came across very well in that production was Emma's loneliness. She is a very young women of 20; her mother is long dead; her only sister married several years ago and Emma, being tied to Hartfield and her fussy and demanding father, seems not to be free to travel to London to see her; and at the very beginning of the novel, her governess and only real companion, Miss Taylor, has just married and departed for Randalls. 'Poor Miss Taylor!' exclaims Mr Woodhouse, but we might be more justified in saying 'Poor Miss Woodhouse!' No wonder she latches on to Harriet!
@@jogibson5851 Yes! I agree! Anya Taylor-Joy did such a great job of portraying Emma's loneliness! She actually sheds a tear when she handed Ms. Taylor her bouquet, and in the chapel, she actually lets a sad smile slip (when she thinks no one is looking), and then she takes a deep breath, and her face is carefully blank again. In the reception luncheon after the wedding, you can see her looking at the guests on the table at Randall's--she saw Ms. Bates and how she too is caring for an aging parent, she saw nobody at the table who could keep up with her, and she has a sad smile on her face when she saw Mr. and Mrs. Weston happy at the head of the table. The next day, she was also looking at the long empty table at Hartfield, and how there was only the two of them in it--her eyes looked so sad! And then she'd take a deep breath, and talk to her father. This is very true to the book in that Jane Austen describes Emma as exerting effort to be cheerful around her father. If one so much as blinks, they could miss it! That's why I savored reading the book and I re-watched the movie a lot so I can understand Emma better. I'm off to Mansfield Park now. I have been looking for some good adaptations, but I keep finding negative reviews. I hope there will also be excellent faithful adaptations of the other Austen novels in the future. And thanks so much for reading about my journey and replying!
What a wonderful message to receive. And congratulations on trying so very hard and persevering! Austen is completely worth the effort of reading her closely - you get so much back and out of deep reading her, as you say. Octavia
@@jogibson5851 I agree. Emma is lonely. Bored and lonely. As you say, she loses her mother, her sister, and then her surrogate sister.
Hello from Spain! It happened the same with me. Thanks to the 2020 film I started to discover this masterpiece, (which I already had in the library but didn't read it yet). Thank you Dr Cox for your work, you explain it fantastically. By the way, would you be so kind to confirm how should I cite your UA-cam video in MLA last edition to do it properly? I'm not sure if I did it correctly and I want to put you in my Works Cited of the final project of university. Thank you in advanced.
But could it be that Emma doesn't pick up on Mr Elton's intentions towards her precisely because he does not in fact love her? My interpetation of the book is that he probably fancies her - she is attractive after all, but the main driving force of his wish to marry her is surely financial and social. It's clear from the disparaging way he later talks about Miss Smith that he sees her as beneath him and therefore of no consequence. He marries someone else very quickly after Emma turns him down, and then later even she admits that he cannot forgive her. This is not how a man who truly loved her would behave. So Emma is right and not wrong to perceive no love in him for her.
7:00 what also strikes me here is Emma is preoccupied with creating her portrait of Harriet, I.e. seeing her and drawing her as she wants her to appear, so much so she is totally unaware that she herself is being looked at / desired. So a bit like a “gaze” at play?
I enjoyed your video!
Absolutely! That's a great observation. Emma is gazing at Harriet, while Mr Elton is gazing at Emma (while pretending through Emma to be gazing at Harriet). And, of course, Mr Elton also 'sees' Harriet filtered through how Emma wants Harriet to appear: "It appears to me a most perfect resemblance in every feature. I never saw such a likeness in my life". Not so for Mr Knightley! - "You have made her too tall, Emma" (Emma, ch.6).
P.S. Thank you! I'm pleased you enjoyed it.
I am enjoying these videos on Jane Austen’s novels. It strikes me that we have a repeated theme here. In P&P, Charlotte gives the advice that Jane should make her feelings clear, actually show stronger feelings than she has in order to get her man. In Persuasion, Anne is showing hardly any feelings towards Captain Wentworth. The feelings are there, but Anne keeps them inside and well hidden from the others. Here again is a love scene where Mr. Elton is showing his feeling towards Emma, but he does not use a language Emma picks up on. He praises the portrait, which is an indirect praise of either the subject, Harriet, or the artist, Emma. It is for the reader to decide. I agree, Mr. Elton’s love for Emma is missed the first time we read the book, but so blatantly obvious on later readings because we know how he really feels.
Does Mr. Knightly show his love for Emma in the book? When does he know he is romantically in love with her. He is so blunt with her and does not use the romantic language of love until the end. He cares for her from the very beginning. While he does not flatter Emma, he is also the only one who understands the situation with her father and does not aggravate him or argues with him over his ridiculous ideas and demands. In contrast, the brother and Isabella argue with Mr. Woodhouse and let him get under their skin.
I have not viewed all your Jane Austen videos yet, but I plan to. Have you examined the relationship between Emma and her father? Emma seemingly has an easy life, but does she. Her father loves and dotes on her, but he makes her life difficult with his idiosyncratic ideas. Does he have dementia? Emma is probably the decision maker, but has to accomplish this without offending her father.
Thanks for another interesting video.
Wow, I appreciate your insights. It may be time for me to reread Emma, as my own father is in a stage that presents me some of the same challenges.
Emma's one of two characters in the novel who think they are very clever, but are hoodwinked by somebody cleverer; she is ricked by Frank Churchill, while clever Mr Elton is taken in by Augusta Hawkins. Similarly, Isabella Thorpe and Frederick Tilney; while Mary Crawford bamboozles herself. As my gran used to say, "You're so sharp, you'll cut yourself."
Lately I realised that when Emma's father is telling people that they won't like the food that they have chosen for themselves, that this food will be bad for them, and that they will much rather like this other food that he recommends... You can substitute people for food dishes and its an exact parallel for Emma telling Harriet who she should and shouldn't prefer romantically.
Emma's father comes across as an extremely annoying man. Silly, selfish, a hypochondriac who projects his own wishes on other people instead of having any interest in other people as their own person, Only comprehending people in relation to how they affect him. He is so Interfering as to dictate what they eat against their own tastes. He is annoying at best, and pitiful and revolting at worst.
I suddenly realised that I only liked Emma better than her father because she is young and beautiful, and the star of her own story. Emma is as pathetic as her father, and may well age as horribly as her father unless Mr Knightly can keep strongly and frequently prompting empathy in her, and Emma actually listens and tries.
No wonder Jane Austen herself was appalled that her readers liked Emma herself as a character.
I love this insight that Austen is laughing at the readers who think they've got the story of "Emma" and Emma herself all figured out. "Emma" the novel really is a mystery that can't be fully worked out in the first read, and I think the biggest trick Austen played on the reader with "Emma" is that it's the seemingly insignificant chatterings of Miss Bates that so often come close to revealing the deepest darkest secrets of the entire novel, but she's either disregarded, or another character interjects to "casually" change the subject just in time!!
these analysis are making me appreciate the books so much more (Emma in particular, which was never my favourite from Austen), all I have to do now is find the time to re-read Emma, I know I will enjoy it much more than I did before
I'm so glad - many thanks.
Austen is always a joy to re-read! - I find something new every time.
Another wonderful analysis, and I really appreciated your highlighting that we Janeites love her because she lets us in on the joke. I always feel like that's her main gift to her readers. And then, deliciously, that's punctured by her 'busting OUR chops'.....love it!
I love that she'll laugh at her readers too! Such chutzpah.
@@DrOctaviaCox And that's 200 YEARS later--and forever!
HOPE PASSENGER NOVEL ANALYSE: ua-cam.com/video/KoSbB9x0NXk/v-deo.html
I think that in the introduction of Emma at the start of the book, Austen subtly tries to prejudice the readers similar to the introduction of Mr Darcy at the Meryton ball. We know and believe that Emma thinks a little too well of herself and there’s evidence for it in the way she plays with Harriet’s emotions and her conduct with Mr Elton and Robert Martin. For such a person as her, the Box hill comment where she mocks Ms Bates is not so much out of character. But this incident happens a lot later in the book. Before that readers have seen Emma maturing and accepting her mistakes and we think that now she’s reformed and then what , Box hill happens. We’re again left confused just when we thought that we’ve figured her out. So Austen definitely plays around with the readers. All people have their flaws and a heroine of a novel is no exception, at least not in Austen novels.
The very point of an Austen heroine is that she's not perfect: "He and I should not in the least agree, of course, in our ideas of novels and heroines. Pictures of perfection, as you know, make me sick and wicked" (March 1816).
Loved this one, Emma is my favorite Austen novel... The characters are so vivid and rich, the comedy is sparkling and Emma, despite her blunders, is a heroine I like to see succeed. And it holds up so well, Clueless is proof ✨😉
I would love to hear your thoughts on the relationship between Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill and what clues does Jane Austen plant about them? Are they together in the big deception? Do they have an actual falling out after the disastrous picnic? Is Frank Churchill a rake or hero? What is really going on?
HOPE PASSENGER NOVEL ANALYSE: ua-cam.com/video/KoSbB9x0NXk/v-deo.html
On closer reading, I found that Miss Bates gives many clues as to the true nature of the relationship between Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax. Unfortunately for Emma, she ignores Miss Bates and doesn’t think much of her incessant talking. I believe that it was no big surprise to Miss Bates.
To me, it seemed like a big clue immediately that after all the years that Frank had never found the time to visit his dad, he finally showed up just at the time when Jane Fairfax had come to town. I was suspecting a connection between them from the start.
I think these are excellent ideas for future videos (hint, hint). I'm especially curious about whether "they have an actual falling out after the disastrous picnic". On another question of yours, isn't Frank Churchill both a bit of a rake AND a hero?
Upon the second read there are a lot o clues that Frank and Jane are somehow connected. As already mentioned, he FINALLY came to the town only after Jane had come. Also he ALWAYS found its way to the Bates' s house - e.g. forgotten scissors. Almost every time we meet him he was or was about to go to Bates. I was actually really surprised when re-reading that I didn't catch it the first time. That that time when Jane and Frank were left almost alone and he was "repairing" Mrs. Bate's glasses and then when Emma and Ms Bates returned they were surprised that it took him so ling to repair them.
Emma-harriet-elton plot is like the rehersal of the frank-jane plot.
The reader discovers easily the former and then he thinks he knows better, but the second plot takes him by surprise or at least it needs a rereading to find all the evidences scattered around.
Both times are the knightley brothers who give hints to emma.
I'm watching these videos: they're amazing. Thank you!
How do you work on close reading? Do you pick up an idea or a passage of the book and then ask yourself questions?
Re. The Emma-Elton-Harriet plot echoing the Emma-Frank-Jane plot.
Yes! - that’s a great point. Austen does this a lot in Emma: she draws the reader’s attention to something (in this case Emma’s inability to discern other people’s feelings-or not-for each other) only to challenge the reader to find a parallel elsewhere (e.g. the reduced circumstances of Mrs Bates who used to hold the position in society now occupied by Mrs Elton, which you might hope would give Mrs Elton pause for thought). Austen almost taunts the reader by clearly exposing one example (Emma-Elton-Harriet) while obscuring the other (Emma-Frank-Jane).
I would always recommend rereading Emma (or any Austen novel for that matter) - there’s always so much more to find!
Re. How to close read.
Yes, exactly. Read through a text once. And then again. And then again. And then again. And each time think about how the words are acting on you. Ask yourself… What imagines are being created? What is particularly striking? How you are you, as a reader, being manipulated by the way in which the meaning of the text is being conveyed to you? Why has the author chosen to present the text in the way (form, language, tone, structure, grammar, etc) that they have?
Keep asking yourself the essential question: “Why is the text the way it is?”
And, thank you so much! I'm really pleased you are enjoying my videos.
@@DrOctaviaCox but to answer those question do you need a knowledge of the context around the book and the author or in this method of reading you consider only the text in front of you? That is to say how close can you read?
About JA I find that the most enigmatic novel is Mansfield Park; I agree with the ones who think that mary crawford speaks for the author.
I think you can just look at the text as it is (this is called formalist New Criticism), but I don’t think it’s harmful to consider contextual details too.
OMG I was watchin "Clueless" & realized its a different version of EMMA
Well done on catching that!
Took a break from listening to Emma in audio book to listen to your amusing and interesting analysis of it. If you haven't already examined Jane fairfax's personality, I'd love to hear that. 😀
“I seem doomed to blindness’ (if I am recalling it) - one of the best lines ever.
I appreciate you giving us all the details -- dotting the i's and crossing the t's -- in case a watcher does not already know a point. For instance, I usually do understand the vocabulary (although it's good to have my understanding confirmed), but I definitely do not get the nuances such as the three layers of irony you explained in this video.
And yes, I've made plenty of blunders due to over-estimating my knowledge -- not knowledge of relationships and feelings, but other kinds of knowledge that I do pride myself on.
Really enjoyed this video. Really clearly explained and eye opening. Could you perhaps do a video about Mr Knightley and how his feelings are revealed to readers?
this is all true, but in all her ignorance, she is glorious. i love emma and she is my favorite jane austen heros, even if she is a bit silly sometimes
I think Austen loves playing with her 'ignorance'.
@@DrOctaviaCox yes probably, everything is so much more deep then it lppk like :)
I think Emma was oversexualized from an early age, perhaps by hard-core porn. she found and looked at in the home as a child (7 - 10), and then, in order to function at a private girls' junior school, she had to divide her brain into two parts, one asexual school part and one lustful part. But in doing so, when in epicene 'mode', she repressed herself from getting mildly aroused by common or garden activities, leading to her becoming over-serious, perhaps clinically depressed, and later on, to her not recognizing that she needed to unpack and examine her 'preferences' in regard to sensuality/and-or love, in order to find herself a husband, because she became confused about which section of her mind she should employ, in whatever situation. This was particularly so when she was sent to a 6th form college, which was one-third boys and two-thirds girls.
for the community's info.: having to spend rest of day in bed to process above. Am not 'skiving'. May also have a touch of 'summer madness'????
Can you please do a close reading of a scene in The Count of Monte Cristo? I'm thinking one of three very important scenes between Edmond and Mercedes: 1) When Edmond visits Albert and Mercedes recognizes him, 2) When she pleads for Edmond's life, or 3) when they meet again at his father's house at the end of the novel? Thanks for considering.
Dear Dr. Cox. Thanks for such a fascinating series ... I'm working my way through & loving it! Is there any chance you could do something on the yeoman farmer & his place in the social order. I've never really got the connection; they seem to be neither fish nor fowl nor good red meat. So, Harriet, illegitimate, possibly the daughter of a gentleman, is considered suitable material for the good farmer (whose name I've forgotten) ... or a member of the gentry. I'm confused. Please help!
Indeed... and why couldn't Emma ever 'visit' them? "A class or two below Emma was one thing... and below the farmer social order was the 'charity cases' where she could visit... but not the in-between farmer class?
Does Mr. Knightly give up having Mr. Martin as a tenant now that Mr. Knightly renounced Donwell and makes his home at Hartfield? (So Emma 'cannot ever visit' Harriet after she was married to Mr. Martin? Confusing...and sad... unless Harriet and her influence/friendship had run its course)
Emma’s self-satisfaction, smugness as you say, seems to prevent her from seeing what’s right under her nose. I’m thinking Frank Churchill being so solicitous to Jane Fairfax. Emma seems to notice at the ball, but quickly forgets when Frank engages her in playful conversation. He just assumes she knows the real truth because when he comes to say goodbye to her he broaches the subject, saying something like, you might have guessed where my affections lie, etc. Frank is interrupted before finishing and Emma thinks he was going to propose to her. From Mr. Elton to Frank Churchill to Mr. Knightley, she was clueless.
I'm not sure Octavia if you're familiar with the work of Alfred Hitchcock, but your analysis of Emma includes many of the same themes including dramatic irony, presence of the author (filmmaker), moral ambiguity, use of motifs, and multiple layers of meaning. If you haven't had this chance, I hope you can thru various film studies avenues - I think you'll be amazed at the artistic similarities. Who would ever think of linking Austen with Hitchcock, but as strange as it sounds, I think it exists! Really enjoying your channel.
I think I made the opposite assumption to Emma I thought she was wrong about everything when she was absolutely right about Mrs Elton.
She was right about Mr E, too! I have wondered whether Mrs Elton, arriving in Hartfield as a newlywed, after a very short courtship, has any inkling that her 'caro sposo' had proposed to Emma just a few weeks beforehand? And does this knowledge partially fuel Emma's dislike of her, knowing how thin the foundations of that marriage must be?
@@jogibson5851 don't forget that most marriages in Jane Austen's day were made for economic and practical reasons, rather than emotional ones. Mrs Elton is clearly glad to have got a 'good' husband, so probably wouldn't care that much. Or maybe her dislike of Emma is founded partly on the awareness that Emma thought herself too good for Mr Elton.
I have a question. In the novel, whenever someone mentions Mr. Knigtley marrying, Emma gets all huffy on behalf of her nephew, Henry, being robbed of the Knigtley estate, to then be the one who robs him. But what happens to Hartfield after Emma get married? Cause Emma was in line to inherit it on the basis that her older sister was married, I assume. Would Henry inherit it, since he's Mr. Woodhouse oldest grandkid? What if Mr Woodhouse dies before Henry's grown? Would Emma get to keep it for her children? Would Isabella?
Great questions. "Mr. Knightly (the oldest of the two brothers) must never marry. Little Henry must remain the heir of Donwell." (Chap.26) Yet in chapter 53 the narrative states, " How very few of those men in a rank of life to address Emma (Mr. Knightly) would have renounced their own home for Hartfield!" So Mr. Knightly renounces the claim of being heir to Donwell Abbey so he can marry, and Henry's inheritance is still safe.
But who inherits Hartfield? Would Emma (being the younger girl of two daughters) if she remained single?
Now that Mr. Knightly is willing to make his home also at Hartfield, and giving that Mr. Woodhouse is so disposed to having Mr. Knightly assist him with his papers and such for so many years prior, it would seem that the home would be 'transferred' as property then to Mr. Knightly?
Thoughts?
This would make a great topic on its own for Dr. Cox to discuss. (That, and the questions, "Why was Frank Churchill so secretive about his and Miss Fairfax's engagement?" Were there other relatives? Was Miss Fairfax THAT unacceptable to Mrs. Churchill for Frank? Etc...)
@@Redberryfarm888 Thanks for your answer! I never knew Mr. Knigtley moving to Hartfield meant he was forfeiting his ownership of Donwell Abbey. I assumed he'd run in remotely until Mr. Woodhouse died. Does it then got to his brother John, then? Does Mr. Knigtley still run it remotely until Henry grows up? Cause it's got to stay in the family for Henry to inherit, right?
I had never thought of Emma not being outright entitled to Hartfield. I know it would have been odd for the time period but she talks about being more mistress of Hartfield than she could ever be of a husbands home so often I figured she expected to be it forever. I guess she had enough money to buy another estate when her father passed, so might that's what she intended to do? Cause she certainly wouldn't have wanted to give up her rank and her lifestyle.
In any case, I can see Mr. Woodhouse setting up something for Emma to inherit Hartfield, even if she's the youngest and expects to remain unmarried. It's certainly his wish that she remains so, and he wouldn't want to leave his daughter without a home. Isabella seems a bit to much of an airhead to fuss about birth order and such. Plus, her sons would inherit it from Emma if she was unmarried anyway.
Regardless, going back to what you said about Mr. Knigtley giving up his own estate to accommodate for her fiancée and father in law to be, and Mr. Woodhouse already trusting him to manage his affairs, one way I could see them sorting that out is with a prenup of sorts? I know it was costumary for fathers and son-in-laws to be to legally settle how the latter ought to manage his wife's dowry and how he ought to take care of her while they were married, so maybe the settle it then? Like Hartfield becomes part of Emma's dowry?
@@carmenaguado492 - I wish that Dr. Cox would help me and give her opinion here!
From what (little) I know, there are 3 separate residences and estates, so to speak.
Mr. (George)Knightley the elder - who has the seat of Donwell Abbey, which is an inherited (entail?) estate to the next male relative.
Mr. John Knightley the younger brother - who lives in London ( Brunswick Square neighborhood- ' so very superior to most others- so different' chapter 12) with wife Isabella Woodhouse-Knightley and whose oldest son Henry is the heir apparent to Donwell.
Being that there is no other title ( Earl, Duke, etc.) to inherit, this must be the gentry class (?) ... him being a landed gentleman similar to Mr. Darcy of P & P, would be my guess.
I would think that once the elder brother renounced the claim of Donwell, his younger brother would live there and do what needs doing until his six year old son Henry would come of age to inherit. (Guessing here... HELP Dr. Cox!!! Please! 😂)
Then there is the estate of Mr. Woodhouse, (again another 'Mr.', no title) called Hartfield. It must not be an entailed (passed to the nearest male relative) estate, thus, the estate could be passed to a daughter.
The narrative text merely states that Mr. Henry Woodhouse 'had not married early, ...having been a valetudinarian (hypochondriac as in: Hypochondriasis may be distinguished by the languor, listlessness, want of resolution and activity, fear of death, and suspicious disposition always being present. . . . [There is a] lowness and dejection of spirits, great desponding. . . . In short, it is attended with such a long train of symptoms, that it would fill many pages to enunciate them all, as there is no function or part of the body that does not suffer in its turn by its tyranny. . . . [T]ea and coffee are improper articles of diet for hypochondriasis. (Thomas 327) ) www.jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol21no2/bader.html?
all his life'... but no mention of how he got his fortune and estate.
How Hartfield gets divided between Isabella and Emma is not mentioned. I would think that Isabella had some sort of inheritance provided for her, like Emma's "30,000 pounds". It is just the estate that needed deciding upon, and Mr. Knightley and Emma can now have this estate as their own once Mr. Woodhouse dies.
(Everyone is happy. Everyone gets what they want or deserve. The end.) 😉
Hope this helps~ These are just my guesses!
@@Redberryfarm888 Yeah, I would hope it could work out that well too! It's a shame this video is so old, we might not get an answer. It'd be ironically beautiful that Mr. Woodhouse's fear of his dearest little Emma marrying and leaving him actually brings him closer to Mr. Knigtley and brings Isabella and her children back to the area. It would even prompt more visit for Mrs. Weston for playdates and the like. So nice happy ending for him too.
@@carmenaguado492 - I found this site helpful in my understanding the class structure of the families mentioned in 'Emma' www.austenauthors.net/social-class-in-jane-austens-emma/
Rereading Emma after hearing your perspective, I’m struck with Austen’s portrayal of Mrs. Weston’s relationship with Frank Churchill. It seems unlikely that she was actually saying they were having an affair, but the timing of her confinement, her concern about him, etc. makes me wonder.
The first time I read Emma I thought Frank Churchill the worst kind of man, the same outburst that Mr. Knightley has about him-- a scoundrel! The next time I read it, much the same. And then after, when I understood that he thought that Emma was in on the secret, that surely Emma must know because she and Jane are friends, and why else would she "joke" about such a serious indiscretion on Jane's part if not out of jest, then I think I began to be more forgiving of him. I still think it not totally proper that he should be so openly flirtatious with a single lady, him being thought of as a single man himself, but it excuses his character as that of more of a happy, teasing, friendly sort of fellow, rather than someone very cruel, capricious and pressumptious.
This really helps explain why I have enjoyed Austens novels time after time. Thank you for this. So helpful!
I readily accept that this may be Austen's best novel, but the matchmaking and misunderstandings make me so anxious that I just can't reread it.
Interesting! That's why I couldn't properly enjoy it until the second time around. When Mr Knightley knocks on her head regarding her blunder with Harriet, my insides turned inside out. 'Oh no! She's ruined that poor girl's life!' And the faux pas at the picnic? I wanted to crawl under my bed. I felt a bit like a parent waiting for their teenage daughter to come home after missing her curfew. 'Either she's done something stupid and it's resulted in tragedy, or she's fine and we'll all laugh about this in five years!'
Oh my goodness! This had me laughing out loud! You realize I have to reread all these books yet again! LOL
Ha! - that makes me happy to know. Rereading Austen is hardly a chore! Octavia
I'd love you to do a commentary on the Crawfords in Mansfield Park (or one commentary on each, there's so much to say about them)! Perhaps for starters, one about his actual level of sincerity in falling in love with Fanny Price?
Awesome analysis. I was already a subscriber but if I wasn’t, this would make me subscribe. I just read Emma and she’s one of my favorite Austen heroines. Thank you for your videos.
In some ways, it seems like Emma without Mr. Knightly is something like a younger Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
Hey! I just started reading it and to be honest it gets confusing at times. Your video is really helpful, thank you very much! :) By the way, You said at first that Jane Austen uses the concept of perspectives. What exactly do you mean by that? Sorry for the stupid question :(
To add to my question, in what of these examples would perspective apply because I truly don't get the concept of perspective when analyzing a book. Again, sorry for disturbing you with these stupid questions. I hope you don't mind answering them.
Don't worry, it's not a stupid question at all!
To use different 'perspectives' is to present different viewpoints & to see the action through different lenses. In _Emma_ the perspective is particularly obscure & unclear to the reader. - Are we being presented with Emma Woodhouse's own viewpoint (i.e. Emma's perspective)? - Or are we being presented with the narrative voice's perspective? - Or a detached, ironic narrative perspective? - Or Austen's own perspective? - More than one at once? (which I was suggesting in the video). Many, many readers over the centuries have been confused by this central conundrum. In part that's what makes the novel so much fun! &/or challenging...
I don't mind answering at all!
Throughout the novel _Emma_ it is hard to ascertain who is in charge of the narrative, and from whose perspective we are being guided. Let's take the very opening (famous) sentence: the novel opens, "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich" (ch.1).
Whose opinion is this? In other words, whose perspective are we presented with here? Is this Emma's own opinion of herself? Is this an omniscient third person narrator who is presenting us with narrative fact? Is this the collective perspective and agreed opinion of Highbury (where Emma lives)? Is this an ironic, detached narrative voice who is exposing Emma's own self-importance to us readers? ... The text leaves it up to readers to decide.
@@DrOctaviaCox What if it is ultimately Mr. Knightley's perspective behind the narrator? Throughout the novel he is extolled as a man of good judgment. Then the first line itself is a clue toward his eventual romantic attachment to her.
Austen is laughing at us. Awesome. Thanks for including the PD James quote. 🙂
I would love an explanation and clarity in terms of secondary characters in Emma; I find it challenging to clearly understand the undertones of various romances.
14:37 - This is why I love Jane Austen so much!!
Brilliant! I love the idea of Emma as a detective novel.
great video thank you! Aren't we all Emma? I found I related to her much more than Elizabeth ;)
Thank you! I love all you are doing here!
LOL I've just finished reading the novel and I absolutely agree it's a detective novel! I had watched 2 movie adaptations before reading the book, so I know the plot, and I was surprised to see how much was hidden from the reader to be revealed later.
you could almost say that Emma's more of what she's described as, compared to Mr. Darcys' "proudest and most disagreeable man in the world" view of Meryton, which is actually nothing more than a perception of him and not an actual truth about him.
I think the shifts in perspective are one of the most engaging things in Austen's writing, particularly because Austen is so deft in how easily and quickly she shifts from one to another. She manipulates how we see her characters, only to surprise us later in the narrative as the plot reveals acpects of their personalities that she had previously only hinted at.
Thank you Dr.Cox! you are brilliant
Thank you.
Finished the novel for the first time today and while Emma is very flawed I like her character very much. Relatable enough to be liked and forgiven. Unsympathetic enough to make one reflect and blush.
Emma seems to get away with it because she is rich and attractive (she could choose a husband if she wanted to, but she will not lose her fortune like other Austen female characters seem to be in constant danger of...) Everyone looks up to her as a good example, but little do they know that she is about as confused as everyone else, except for Mr. Knightly (...in shining armor ... the hero.)
Characters like this remind me of, "A Beautiful Mind" and the girl's viewpoint in, "He Love Me, He Loves Me Not" - where the first 'reality' presented by the main character to the reader or audience turns out to be way off!
I have no knowledge of the law at the time of Pride and Prejudice. I understand that Longbourn is entailed to heirs male. What I don't understand is why there is never any consideration of the possibility of Longbourn moving from Mr. Bennet to a male grandson. Were lifespans just too short for this to be an imaginable future? Thank you.
"I understand that Longbourn is entailed to heirs male. What I don't understand is why there is never any consideration of the possibility of Longbourn moving from Mr. Bennet to a male grandson. Were lifespans just too short for this to be an imaginable future?"
It wasn't a matter of lifespan -- plenty of people lived to be grandparents and even great-grandparents. No, the way entail works is that an estate has to pass to males THROUGH male inheritance every step of the way. A male grandson would only inherit if that grandson were the son of Mr. Bennet's son -- and Mr. Bennet has only daughters.
The intervening step (Mr. Bennet's hypothetical son) must be a legitimately-born male but need not still be alive. That is, if Mr. Bennet had had a son who married, had a son himself, and then died, that son (Mr. Bennet's grandson) would inherit even though his father died before Mr. Bennet did.
fantastic
If I might make a suggestion?
Turn your head so that your mouth is parallel to, not facing, the mic. This may require you to get a little closer.
When you face the mic and speak, you have a tendency to create "pops" that are quite jarring to listeners. They also distort what you are saying.
Thank you for the advice! - I am very new to all the tech so your advice is much appreciated.
@@DrOctaviaCox I frequently have to make recordings of my own voice. I receive many complaints when I forget to turn my head a bit. 😅
HOPE PASSENGERS NOVEL ANALYSE: ua-cam.com/video/KoSbB9x0NXk/v-deo.html
Is Emma a round character
But isn't one of the meanings of 'Emma', the fact that women have a shorter window for choosing 'partners' than men, should they want children? Thereby, isn't Jane Austen calling on scientists to develop technology to allow females to have more time to do this, one thing which the S.E.N.S. Research Foundation experiments, if successful, would give them?
JOHN KNIGHTLEY KNEW ALL ALONG
👍👍👍
That sketch of Jane you use looks really sad and angry
It's by her sister, Cassandra.
@@DrOctaviaCox Well she would have known
Ha - yes - one would hope so! It's the only definite image that we have of Austen from her lifetime.
Sorry, but I don't think you have successfully made the point of Austen laughing at the reader for getting things wrong, because you have not given any instances of its being so. For all you (or Austen) know, we the readers have gotten everything right, I, , for one, don't see that I have, even after several readings and many viewings.
You know nothing Jon Snow