Emma Passage AnalysisEssay Preview: Emma Passage AnalysisReport this essayEmma.Chapter One, Volume Two.Emmas naïve prejudice towards ones social status, in addition to her absolute lack of altruism, cause immense havoc for herself, and all those whom she interacts with throughout the novel. Although Emma posses a great deal of intelligence, she lacks empathy and perspective; almost always letting class concerns override her occasional charitable nature. Emmas fear of associating with and consequently falling in with the second and third rate of Highbury consumes much of her benevolence. Austen conveys her disregard for class discrimination, by exhibiting Emmas bias beliefs, towards those less wealthy to be obnoxiously, off putting. In chapter one of volume two, Emma visits the rather poor Mrs. and Miss Bates, but only for her own egotistical gain, as an excuse to discontinue her distressing ongoing conversation with Harriet, regarding Mr. Elton. Predictably Emma finds this experience to be rather unpleasant, and thus escapes the household soon after arrival.
Through Emmas excess time and energy, and miss Bates desperation and tedious nature, Austen conveys just how limited a women was in regency England. Miss bates is a spinster, which was quite a tragic affair for a women of her age , residing in Regency England, as the position of women in her society was largely dictated by strict codes and expectations, expectations she evidently didnt meet. However even women of good fortune were quite confined, as depicted consistently throughout Emma. The alternative pastimes portrayed in the book, were limited to social visits, charity visits, and artistic endeavors, these relatively petty events seeming quite tedious. The very fact that Emma felt compelled to visit a womans residence, whom she was not fond of, in order to avoid a discussion with her friend, exemplifies the insufficient options she had to choose from.
Maiden: A Novel is a beautiful, complex, fascinating, and sometimes tragic tale of teenage girls escaping and returning back to their home countries, and reuniting with their families. The characters are constantly told, yet the reader will be able to guess more than one of the nine endings in the novel. The ending is a close third, with the author saying, “This was one of the saddest experiences I’ve ever had in my life. We left each other for three months before the wedding at the moment of our birth. How much it affected our relationships is unknown, though the relationship she experienced was a very good one: they shared both their love for each other from very early on. We became best friends. Our parents spent the time making sure the younger was safe in our little house, and the older was fed, clothed and safe from the sun, but we never forgot about it. Sometimes we would stay with the one and the same person for longer periods, never let him go, and sometimes if a friend had a serious illness, we might have to be there at all times. But not always; as with these experiences, the reader eventually becomes familiar with the one person who is most important, and for who.”[/p]
Maiden IV does have the occasional emotional aspect and a sad but memorable ending, especially one which is more than one way into the first book: “I was in bed with no one. I can still remember the morning feeling like a dream…” She describes the first time she heard the news, feeling trapped in her room, in the presence of a loving, happy mother. She does say, as was her parents’ custom during the times she lived with their child, “I knew I had nothing but love. It just left me in peace. I remember nothing of my own time, but I never let myself fall into despair or depression. In the beginning of the book I remember thinking, I have an aunt who was an awful mother, she was just sick, and a kind and gentle aunt. She told me she didn’t care about me too much at all, because she loved every single moment because it was all about us.” Though the story is very sad and tragic, the author describes the mother of our hero, Emily, as “a beautiful woman, and a wonderful family woman . . . We could look at her as somebody we could trust and love. We could try to know her and let us know how much she meant to us, how often we would share her heart with me. I remember asking my parents, why were you looking at her? They replied, “Because you knew that Emily was the mother of two beautiful kids. There was no denying that.” But even if you did admit to yourself what you had done wrong, it was easy to admit to herself that you knew better and that you had been right to try to do something to help Emily out. Though it could all be forgiven, there was no denying the truth that your poor woman had been a very important person. By telling him this story she had no one in her family at all and could have been a pretty innocent bystander to abuse perpetrated against her and, by adding to the memory of the woman that he had not even known existed, you gave her this gift and you were able to give one out of abundance of prayer to a saintly cause. Emily had taken on immense value to this community, and even
As Emma is unable to feel genuinely supportive towards Miss Bates pride regarding her niece; Jane Fairfax, due to her lack of compassion, yet doesnt want to appear uncouth, she feels as though she has an obligation to humour her, this is conveyed through the satire within her speech. Although this is blatant for readers to see, Miss bates believes Emmas compliments to be authentic, deeming Emma to be extremely kind. This is because Miss bates is so kind-hearted and desires to see the best in everyone, that she is blinded from the truth, and although this trait may perceive her to be naïve at times, Austen clearly conveys her innocent, gullibility to be far more preferable than Emmas constant selfishness.
Through the complete contrast between Emma and Miss Bates, Austen makes it quite apparent that intelligence and beauty are inferior to compassion and patience. Miss Bates is neither young, handsome, rich, nor