Passage One from Novel--Page 20 Passage

Passage One from Emma by Jane Austen (Page 20) “Those soft blue eyes, and all those natural graces, should not be wasted on the inferior society of Highbury, and its connections. The acquaintances she had already formed were unworthy of her. The friends from whom she had just parted, though a very good sort of people, must be doing her harm. They were a family of the name of Martin, whom Emma well knew by character, as renting a large farm of Mr. Knightly, and residing in the parish of Donwell.—very creditably, she believed: she knew Mr. Knightly thought highly of them; but they must be coarse and unpolished, and very unfit to be the intimates of a girl who wanted only a little more knowledge and elegance to be quite perfect. She would notice her; she would improve her; she would detach her from her bad acquaintance, and she would introduce her into good society; she would for her opinions and her manners. It would be an interesting and certainly a very kind of undertaking; highly becoming her own situation in life, her leisure, and powers” (Austen 20). Analysis of Passage --Passage used covers entire page of 20 in Emma, however excerpt typed above is most key part of passage. This passage is a very key one, because it demonstrates both Emma’s views on society as well as her view on herself. Emma sees marriage as a way to define social status; this is why she is deeply perturbed at the idea of her friend Harriet being intertwined with the Martin family. Because the Martin family is not of high status, Emma feels that Mr. Martin has nothing to offer Harriet. In Emma’s world, love is much less important than what the man a woman is marrying has to offer her. This passage also shows Emma’s views of herself. She sees herself as a matchmaker of sorts; she thinks that she has both the ability and the right to intervene in someone else’s affairs if it means that she is helping them climb the social ladder. Emma almost takes Harriet on as her own personal project in this passage, talking of improving Harriet in order for her to be more marriage material for a man of high class and societal rank. Emma does not see this as intrusive or out of line, but rather feels that it’s her duty as a friend of Harriet’s. Although Emma’s views may be thought of as rude and elitist, her opinion of what marriage should be like and her decision to invade someone else’s courtship would not be uncommon during the time period in which she lived. Austen is displaying a moral character that was very common during the beginning of the 20th century. Many women would have viewed Mr. Martin as “coarse” and “unpolished”, despite the fact that he was a good natured man, simply because he rented space in a large barn to live, and did not have the societal rank that many women sought after during this time.