188 Austen, Jane
In an England faced with political threats from
abroad and internal upheavals caused by incipient
industrialization, Jane Austen clearly saw the com-
munity of country villages as a safe haven, perhaps
the only haven, from frightening social changes. In
Emma we see how a group of neighbors, only 25
miles from London, can preserve one another in
relative peace, stasis, and tranquility from the dep-
redations that threatened to tear the larger country
apart in urban centers. While Emma is fiction, and
the social structure on which the novel is based
was an archaic institution, we can still learn from
Austen’s vision that a concern for those around us,
nourished by mutual respect, kindness, and generos-
ity, can enhance life in any situation. Even—maybe
especially—in a global world, it is important to get
along with one’s neighbors.
Sally Palmer
sOcial class in Emma
So prevalent is the topic of social class in Emma that
it is possible to read the novel as a manual on what
it means to be truly upper-class, and on the proper
observance of class distinctions and obligations. All
the problems in the plot are caused by one or more
characters’ faulty perceptions of rank and its obliga-
tions. When these erroneous ideas are corrected and
the characters are sorted into their fit places in the
social hierarchy, peace reigns.
At the outset, we learn that Emma is “first
in consequence” in her sphere. High social rank
depends on owning property, having a large income
independent of labor, and belonging to an old and
distinguished family, known as having “connex-
ions.” Further class distinctions include one’s educa-
tion, appearance, and “breeding,” or manners. As a
Woodhouse and the mistress of Hartfield, Emma is
looked up to by everyone. The only other character
on her social level is Mr. Knightley, proprietor of
Donwell Abbey and the highest-ranking gentle-
man in the area. While Emma’s behavior and ideas
about the meaning of rank are frequently erroneous,
Mr. Knightley’s opinions and actions can always be
taken as a model for proper upper-class behavior.
Because Emma’s middle-class governess, Mrs.
Weston, has recently risen into the upper class by
marrying into a “respectable family,” albeit one which
has only recently made its fortune and acquired its
“seat,” or house, Emma aspires to similarly raise
her new friend Harriet, of unknown parentage, to a
higher class. Emma, a social snob, feels that to elevate
Harriet into the gentry would “detach her from bad
acquaintance and introduce her into good society.”
Mr. Knightley, however, opposes Emma’s friendship
with, and plans for, Harriet. He feels nothing good
can come from crossing class boundaries; that raising
Harriet’s expectations will make her unhappy with
the situation in which her birth and circumstances
have placed her. And so it proves: Under Emma’s
tutelage, Harriet loses her first suitor and raises her
expectations for a husband beyond what is realistic.
Emma rejects Harriet’s suitor, Robert Martin, as
being “vulgar and illiterate” because he is a farmer,
even though we see that he reads novels, writes a
good letter, and is polite and respectful. Although
Harriet fancies Robert, she takes Emma’s advice and
refuses Martin, focusing her marriage hopes instead,
with Emma’s encouragement, on Mr. Elton. But Mr.
Elton, also hoping to advance himself socially by
marriage, refuses to consider Harriet, deeming her
beneath his level. This causes Harriet great unhap-
piness, until she begins to hope that Mr. Knightley
himself might marry her. When Emma learns that
Harriet has so far lost sight of her own intrinsic
social level as to aspire to Mr. Knightley, she is hor-
rified. She realizes the evil of raising expectations
to beyond one’s class and considers that Harriet’s
unequal marriage to Mr. Knightley, while an amazing
elevation on her side, would be “debasement,” “evil,”
and “horrible folly” for Mr. Knightley. Emma thus
abandons Harriet as a confidante, whereupon Har-
riet returns to Robert Martin and achieves happiness
in the associations belonging to her own class, from
which she should never have tried to rise.
Another illustration of the impropriety of trying
to rise in class is the behavior of Mrs. Elton. Mr.
Elton marries Augusta Hawkins because she has
substantial wealth, yet this wealth was only recently
earned through her father’s business, and her family
is “nobody.” Mrs. Elton tries to correct this deficit by
continually accentuating and flaunting her relation-
ship with her sister’s husband, Mr. Suckling, a man
with “extensive grounds” at Maple Grove. She also
tries to assume equality with Mr. Knightley and