Worksheet on Emma by Jane Austen

I – The list of characters of the in focus:

 Emma Woodhouse
 Harriet Woodhouse
 Mrs. Jhon Knigthley
 Mr. Jhon Knigthley
 Mrs. Godhard
 Mrs. Weston
 Miss. Weston
 Miss. Fairfox
 Jane
 Patty
 Miss Bates
 Mrs Elton
 Perry
 Mr Elton
 Mr. Hodges

II –The plot overview :

Chapter XVI :

Emma is ready for bed, her hair curled and the maid sent away. She can now evaluate
the evening's events and consider "the evil to Harriet." She wonders "How she could
have been so deceived!" and reviews all the events in connection with Harriet, including
the earlier caution that George Knightley had given. Concluding that Mr. Elton has no
real affection for herself and wants only to enrich himself through her as an heiress of
thirty thousand pounds, she is obliged in honesty to admit that her complaisance,
courtesy, and attention might have led him to misunderstand her. Granting that the first
and worst error lay at her door, she is ashamed and resolves "to do such things no
more." She turns her thoughts to Harriet again and within a moment wonders about
soothing her friend's disappointment by making William Coxe the object of new
intrigue, but he is an unendurable, pert young lawyer. Blushing and laughing at her own
relapse, Emma goes to bed with nothing settled.

The next morning she is more disposed for comfort, especially when the sight of much
snow on the ground informs her that she, Harriet, and Mr. Elton will be kept "quite
asunder at present." In fact, though it is Christmas Day, she cannot get to church.
Because of further snow and freezes, the confinement extends for days and only George
Knightley, "whom no weather could keep entirely from them," ventures outdoors. Since
John is cleared of the ill humor which he had at Randalls, having her sister's family in
the house is a matter of pure pleasure for Emma — or would be if the coming
explanation with Harriet did not hang over her like an evil thing.
Chapter XVII
Mr. and Mrs. John Knightley return to London, and Mr. Elton writes Mr. Woodhouse to
announce that he will spend the next few weeks in the town of Bath. Relieved, Emma
immediately visits Harriet to explain what has happened. Emma’s sense of her own
failures, and Harriet’s modesty and sweetness in taking the news, give Emma the
temporary impression that Harriet, rather than herself, is “the superior creature.” She
moves Harriet to Hartfield and attempts to comfort her and drive Elton out of Harriet’s
mind. Emma tries to prepare Harriet for the inevitable moment when they will see Elton
in their social circle after he returns from Bath.

Chapter XVIII
Frank Churchill does not make his expected visit, to the disappointment of Mrs. Weston
in particular. Emma, preoccupied with her other worries, does not mind, but she feels
she must express disappointment so that she will appear her usual self. Her warmth in
doing so gets her into an argument with Mr. Knightley about the young man. Knightley
expresses the same thought Emma has expressed: how can a twenty-four-year-old man
be prevented by his aunt from doing his duty? In reply, Emma suggests that Knightley
is a poor judge of “the difficulties of dependence.” She expresses her sympathies for
Frank’s situation and her conviction that he would come if he could, but Knightley
counters that no sensible, honorable man would be prevented from doing his duty.
Emma predicts that Frank, when he does arrive in Highbury, will be perfectly charming.
Knightley believes that Frank will be superficial and insufferable, and Knightley’s
prejudice against the stranger surprises Emma.

Chapter XIX
During a walk, Emma has little success turning Harriet’s thoughts from Mr. Elton and
therefore decides that they should call on Mrs. and Miss Bates, a duty that Emma
usually shuns. During their visit, they are forced to hear about Mr. Elton and his travels,
and though Emma has tried to time her visit so as to avoid hearing about Miss Bates’s
niece, Jane Fairfax, Miss Bates produces a letter from Jane, who lives with her
guardians, Colonel and Mrs. Campbell. The Campbells are about to visit their newly
married daughter, Mrs. Dixon, in Ireland, which means that Jane will be coming for an
extended visit in Highbury in a week’s time. Based on slight evidence, Emma suspects
that there has been a romance between Jane and the Campbells’ daughter’s husband,
Mr. Dixon, and that this is the reason that Jane is missing the trip to Ireland.

III – The comments on characters, language, themes and historical context of the
part of the book in study. How all these aspects contribute to the construction of
the narrative?

 Comements on Characters:
 Emma Woodhouse : The imaginative and self-deceived heroine of the
novel. At almost twenty-one years of age, she is handsome,
accomplished, and willful, her main duty in life that of being companion
and mistress of the house for her widower father.
 Henry Woodhouse: Emma's elderly father, who basks in routine and
Emma's attentions and resists any kind of change, compensating
somewhat for his selfish whims by being kindly and concerned about
people's health.
 Harriet Smith The illegitimate, seventeen-year-old girl whom Emma
befriends and tries to marry off to Mr. Elton.
 John and Isabella Knightley: Respectively the brother of George
Knightley and the sister of Emma Woodhouse, they, except for
occasional visits to Highbury, live in London with their five children.
 Mr. Weston A near neighbor to the Woodhouses, whose son by a former
marriage is Frank Churchill.
 Mrs. Goddard The lady who runs the boarding school where Harriet
Smith lives.
 Mr. Perry The village apothecary, who is Mr. Woodhouse's constant
reference on matters of health.
 Miss Hetty Bates The kindly old maid talker who, at least in her
dialogue, runs the details of everything together as of equal importance.
  Jane Fairfax Miss Bates' orphan niece, elegant and accomplished, who
has visited her aunt in Highbury before but not for two years now.
 Mrs. Weston - Formerly Miss Taylor, Emma’s beloved governess and
companion. Known for her kind temperament and her devotion to
Emma, Mrs. Weston lives at Randalls with her husband, Frank
Churchill’s father.
 Mr. Elton - The village vicar, a handsome and agreeable man
considered a welcome addition to any social gathering. When he reveals
his indifference to Harriet and his desire to marry Emma, only to take a
bride at Bath shortly thereafter, he comes to seem proud, conceited, and
superficial.
 Mrs. Elton - Formerly Augusta Hawkins, Mrs. Elton hails from Bristol
and meets Mr. Elton in Bath. She is somewhat attractive and
accomplished; she has some fortune and a well-married sister, but her
vanity, superficiality, and vulgar overfamiliarity offset her admirable
qualities.
 Mrs. Bates - Mother to Miss Bates and friend of Mr. Woodhouse. An
elderly woman, Mrs. Bates is quiet, amiable, and somewhat deaf.
 Mr. Wingfield – Dentist
 Mr. Robert Martin - A twenty-four-year-old farmer. Mr. Martin is
industrious and good-hearted, though he lacks the refinements of a
gentleman. He lives at Abbey-Mill Farm, a property owned by
Knightley, with his mother and sisters.

 Language:
It can be seen in Jane Austen's book Emma that the author makes use of resources
already existing in previous books, but which demonstrate a much greater dominance
over the author over a language.
Throughout history, the reader is presented at three levels of staging - there is the
narration of the story itself, in which the dialogues reveal much of the plot; there is the
use of the third person (indirect speech), which accompanies the reaction of each
character before what we are told. These two levels of information-the dialogues and the
narrative in the third person-are, on many occasions, either complementary or even
opposed to each other. To conclude, the use of narrative monologue, widely used in
Emma, completes the juxtaposed narrative of the book. The set forms a whole that is
only available to the reader, creating a kind of complicity between us and the author.

 Themes
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.
In Emma we can observe the theme Marriage and social status, it is structured around a
number of marriages recently consummated or anticipated, and in each case, the
correspondence solidifies the social status of the participant. In Austen's time, social
status was determined by a combination of family background, reputation, and wealth-
marriage was one of the main ways in which one could elevate his social status. This
method of social advancement was especially crucial for women, who were denied the
possibility of improving their status through hard work or personal fulfillment. And we
can also see how the woman's confined nature, in which she was seen at the time as a
bird in a cage, could also have her freedom.

 Historical Context

Jane Austen, who some critics consider to be the best novelist in England, was born in
1775 in Steventon, England. The seventh of eight children, Austen lived with her
parents throughout her life, first in Steventon and then in Bath, Southampton and
Chawton. Austen died in 1817, at the age of forty-one, of Addison's disease.
Austen's novels received little critical or popular recognition during his lifetime, and his
identity as a novelist was not revealed until after his death. However much admired that
Austen's novels would become later, critics found it difficult to place them in literary
history. She is known for her delicately satirical portrayals of village life and dating and
marriage rituals, but she wrote during the romantic period when most great writers were
concerned about a very different set of interests and values.
Romantic poets confronted the hopes and failures of the French Revolution and
formulated new literary values centered on individual freedom, passion and intensity.
By comparison, Austen's detailed examination of the rules of decorum governing social
relations, and her insistence that reason and moderation are necessary checks on
sentiment, make it appear to be out of sync with literary times. One way of
understanding Austen's place in literary history is to think of it as part of the early
eighteenth century, the Age of Reason, when literature was associated with wit, balance,
and propriety. His novels certainly belong to an eighteenth-century genre, the comedy
of manners, which examines the behavior of men and women of one social class.
Austen explicitly describes the danger that the cultivation of emotion represents for the
women of her time. In this social context, Austen's commitment to reason and
moderation can be seen as feminist and progressive, rather than conservative. The
intelligence and resourcefulness of her heroines constantly contrasts with the limits of
the restricted world of dating and marriage, defining her sphere of action. Emma is a
novel by Jane Austen, which was published for the first time in December 1815. As in
her other novels, Austen recounts the difficulties of English women in the early
nineteenth century, creating through their characters a comedy of manners.

 How all these aspects contribute to the construction of the narrative?

Early nineteenth-century English society was experiencing a period of prosperity for the
aristocracy and bourgeoisie, and through wealth could be place not restricted social
circle of those who had power. At the same time, "good manners" and "morals" were
decisive for social respect, especially among women. Thus, young women were
prepared from many girls to marry and marriage was a concern, since, for by means of
it, was obtained, maintained or guaranteed this social space so longed for. This way of
living in society can be seen and widely reflected in Jane Austen's novel Emma.

Jane Austen's work is long, being published in three volumes – volumes I and II,
containing eighteen chapters each, and Volume III containing nineteen chapters -which,
later, were united in a single book composed of fifty and five chapters. Faced with this,
it is impossible here to exhaust the book, citing the of the characters for the progression
of the narrative and discussing the strategies of writing to make Emma a character
worthy of being called heroin and to make the story plausible before his time. You do
not even have that purpose. O that was intended here was, through the actions of a
central character, to reflect how the social relations in the work were given and to see,
with this, this historyas a source for reflecting on nineteenth-century English society.

Thus, it can be affirmed here that, permeated in the text, there are aspects social and
cultural characteristics of a particular historical moment, are perceived from the
structural analysis of the narrative. In a post-industrial revolution moment, in which
there is the massification of labor values and in which there is a large portion being
exploited, is the elite that establishes values. At Emma's attitudes, her social condition,
the way she manipulates people, the who has - or thinks to have - whom she considers
to be weaker etc. prove it. And between these values established by the bourgeois elite
of the nineteenth century, marriage is not only a way of maintaining "good manners",
but of maintaining (or obtaining) the power, a high social condition. The book Emma
achieves very faithfully, without anachronisms, portray this society.

Bibliography

Emma. Disponível em: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma. Acesso em 29/08/2018.

AUSTEN, Jane. Emma. São Paulo, Editora Landmark, 2010.

UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO TOCANTINS - UFT
CAMPUS DE PORTO NACIONAL
CURSO DE LICENCIATURA EM LETRAS

EMMA

*Jane Austen

Porto Nacional - TO
2018
Raylla Tatielly Almeida da Silva

EMMA

*Jane Austen

Trabalho apresentado para a disciplina de

Literatura da Língua Inglesa II, no curso
de Licenciatura em Letras Inglês , da
Universidade Federal do Tocantins, Prof.
Dra. Rejane Ferreira.

Porto Nacional – TO
2018