2.15.2013
Passage Two from Novel
Passage Two From Emma by Jane Austen (Page 152)
“Jane had spent an evening at Hartfield with her grandmother and aunt, and every thing was relapsing much into its usual state. Former provocations re-appeared. The aunt was as tiresome as ever; more tiresome, because anxiety for her health was now added to admiration of her powers; and they had to listen to the description of exactly how little bread and butter she ate for breakfast, and how small a slice of mutton for dinner as well as to see exhibitions of new caps and new workbags for her mother and herself; and Jane’s offences rose again. They had music: Emma was obliged to play: and the thanks and praise which necessarily followed appeared to her an affection of candour, an air of great-ness, and meaning only to show off in higher style her own very superior performance. She was, besides, which was the worst of all, so cold, so cautious! There was no getting at her real opinion. Wrapt up in a cloak of politeness, she seemed determined to hazard nothing. She was disgustingly, was suspiciously reserved” (Austen 152).
Analysis of Close Reading
--Passage used covers entire page of 152 in Emma, however excerpt typed above is most key part of passage. This passage is key to the novel’s plot as well as one of the main themes in the novel. As far as the plot goes, this passage depicts Emma’s views of Jane, and how “tiresome” she find her whole family to be. Emma does not think highly of Jane, nor does she respect her. The passage makes this out to be because of Jane’s reserved nature, which Emma seems to see as transparent and fake. Emma’s judgment of this personality type helps to explain one of the main themes of the novel. Austen is constantly poking at the way people, specifically women, act during the time period of Emma. Every one feels that it is their duty to hide behind “a cloak of politeness”. The fake personality and unassuming nature is used in order to appear polite and worthy of marrying into a high class family. The women of Emma are set on being the perfect bride, and this perfect bride is made out to be quiet, reserved, and carry a grace that can only come from not speaking out. This oppression is made a mockery through Emma, who Austen carefully uses to expose the true nature of women during that time, in order for the reader to get a more clear picture of what women actually were like, and how they wanted to portray themselves to society.
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I can make many interesting connections with your explanation and analysis of Emma, particularly as it deals with social class and climbing the social ladder. Where your characters were obsessed with getting higher within the class system, mine didn’t have that option. While my protagonist, Offred, had many ideas about what she could do in order to escape her current situation as a Handmaid, she never took action to gain power or pushed herself to improve her social standings. Emma’s action is something that I envy of your book – it can be very hard having a character that simply won’t do anything.
ReplyDeleteOne question that your presentation brought to mind when thinking about the comparison of Emma to The Handmaid’s Tale is the question of: is either character necessarily “better”? Would having Emma’s actions that were based out of having such material or surface level needs be better than having a character like Offred who refused to take action regarding a huge social / political injustice? I am not quite sure what my response to this question would be… On one hand I think I would be just as upset with Emma’s aspirations or motivation for her action as I am with Offred’s passivity, however, at the same time, at least she is doing something.
I like how you explained Jane Austen's use of satire to describe how hypocritical society, and particularly the upper class, can be. I found a very common theme in my literature, written by Oscar Wilde, and how he uses this "cloak of politeness" to reveal true corruption in its most unexpected form. It's great that you decided to focus especially on women in this aspect, because it seems to me that a lot of older literature depict women as having something to hide, because they are the ones that are held to such a high standard by society in terms of behavior and outward morality, whereas men are regarded more leniently. I think that's another way hypocrisy can be found in literature's portrayal of women in general.
ReplyDeleteOf course, because Jane Austen is a woman, I see how she would naturally satirize this treatment and view of women. It just shows how satire, in its truest form, is something it is not: it appears to be either comedic or entertaining on the outside, but it comes from a very dark place in the author's heart. It's a method used by many writers to openly discuss very controversial issues of the time, without openly stating their disapproval, instead letting people view it as they will.