Love this overview, I heartily agree! I’m so glad I reread Emma recently after being underwhelmed by it as a teenager, I guess that readerly arc is probably a common one!
I didn’t know you were linking the music posts to Emma - fantastic. What a great start. I always like to start with the importance of a title and narrative voice. I haven’t read Emma in an explicitly critical way before and eager to jump into these devices. Thanks John!
Looking forward to your insights, Kate, as we make our way through the novel! (And I just saw that you have a new podcast episode, which I will immediately place at the front of my queue.)
I wonder if our response to a novel like 'Emma' tells us something about our own personalities. I think ofy mother, who has never liked 'Emma'. Her personality is the exact opposite of Emma's, always keenly aware of her own faults but genuinely overlooking the faults of those around her. I think she simply cannot understand why Emma acts the way she does. I understand Emma, but have little sympathy with her. I prefer Anne in 'Persuasion', who, as another second daughter of a self-absorbed widower from the landed gentry, is what Emma might have been had life not always been so smooth.
Yes, I think that Anne certainly deserves our sympathy more than does Emma, but of course that's more of a melancholy book altogether, though exquisite.
Hi John, I'm really enjoying the read-through. On returning to this first post to remind myself of something, I spotted that you have mis-quoted the opening line of P&P - Austen does not say a "young" man, but a "single" man. Much more cutting and sarcastic. If the man is unmarried, no matter his age, inclination, or personality, society decrees that he *must* be in want of a wife. He may have escaped matrimony until his riper years, but yet that want is assumed by all to exist!
John, I have been thinking about whether I liked Emma when I first read this in college - I’m pretty sure I did, even with all her faults, but as I recall I found Mr. Knightley to be insufferable, constantly telling her what to do and think. My dislike of Knightley has kept “Emma” - so far - from being my favorite Austen novel - but I’m enjoying this re-read, which may get me thinking differently. I also appreciate your focus on Austen’s narrative style and innovation, which reveals Emma’s inner life but also puts a more omniscient (wiser) observing eye on the people around her. After all, Emma is young. Even when I was reading this novel at the same age, I had a sense of her feeling confined in a small space, of living a bigger, bolder life in the only way she could - fantasy.
That’s interesting, Martha, because my undergraduates tend to side with Knightley. Perhaps they easily fall under the spell of masculine authority; I really have to sell empathy for Emma when I teach the novel. Eventually, some of the students come over to my side.
Well, the seventies were a different political landscape, John, and I was a young feminist. I really hated masculine authority — but I wasn't the only one. What I also recall is a lot of deconstructing "the text" (something that made me drop all thoughts of being an English major; even at the time, I wanted to discuss the book as a writer would, not as a French political theorist or philosopher would). I'm glad some of your students develop empathy for Emma. I'd also say that what you're observing indicates just how much of a backlash there's been against feminism or women with power — alas.
Alas, too true, though I will report some progress. Students are much more likely to embrace strong female characters than they were even ten years ago. For example, it used to be that most students disliked the Wife of Bath, but these days there is usually a 50/50 split (largely along gender lines). And I now rarely hear a student start a sentence with "I'm not a feminist, but . . . "
I love to see Clueless getting a shout-out! It's one of my favourite adaptations of any of Austen's novels. The thing I find most challenging about reading Emma is that JA really does succeed in conjuring up that sense of a stiflingly small community, and it makes me quite uncomfortable. However, I'm definitely up for a re-read in good company. Thank you for the motivation and such an interesting insight into the way the novel is written.
Ironic understatement from the first line - first we’re told Emma has experienced little ‘to distress or vex her’, then told almost immediately afterwards that her mother died when Emma was young. Meaning either that Emma WAS distressed and the free-indirect narrative voice glosses over it, or that young Emma was genuinely not distressed by her mother’s death, which is possibly more disturbing
Wonderful! Laughed out loud at the words: "problematic male interloper who threatens to disrupt the smooth trajectory toward this conclusion"! That's where all the fun comes in. 🤣 Looking forward so much to these discussions. 💮
Thank you, John. I am really looking forward to this slow read. I read the novel very fast in college as an English major. I was frustrated with Emma's assured, but inaccurate, assessments of self and everyone around her. Meanwhile the narrator was reading her so accurately. Young myself, I probably saw it more as a character flaw, rather than a very privileged and spoiled sense of self. I was relieved at her 'growth'. In contrast, characters like Elizabeth Bennet, Anne in Persuasion or Eleanor in S&S seem so much wiser about the world and their movements in it. They all appear to have been raised with much less sense of privilege and are not as spoiled. Maybe another difference is her world is very very small. So I am looking forward to a wiser, more forgiving read of this young lady.
Yes, I think that Austen challenges us to love Emma and empathize with her, despite the fact that we might not like her much if we knew her in real life. Since we spend so much time in her head, her feelings may become ours--at a distance.
Great start to the read-through! I’m really looking forward to the strawberry-picking scene.
I’ll readily admit that Emma is her best novel, but I can’t say it’s my favorite, and that has to do with likability. I do love Emma, but reservedly. I’m thinking about which one would be my favorite, but I don’t think I can choose.
And I just had a strange and sad thought: maybe she never got to write the novel that would have been my favorite. Maybe Sanditon would have been it.
Love this overview, I heartily agree! I’m so glad I reread Emma recently after being underwhelmed by it as a teenager, I guess that readerly arc is probably a common one!
I didn’t know you were linking the music posts to Emma - fantastic. What a great start. I always like to start with the importance of a title and narrative voice. I haven’t read Emma in an explicitly critical way before and eager to jump into these devices. Thanks John!
Looking forward to your insights, Kate, as we make our way through the novel! (And I just saw that you have a new podcast episode, which I will immediately place at the front of my queue.)
I wonder if our response to a novel like 'Emma' tells us something about our own personalities. I think ofy mother, who has never liked 'Emma'. Her personality is the exact opposite of Emma's, always keenly aware of her own faults but genuinely overlooking the faults of those around her. I think she simply cannot understand why Emma acts the way she does. I understand Emma, but have little sympathy with her. I prefer Anne in 'Persuasion', who, as another second daughter of a self-absorbed widower from the landed gentry, is what Emma might have been had life not always been so smooth.
Yes, I think that Anne certainly deserves our sympathy more than does Emma, but of course that's more of a melancholy book altogether, though exquisite.
Hi John, I'm really enjoying the read-through. On returning to this first post to remind myself of something, I spotted that you have mis-quoted the opening line of P&P - Austen does not say a "young" man, but a "single" man. Much more cutting and sarcastic. If the man is unmarried, no matter his age, inclination, or personality, society decrees that he *must* be in want of a wife. He may have escaped matrimony until his riper years, but yet that want is assumed by all to exist!
Thanks so much for catching that! Not sure how I did it; will fix it in the archive. And, of course, you’re right—“single” is much better.
John, I have been thinking about whether I liked Emma when I first read this in college - I’m pretty sure I did, even with all her faults, but as I recall I found Mr. Knightley to be insufferable, constantly telling her what to do and think. My dislike of Knightley has kept “Emma” - so far - from being my favorite Austen novel - but I’m enjoying this re-read, which may get me thinking differently. I also appreciate your focus on Austen’s narrative style and innovation, which reveals Emma’s inner life but also puts a more omniscient (wiser) observing eye on the people around her. After all, Emma is young. Even when I was reading this novel at the same age, I had a sense of her feeling confined in a small space, of living a bigger, bolder life in the only way she could - fantasy.
That’s interesting, Martha, because my undergraduates tend to side with Knightley. Perhaps they easily fall under the spell of masculine authority; I really have to sell empathy for Emma when I teach the novel. Eventually, some of the students come over to my side.
Well, the seventies were a different political landscape, John, and I was a young feminist. I really hated masculine authority — but I wasn't the only one. What I also recall is a lot of deconstructing "the text" (something that made me drop all thoughts of being an English major; even at the time, I wanted to discuss the book as a writer would, not as a French political theorist or philosopher would). I'm glad some of your students develop empathy for Emma. I'd also say that what you're observing indicates just how much of a backlash there's been against feminism or women with power — alas.
Alas, too true, though I will report some progress. Students are much more likely to embrace strong female characters than they were even ten years ago. For example, it used to be that most students disliked the Wife of Bath, but these days there is usually a 50/50 split (largely along gender lines). And I now rarely hear a student start a sentence with "I'm not a feminist, but . . . "
I love to see Clueless getting a shout-out! It's one of my favourite adaptations of any of Austen's novels. The thing I find most challenging about reading Emma is that JA really does succeed in conjuring up that sense of a stiflingly small community, and it makes me quite uncomfortable. However, I'm definitely up for a re-read in good company. Thank you for the motivation and such an interesting insight into the way the novel is written.
Yes, it can be a claustrophobic reading experience, I think intentionally so.
Ironic understatement from the first line - first we’re told Emma has experienced little ‘to distress or vex her’, then told almost immediately afterwards that her mother died when Emma was young. Meaning either that Emma WAS distressed and the free-indirect narrative voice glosses over it, or that young Emma was genuinely not distressed by her mother’s death, which is possibly more disturbing
Yes, though perhaps she died so early that Emma has little memory of her. But you would think that the very idea of her mother dying would haunt her.
Wonderful! Laughed out loud at the words: "problematic male interloper who threatens to disrupt the smooth trajectory toward this conclusion"! That's where all the fun comes in. 🤣 Looking forward so much to these discussions. 💮
Yes--Frank Churchill is the straw that stirs the drink!
NICE.
Thank you, John. I am really looking forward to this slow read. I read the novel very fast in college as an English major. I was frustrated with Emma's assured, but inaccurate, assessments of self and everyone around her. Meanwhile the narrator was reading her so accurately. Young myself, I probably saw it more as a character flaw, rather than a very privileged and spoiled sense of self. I was relieved at her 'growth'. In contrast, characters like Elizabeth Bennet, Anne in Persuasion or Eleanor in S&S seem so much wiser about the world and their movements in it. They all appear to have been raised with much less sense of privilege and are not as spoiled. Maybe another difference is her world is very very small. So I am looking forward to a wiser, more forgiving read of this young lady.
Yes, I think that Austen challenges us to love Emma and empathize with her, despite the fact that we might not like her much if we knew her in real life. Since we spend so much time in her head, her feelings may become ours--at a distance.
Looking forward to this discussion!
I have a love-hate relationship with Emma, likely because she's too human haha. But that's what makes her lovable too.
Exactly! She is just as annoying and self-centered as a normal person!
Great start to the read-through! I’m really looking forward to the strawberry-picking scene.
I’ll readily admit that Emma is her best novel, but I can’t say it’s my favorite, and that has to do with likability. I do love Emma, but reservedly. I’m thinking about which one would be my favorite, but I don’t think I can choose.
And I just had a strange and sad thought: maybe she never got to write the novel that would have been my favorite. Maybe Sanditon would have been it.
The good thing is that you don't have to choose! Your favorite can be the one that you are reading at the moment :)
A late starter to the reading here, but hoping to catch up soon 👋