Emma blog #1

This week for our blog we were assigned to discuss and analyze Jane Austen’s Emma. So far I have read the first seven chapters and Emma is in my mind a very interesting character. She has grown up without a mother, her father is spoils her and gives into her every whim, and when she was very young she was given the prestigious title of mistress of the estate. So in many ways she hasn’t really gotten to experience childhood, but in other ways she still lacks maturity and responsibility. Her lack of maturity and responsibility may stem from the lack of a motherly figure in her life; she grew up with a governess that was more of a friend then an authoritative figure to her. I have also noticed that status is very important in this book. Each of the characters introduced in each of the chapters were describe with some aspect of their social status within the community. Also another themeish idea that I also noticed was the difference between what is outside of Emma’s estate and what is inside. It said that her father Mr. Woodhouse rarely ventured out to go see his friends; he is much fonder of them coming to visit him. Inside at the moment is looking like a way for the Mr. Woodhouse to show off his possessions and to show off Emma, in other words another way for him to promote his social status.

Emma is really starting to get on my nerves right now, she seems like a selfish, meddling, snob. She is very one sided, especially when the reader is first introduced to Harriet Smith, “she is not only the friend Emma had wanted,-- but exactly something that her home required.” Everything right now is about the social aspect of her life, Emma right now really doesn’t have any goals for herself she is driven merely by the thought of getting ahead in society, which I  guess was the life of a woman back then. Emma in my opinion is also a little to full of herself, especially with the time period that this book is based in I think her huge ego is going to get her into some sort of trouble, and maybe even double trouble  when you combine her naivety and willing to meddle into anything with her self confidence.  

Harriet is also an interesting character, she doesn’t really have the qualities in a socially satisfying friendship that the reader would expect Emma to be drawn to. I think Harriet is more of a project for Emma, she sees Harriet as something that she can work her meddling skills with to pass the time. I know that Emma has good intentions for Harriet, but is she really making the right call dismissing her from Mr. Martin? It is hard to judge Emma’s reasoning’s because they are all driven by social expectations, but what are Emma’s needs and why does she require so much attention and so much meddling activity?