There was a separate thread about the names in ARWAV that triggered my memory about the names in Emma. I assume talk about JA's books is appropriate in any forum within the Republic of Pemberley. :-)What's in a name? (JA thread)
Posted by Janette K on February 26, 1998 at 16:40:25:
There was a separate thread about the names in ARWAV that triggered my memory about the names in Emma. I assume talk about JA's books is appropriate in any forum within the Republic of Pemberley. :-)
I remember when I took a novels course in college, and we read Emma, my teacher assigned significance to these names:
Hartfield - a village where matters of the heart are important
Woodhouse - an established family, yet not too grand (not a castle)
Knightley - think of the kind of gentleman he is
Donwell - (Mr. Knightley's home) = "done well"
Donwell Abbey - (Mr. Knightley's home) - formerly a cloistered, celibate community - it's where he lives while he's a bachelor; at one point JA sends him home in a fret of irritation to "the cool and solitude" of Donwell (I don't remember the exact words and don't have the book with me)
Any other thoughts on *the significance of* names in JA's books? (I've read elsewhere speculations on their sources - but I'm more interested in how she uses them for her *own* purposes.)
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