Emma 187journey to maturity and self-knowledge, rather than
having come of age at last.
Sally Palmer
cOmmunity in Emma
In Jane Austen’s day, before steam engines increased
mobility beyond the powers of natural human and
animal locomotion, community was largely a geo-
graphical matter. Although relatives and friends
kept in touch with letters and long visits, it was the
neighbors to whom one turned for day-to-day soci-
ality and protection. People such as the Woodhouses
in Emma depended on rural neighborhood residents
like Mr. Knightley and on those in the adjacent vil-
lage of Highbury for mutual aid; emotional support;
and sharing of resources, news, and social enjoy-
ment. This geographical community also provided
care for the sick and dying, as well as socialization
and strengthening of local mores to be passed along
from generation to generation. This community was
organized according to class differences, yet every
member had a role to play.
In Austen’s ideal community, one of the mutual
responsibilities is entertainment. Everyone must take
a turn at giving dinners, card parties, or other social
events. In the Highbury community, the Westons,
the Coles, Frank Churchill, and Mr. Knightley pro-
vide opportunities for socialization as hosts. Those
with talents for singing or playing are expected to
contribute to the general entertainment, as when
Emma and Jane are pressed into service at the
pianoforte, with Frank joining in, and when Frank
attempts to organize a game at the Box Hill picnic.
Another important function of Austen’s commu-
nity is the dissemination of news and updates about
neighbors and friends, seen as an expression of social
and emotional caring and support. Mr. Weston pro-
vides enthusiastic fulfillment of this function, as he
lets everyone know as soon as he receives each letter
from his son Frank and airs the contents of these let-
ters as they pertain to mutual interests. Miss Bates,
while tedious, is still trying to perform her duty to
the community by talking about small matters and
letting people know every piece of news about Jane
Fairfax. Those who are negligent in this social duty
are viewed with dissatisfaction, such as Frank, who
deceives people about his affairs; and Jane, who is
too reserved, refusing to share her views or enter
into the general interest in community relationships.
One manifestation of community support is
the general interest in the state of every member’s
health. Thus, health is a common and important
topic of conversation at every gathering. Mr. Wood-
house has developed his interest in this subject far
beyond what is necessary for politeness, yet still he
provides a measure of community caring when he
inquires minutely about everyone’s health and pre-
scribes measures for taking care of small ailments.
Medical knowledge, so scarce in Austen’s time, was
thus shared as people tried to discover how others
had successfully overcome health problems and
attempted to protect one another from illnesses that
could strike at any time from any direction, with
potentially catastrophic results.
Because people living close to one another must
be able to get along, good manners are very impor-
tant to the Highbury community. Visitors and new
members, therefore, are welcomed politely. Jane
Fairfax, Frank Churchill, and Mrs. Elton are treated
warmly upon their arrival, despite private reserva-
tions such as those entertained by Emma and Mrs.
Weston about Mrs. Elton. Faults and foibles of com-
munity members—such as Miss Bates’s garrulous-
ness, Mr. Woodhouse’s hypochondria, and Emma’s
snobbery—are tolerated with kindness. The general
civility of the community is considered so important
that when Emma ruptures it with her ill-natured
insult of Miss Bates at Box Hill, Mr. Knightley takes
steps to reproach her for her gaffe, and she corrects it
as soon as she can, aware of the necessity for courtesy
and amity among neighbors. Mr. Knightley, the com-
munity watchdog, also points out to Emma that she
is being insufficiently friendly to Jane Fairfax. Other
members of the community ignore insults in order
to maintain good feeling, such as when the Martins
continue to be kind to Harriet even after her snub of
them and her refusal of Robert.
Austen considers community so important that
in Emma she ridicules, punishes, and otherwise
disparages characters who exercise obligations of
neighborliness insufficiently, just as much as she
castigates characters who display flaws of moral
character. Frank Churchill, Jane Fairfax, and Mr. and
Mrs. Elton all suffer from Austen’s characterization.