Page 102 - DENG404_FICTION

Fiction

Notes Analysis: Emma’s mistakes with regard to Harriet Smith have led her to greater self-examination.
For the first time, Emma begins to consider her own faults and attempts to improve them.
When she visits the Bates, this is an attempt to correct one of these faults: she acknowledges
that she is negligent towards Mrs. and Miss Bates, who depend on the compassion of the
higher members of Highbury society. Once again, it is Mr. Knightley who has pointed out this
flaw in Emma. He is certainly the only one who has both the status and temperament to
challenge her.
Miss Bates resembles Harriet Smith in a number of respects. Both are limited in wit and
imagination and have positions at the fringes of society. However, with her grating, incessant
chatter, Miss Bates is primarily comic relief. Whatever pity Austen has for Miss Bates is
abstract and relates only to her social status: one should pity Miss Bates because she is a
spinster with little income, not because of any intrinsic qualities. Harriet Smith, in contrast, is
a more rounded character with greater shadings. Austen grants her some dignity, as when
Emma remarks about how Harriet is superior for her sincerity.
Once again, the mention of Jane Fairfax reminds the readers of Emma’s vanity. To satisfy
Emma’s jealousy towards Jane, she invents the idea that Jane may be involved with some
illicit affair with a married man. This is not a well-supported notion, but it does instill the idea
that Jane Fairfax may be involved in some secretive arrangement.
Chapter Twenty: This chapter tells the story of Jane Fairfax, the granddaughter of Mrs. Bates,
whose mother died when Jane was a small child. Jane was brought up by the Campbells, for
Colonel Campbell had served in the army with Jane’s late father, and the young girl had been
well educated on his behalf. Emma is sorry to have Jane Fairfax visit, although her dislike is
truly unfounded. When Jane visits, Emma is polite to her, despite her jealousy, and she even
gains some minor information about Frank Churchill from Jane, who has met him.
Analysis: Jane Fairfax is an exemplar of the self-made woman, whose high regard in society
comes not from her familial connections but from her talents and charm. Except for status, she
equals Emma in every respect, and it is Emma’s competitive nature that causes her to dislike
Jane, assuming negative qualities where none may actually exist. Yet in their respective fates,
Emma and Jane Fairfax differ considerably. Because of her lack of fortune, Jane Fairfax must
enter a profession as a governess, a condition that requires her to sacrifice all of the pleasures
of her life, while Emma will retain her life of leisure and luxury under all but the most
extreme circumstances.
One of the major functions that Jane Fairfax serves in the novel is as juxtaposition against the
other characters. Although equal to Emma in all regards, she lacks status. This serves as a
reminder that it is not Emma’s sharp intelligence or talents that ultimately make her the head
of Highbury society, but instead her family and fortune. And while her lack of a solid familial
standing gives her a similar status to Harriet Smith, Jane Fairfax is poised, talented and
refined. It is she who deserves to marry higher in society and to be Emma’s closest companion,
yet Emma’s inability to be anything less than the center of attention makes this impossible.
Also notable are the parallels between Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill, which Austen reinforces
when Jane says that she has met the elusive Frank. Both are somewhat mysterious visitors
connected to Highbury society through familial connections, but were raised outside of it by
more elite families after their mothers had died. They share the ambiguity of belonging to one
social group by birth but residing within a higher one by breeding.
Chapter Twenty-One: Mr. Knightley compliments Emma on how well she treated Jane Fairfax
when they dined together. As Mr. Knightley tells Emma that he has news for her, Miss Bates
and Jane Fairfax interrupt them. Jane thanks Emma for the hind-quarter of pork that she had
sent to her, and tells Emma that Mr. Elton is to be married to a Miss Hawkins from Bath.

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