If you’re new to this Substack, one of the things I’m offering subscribers in 2023 is A Year with Jane. We’re reading through Austen’s six novels this year and Emma is our read for March and April.
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Last week we finished Jane Austen’s Emma! And here is your weekly reflection—late again due to my being out of town to speak at the Together in Holiness conference in Indianapolis followed by the whirlwind of the school musical my daughters were in. Mea culpa! I’m excited for a chance to come up for air this weekend.
Okay, back to Emma. In the final chapters of Emma we start to see the consequences of Mr. Knightley’s rebuke.
I loved reading your comments about this pivotal scene from last week’s reflection. One insight I particularly loved was that Emma has ears to hear because she knows that Mr. Knightley’s only motive for speaking so harshly to her is his grief over her bad behavior and his faith that she can become a better woman. He does not seek to humiliate her in front of other people (as she did to Miss Bates) but instead takes her aside to confront her in private.
But does his rebuke land? Well, the proof is in the pudding (that Mr. Woodhouse would probably try to convince you not to eat). Emma immediately tries to right her wrongs. But she also is able to respond to new, challenging situations with compassion and selflessness. This is the real test.
When Harriet shares her hopes that Mr. Knightley may love her, Emma is struck by the fact that she herself loves Mr. Knightley. If he marries Harriet, Emma’s future happiness is destroyed. She has every inducement to resurrect her former habits of manipulation. She has the motive and the opportunity to do exactly what she did when Harriet was in love with Robert Martin—exploit Harriet’s admiration of her in order to convince Harriet to do what Emma wants.
But instead of trying to influence Harriet to suit her own desires, Emma responds with charity and compassion. The conversation is excruciating, but Emma refuses to use guile to twist the situation.
Then when she thinks Mr. Knightley is going to share his plans to marry Harriet with her, Emma at first can’t bear to hear. She begs him not to speak. But she quickly changes course, apologizes, and is willing to hear what she dreads in order to be the friend that Mr. Knightley deserves. Of course, we know that she does not hear anything dreadful at all! Her kindness is rewarded by the news that he loves her.
Emma Woodhouse is transformed from a woman motivated from self-interest to a woman fueled by compassion.
For our discussion questions this week: Do you think Emma deserves Mr. Knightley? What do you imagine their marriage will look like?
Next week we’ll discuss Chapter 3 of Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life on Emma!
And I need to get my ducks in a row about our Zoom Discussion with special guests, Marcia Lane-McGee and Shannon Wimp Schmidt. Date TBA!
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Looking forward to discussing more of Emma with you!
Haley
(Editor of Word on Fire Spark, Author, Former Podcaster)
Haley’s Children’s Mystery Series about Mouse Nuns
Haley’s Book on Jane Austen’s Novels
Haley’s Book about Radical Simplicity
Does anyone ever deserve anyone? It's all grace, I think. I would hope that their marriage would grow to be one of equals rather than mentor and mentee. It could be unsatisfying, otherwise!
I think that their marriage will grow in mutual respect, as she can trust him to gently and thoughtfully nudge her in the direction of positive personal growth, which will in turn make her more aware of herself and her role in her relationships. I don’t think their entire marriage would consist of him constantly pointing out her faults and her fixing them.
Of course Emma could fall into the same pitfall in the future- how many times do we succumb to the same faults and failings over and over? But I think the pivotal moment in the book was enough of an eye- opener for both him and Emma to each see the merits of entering into a successful relationship that will lead them to be better partners and better people. Being able to take constructive criticism is very difficult-the book shows what can happen if executed and taken the right way. Nowadays it would be easy for people to say that Mr. Knightley was “mansplaining” to Emma and write off his intentions as something they were not meant to be. It’s hard to hear that we are wrong and so valuable to find someone that will be honest with us and have our best interests at heart! Mr. Knightley is human and of course will enter marriage with his own set of faults, but the book is called “Emma” not “Mr. Knightley.” We were meant to learn her lesson in this book.