Brain Soup Goes Gilmore discussion

In what ways do you think Emma could be considered a feminist novel? In what ways is it not?

I can see how some readings of Emma would see a distinctly non-feminist theme. It could be seen as the story of a free-thinking woman who is slowly "taught a lesson" and finally married off to a man who could "handle" her. However, I am not so sure about that.

It is obvious that Mr. Knightley has a huge influence on Emma. In fact, he has kind of shaped who she is by always giving her advice and telling her when she is doing something wrong. There are even several passages where Emma's conscious has Mr. Knightley's voice! We can clearly see how Mr. Knightly has affected Emma's development, but I think there is an argument for the fact that Emma also affects his.

I think Jane Fairfax is an interesting character to consider on this topic. Jane has been set up as a stereotype of an accomplished woman; Mr. Knightley is constantly praising her (to Emma’s annoyance). However, she has a secret, and it turns out that this secret is pretty scandalous. I mean, her secret engagement to Frank Churchill would not have been well received at all. I think that Jane could be seen as a kind of deconstruction of the “perfect woman” that men during this time sought after. I think it is also telling that Jane, who is portrayed as so practical a woman, succumbed to Frank’s attractions and entered into the engagement with him in the first place. Woohoo! Female sexuality exists alongside intelligence!

Despite what I've said above, I'm not sure it would really be of service to classify Emma as either a "feminist novel" or "not a feminist novel;" I don’t thing Jane Austen had any such agenda either way. Emma, while being a book with a female heroine, is still a novel of its times; women's fates are controlled by the men in their lives. However, I like to think that Jane Austen saw much injustice in this system. Her novels offer ribbing commentary on social norms, but don't necessarily condemn them outright. So, like saying “this is how it is” rather than “this is how it should be.” I think she wrote about the human condition as she knew it, and the fact that her novels have remained so relevant despite the fact that they are 200 years old is telling of the fact that not much has changed.