Implications of the Narrative Technique in Jane Austen's Emma

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, Ruhr-University of Bochum (Englisches Seminar), language: English, abstract: Jane Austen's novel Emma tells the story of Emma Woodhouse, an interesting, intelligent and wealthy young woman, gradually learning the importance of accepting the people around her for what they are. The novel is set in early 19th century England in and around the fictional village of Highbury. Emma and her father lead a somewhat isolated life due to a perceived social and intellectual superiority to most of the other families in the village. Bored with herself and her life at times, she develops an interest in interfering with the lives of others for their alleged benefit, especially in contriving love-matches between her acquaintances. As the novel progresses, however, Emma is forced to accept that she is repeatedly mistaken in her conceptions and ventures. Striving to match her protégé Harriet to Mr Elton, the village vicar, she is unaware that he is in fact in love with her; her subsequent attempts to interest Frank Churchill, a young man from a sophisticated family background, in Harriet go awry when it turns out that he has long been secretly engaged to Jane Fairfax, a highly accomplished young woman from a modest background. Moreover, Emma believes she perceives signs of attachment between Mr Knightley, her brother-in-law and an old friend of her family, and Harriet and Jane Fairfax at different stages of the novel. Yet the realisation of her frequent misapprehensions and subsequent repentance help her to an awareness of her own flaws and to maturing her personality. Although she, ironically enough, frequently declares that she herself has never had any interest in marriage herself, this development in character also ultimately allows her to discover her love for Mr Knightley, whom she almost alienates repeatedly owing to her constant charades. Despite many misunderstandings, the novel closes with Emma's acquaintances being married one way or another, nonetheless, including herself.