Appreciating Emma

Quick Index Board Index Home FAQ Site Map

View thread | Previous message | Next message

Appreciating Emma Written by Sarah Yorkshire (1/28/2011 6:54 a.m.) in consequence of the missive, Disliking Emma - the reader's dilemma, penned by Melinda Mary

Am I the only reader to have liked Emma from the first 'introduction' to her 'open' character? I love how nuanced Jane Austen makes her, compared to Saint Fanny Price, for example.

Emma's first impression of Robert Martin is that he is 'very neat, and looked like a sensible young man', but her superficial understanding of gentility - ie, that only men in Emma's personal social circle may be admitted as having a 'good manner' - means that he is immediately dismissed as a suitable match for Emma's 'little friend'. She has no objection to the Martins as farmers, but they do not fit with her imagined ideal of Harriet as a 'gentleman's daughter'; in Emma's mind, Elton is far more suitable.

I think that Emma's youth and sheltered upbringing have formed her naive distinctions of importance with regard to the people she meets - Emma first, then her family and friends, acquaintances, and her responsibility to the poorer inhabitants of Highbury - but it is this honesty that brings Emma to life for me. The more outrageous her behaviour, the more I love her!

Previous message | Next message | Board index

The Martins (longish) Nina RG (1/27/2011 2:55 p.m.)

The Martins and Emma Bridget D (1/28/2011 7:07 a.m.)
- I agree Nina RG (1/28/2011 8:46 a.m.)
  - Harriett and the Martins Bridget D (1/29/2011 2:43 a.m.)
    - Worser and Worser BarbaraB (1/29/2011 10:38 a.m.)
      - I agree as well! (:D) nfm Robbin (1/30/2011 3:34 p.m.)
      - I Agree Patricia AA (1/29/2011 11:58 a.m.)
      - Emma's treatment...   Reeba (1/29/2011 11:06 a.m.)
        
        Emma and Robert   Bridget D (1/29/2011 3:32 p.m.)
        
        I'll Just Say This...   BarbaraB (1/29/2011 5:49 p.m.)
        
        Emma's opinion of the Martins   Patricia AA (1/30/2011 9:17 a.m.)
        
        The Martins *were*...   Reeba (1/30/2011 3:24 p.m.)
        
        Harriet and talk   Bridget D (1/30/2011 2:10 a.m.)
        
        A good one. :-D   Reeba (1/30/2011 8:41 a.m.)
        
        I did not mean to imply necessarily physical interaction...   BarbaraB (1/29/2011 12:05 p.m.)
        
        Treatment   Reeba (1/29/2011 3:15 p.m.)
        
        Assertions Emma does not really believe?   Robbin (1/30/2011 3:26 p.m.)
        
        Emma   Bridget D (1/31/2011 1:20 a.m.)
        
        Wrongheaded indeed.   Patricia AA (1/30/2011 5:19 p.m.)
        
        It's the degree.   Reeba (1/30/2011 4:28 p.m.)
        
        Run the man down   Robbin (1/30/2011 11:03 p.m.)
        
        Not really :)   Reeba (1/31/2011 3:39 a.m.)
        
        Man of Information   Robbin (2/3/2011 10:24 p.m.)
        
        The Unfortunate 'but...'   BarbaraB (1/31/2011 3:14 p.m.)
        
        Mr. Knightley, a sensible man   Stephanie (1/31/2011 9:07 p.m.)
        
        Actually, I did write....   Reeba (1/31/2011 3:52 p.m.)
        
        very manipulative   Nikki N (1/31/2011 5:46 a.m.)
        
        Manipulation.   Reeba (1/31/2011 9:43 a.m.)
        
        To me, they are out and out lies -- even when   AnnetteJ (1/30/2011 4:08 p.m.)
        
        Emma   Bridget D (1/31/2011 1:22 a.m.)
        
        Not sure I buy that -- what evidence do we have of a   AnnetteJ (1/31/2011 7:20 a.m.)
        
        Evidence.   Reeba (1/31/2011 9:08 a.m.)
        
        Downplaying Emma's virtues?   Ramya (1/31/2011 9:03 a.m.)
        
        Anne is my favorite Austen heroine as well. Emma just   AnnetteJ (1/31/2011 11:18 a.m.)
        
        You Have Peaked My Interest In Harriet   BarbaraB (1/29/2011 7:16 p.m.)
  - Clownish here means ... Reeba (1/28/2011 9:18 a.m.)
This another reason why I love the group reads... jeffrey (1/27/2011 4:02 p.m.)
- The Martins sound like people most of us would like to AnnetteJ (1/27/2011 5:40 p.m.)
  - Disliking Emma - the reader's dilemma Melinda Mary (1/27/2011 5:53 p.m.)
    - Appreciating Emma Sarah Yorkshire (1/28/2011 6:54 a.m.)
      - Emma's Behavior BarbaraB (1/28/2011 2:39 p.m.)
      - Perhaps that's what... Reeba (1/28/2011 9:10 a.m.)
      - I like her too Nina RG (1/28/2011 8:36 a.m.)
      - Well, I guess that is one way of looking at her. I have   AnnetteJ (1/28/2011 8:29 a.m.)
        
        Want to add that I do not dislike the character but I   AnnetteJ (1/28/2011 9:15 a.m.)
        
        21st Century Emma   Sarah Yorkshire (1/28/2011 6:10 p.m.)
        
        Emma wrongs the Martins   Robbin (1/28/2011 10:28 p.m.)
        
        Class differences   Ramya (1/28/2011 8:53 p.m.)
        
        For me, the class system of that time and place is   AnnetteJ (1/29/2011 9:40 a.m.)
        
        Rank   Bridget D (1/29/2011 3:27 p.m.)
        
        The word snob didn't even exist then.   Reeba (1/28/2011 6:52 p.m.)
        
        Yet Emma is a Snob by definition   Robbin (1/30/2011 9:57 p.m.)
        
        The concept...   Reeba (1/31/2011 11:00 a.m.)
        
        Class & Regard   Robbin (2/1/2011 1:06 p.m.)
        
        Class and the Martins   Bridget D (2/1/2011 1:06 a.m.)
        
        I cannot accept that   Ramya (1/31/2011 3:15 p.m.)
        
        gentry   Bridget D (2/1/2011 1:13 a.m.)
        
        ashamed of [Harriet] for seeming so pleased and so doubtful   Stephanie (2/1/2011 11:00 a.m.)
        
        Sure! :)   Reeba (1/31/2011 3:37 p.m.)
        
        Donwell Road   Robbin (2/1/2011 11:57 a.m.)
        
        Which makes [] good manners the more valuable   Stephanie (2/3/2011 3:01 p.m.)
        
        An Indifferent Acquaintance   Robbin (2/3/2011 10:00 p.m.)
        
        Thanks, Robbin...   gianni (2/14/2011 10:48 p.m.)
        
        Thanks & glad to see you! (:D) nfm   Robbin (2/15/2011 9:51 a.m.)
        
        Well!...   gianni (2/18/2011 11:24 p.m.)
        
        Miss Taylor is Too Indulgent   Jane Marie (2/15/2011 12:39 p.m.)
        
        Loved so ever indulgently   Miss Barbara (2/18/2011 3:26 p.m.)
        
        Gentled, indeed, I thank you nfm   Stephanie (2/11/2011 9:22 p.m.)
        
        Road vs assembly   Reeba (2/1/2011 12:33 p.m.)
        
        The Farmer and the Nobody   Robbin (2/3/2011 7:10 p.m.)
        
        Emma and farmers   Bridget D (2/2/2011 7:11 a.m.)
        
        Snob   Bridget D (1/29/2011 4:11 a.m.)
        
        Emma, Class and Mr Knightley   BarbaraB (1/29/2011 11:28 a.m.)
        
        Good point!   Sarah Yorkshire (1/29/2011 4:37 a.m.)
        
        Harriet and Emma   Bridget D (1/29/2011 7:39 a.m.)
        
        Mr Knightley also says Emma is bad for Harriet   kathleen (elder) (1/29/2011 7:47 a.m.)
        
        Harriet's station   Bridget D (1/29/2011 8:02 a.m.)
        
        I see it differently   Ramya (1/29/2011 9:40 a.m.)
        
        Haririet and Mrs Goddards   Bridget D (1/30/2011 4:58 a.m.)
        
        My opinion of Mr Knightley's comment...   Reeba (1/29/2011 11:12 a.m.)
        
        rank and falling   Bridget D (1/29/2011 3:37 p.m.)
        
        Agree   BarbaraB (1/29/2011 7:12 p.m.)
        
        Harriet rising in the ranks   Bridget D (1/30/2011 2:17 a.m.)
        
        The book is always available :-)   kathleen (elder) (1/29/2011 8:10 a.m.)
        
        Also linked below the header of this board (nfm)   Myretta (1/29/2011 8:18 a.m.)
    - I have often wondered... Reeba (1/28/2011 5:36 a.m.)
    - You are right about quiting Laurie J (1/27/2011 9:13 p.m.)
      - Encouragement to persevere with Emma and not give up!   jeffrey (1/28/2011 10:38 a.m.)
        
        Lol, be patient with Emma.   Patricia AA (1/28/2011 11:07 p.m.)
        
        This is not the first time I have read Emma but I always   AnnetteJ (1/28/2011 11:20 a.m.)
    - Emma's attitude toward the Martins Anne-Marie (1/27/2011 6:36 p.m.)
      - Exactly on her social level?   Kathleen Glancy (1/28/2011 11:14 a.m.)
        
        My mind   Robbin (1/28/2011 4:15 p.m.)
        
        Match-making poor Mr. Woodhouse   Ramya (1/28/2011 8:57 p.m.)
        
        Mr. Knightley and Miss Taylor   BarbaraB (1/28/2011 11:21 p.m.)
        
        Mr. K and Miss Taylor   Kirk (1/29/2011 11:08 p.m.)
        
        Now that you mention it ...   Sarah Yorkshire (1/30/2011 7:32 a.m.)
        
        Now that you mention it...   Kirk (2/3/2011 12:30 a.m.)
        
        And why isn't Mr.Knightley married yet?   Kathryn Ann (1/29/2011 6:19 p.m.)
        
        Why, vexed? nfm   Stephanie (1/31/2011 2:17 p.m.)

Groupread is maintained by Myretta with WebBBS 3.21.

View thread | Previous message | Next message Board index

- Jane Austen | Republic of Pemberley -

Quick Index

Home

Site Map

JAInfo