Is there a cure for selfishness?

Community in Jane Austen's Emma

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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We have finished Austen’s brilliant novel, Emma. And last week we followed it up with the Emma chapter (Chapter 3) from my book Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life.

At the end of the chapter I quote Mary Crawford from our upcoming read, Mansfield Park. She says (with a touch of charming self-deprecation), “selfishness must always be forgiven you know, because there’s no hope of a cure.” If she’s right, then our heroine, Emma Woodhouse, is in big trouble. Thankfully, she’s dead wrong. Emma proves that she can be cured of her selfishness, but she does not overcome it alone.

Emma’s community provides her with the self-knowledge and opportunity to reform. And to be fair, she has made a habit of selflessness in some areas of her life since childhood. Living with her hypochondriac father, for example, constantly requires putting his odd and unreasonable preferences ahead of her own desires. And she is genuinely loving and kind to him, never even complaining to close friends. In fact, she bristles when Mrs. Elton even hints at his behavior as being inconvenient to his daughter.

But, as we’ve discussed in weeks past, Emma is not always able to act selflessly. When given the opportunity to show forbearance and selfless friendship to Miss Bates and her niece, Jane Fairfax, Emma fails the test. But again, her community provides the mirrors through which she must see herself. Mr. Knightley confronts her. And his good character and that of her former governess, Mrs. Weston, provide a model for virtue that Emma seeks to achieve.

Without the often inconvenient and occasionally mortifying environment of her small town of Highbury, Emma would struggle to improve. Responding to those relationships with humility is Emma’s saving grace. Our opportunities to grow in holiness are often in our relationships with the people right next to us: our family members, roommates, friends, neighbors. And yet, in American culture, have we insulated ourselves from other people to such a degree that we are missing out on those opportunities?

One of the features of the string of new houses being built on our street are large garages. Our new neighbors typically drive right in and we rarely see their faces. This makes for a very quiet street. No one has been a bother. And yet, does living this way avoid opportunity for growth and goodness as well as avoiding potential irritation?

What do we miss if we simply don’t have to socialize with the Miss Bateses of the world?

Emma’s little town of Highbury also shows us that who we surround ourselves with matters a great deal. It is difficult to imagine that insufferable Mrs. Elton and her pompous husband will improve each other—they will, like Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, only exacerbate each other’s faults. They will miss the opportunity granted to them to help each other grow in holiness. But we have every hope that Emma and Mr. Knightley will be better after being married 10 years than they are at the end of the novel. And even better at 50 years.

Emma is a reminder not to squander our opportunities to grow by the grace of the people God places in our lives. Those who irritate us may be also be helping us learn to love well. Those whose friendship calls us to become better people should be treasured. Emma is an encouragement that no matter how dreadful we may be, our story isn’t over. If we are willing to dip our toes into the healing waters of humility, everything can change. Thanks be to God.

For our discussion questions this week: What did you love (or hate!) about Emma? If this was a re-read for you, what did you notice for the first time?

Take a breather next week, dear readers, and then we will dive into Mansfield Park for May and June! Mansfield Park is, in my opinion, Austen’s most underrated work. It could not be more different from Emma. A wildly different kind of heroine and romantic lead, very compelling villains, and so much to say about education and the forming of young minds. This time around I’m listening to Juliet Stevenson’s wonderful narration of the book on Audible.

And you may enjoy this fun post about the English country houses used to film Pride & Prejudice adaptations. Except, it will make you want to live in an English country house.

And I still 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 Mansfield Park with you!

Haley

(Editor of Word on Fire Spark, Author, Former Podcaster)

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