I have just finished reading chapter 8 and WOW! The fireworks were certainly flying through Emma and Mr. Knightley. I found myself laughing, cheering, and getting a bit upset with Mr. Knightley's assessment of Harriet, and women in general. Good for Emma for standing up to him and showing him a woman is more than just a pretty face, to be draped on the arm of a man.
pg. 393
" You are a very good friend to Mr. Martin; but, as I said before, are unjust to Harriet. Harriet's claims to marry well are not so contemptible as you represent them. She is not a clever girl, but she has better sense than you are aware of, and does not deserve to have her understanding spoken of so slightingly. Waiving that point, however, and supposing her to be, as you describe her, only pretty and good-natured, let me tell you, that in the degree she possesses them, they are not trivial recommendations to the world in general, for she is, in fact, a beautiful girl, and must be thought so by ninety-nine people out of a hundred; and till it appears that men are much more philosophic on the subject of beauty than they are generally supposed, till they do fall in love with well-informed minds instead of handsome faces, a girl, with such loveliness as Harriet, has a certainty of being admired and sought after, of having the power of choosing from among many, consequently a claim to be nice. Her good nature, too, is not so very slight a claim, comprehending, as it does, real, thorough sweetness of temper, and manner, a very humble opinion of herself, and a great readiness to be pleased with other people. I am very much mistaken if your sex in general would not think such beauty, and such temper, the highest claims a woman could possess."
"Upon my word, Emma, to hear you abusing the reason you have, is almost enough to make me think so too. Better be without sense than misapply it as you do."
"To be sure," cried she, playfully. "I know that is the feeling of you all. I know that such a girl as Harriet is exactly what every man delights in-what at once bewitches his senses and satisfies his judgement. Oh Harriet may pick and choose. Were you, yourself, ever to marry, she is the very woman for you. And is she, at seventeen, just entering into life, just beginning to be known, to be wondered at because she does not accept the first offer she receives? No__pray let her have time to look about her."
I feel like I am seeing Emma through different eyes than everyone else. I don't believe for one minute she sincerely felt she wanted to keep Harriet all to herself when she and Mr. Knightley were arguing about what, and who, is best for Harriet.
"I am very much obliged to you," said Emma, laughing again. "If I had set my heart on Mr. Elton's marrying Harriet, it would have been very kind to open my eyes; but at present I only want to keep Harriet to myself. I have done with matchmaking, indeed. I could never hope to equal my own doings at Randalls. I shall leave off while I am well,"These two have two very different ideas of love, marriage and what is best for Harriet, or for women and men in general. Yet, while arguing with each other I felt they were making stands on what
they individually are demanding for
themselves.
"We think so differently on this point, Mr. Knightley, that there can be no use in canvassing it. We shall only be making each other more angry."For me, I think William Shakespeare's quote from the 1602 play
Hamlet fits here,
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks" Although I think the lady, Emma, and the gentleman, Mr. Knightley, protest too much!
As an Austen lover, I have to tell you, this is a love story as all hers are. She gives us many characters to keep us busy, yet in the end it is about the two main characters who are fighting love, and finding their way to love, in the end. I have not read ahead, I do not claim to know the ending. I tend to see Austen of her era, as our Danielle Steele of today. The weekly series of Downton Abbey is a great replica of Austen's novels. They were meant to entertain, amuse and enjoy! IMO I am a hopeless romantic, so I am sitting back and relishing the spitfire in Emma. She is a woman of depth, she knows her mind, (even if she does not yet know her heart,) and even though a woman in her time did not express her intellect much, she is not going to allow Mr. Knightley to ignore the fact women are more than a mere object to admire and look at.
Emma has shown Harriet, you can choose, you can want more, you can refuse, and not think the first man who proposes to you, you must accept. Seventeen is young, Harriet is just becoming into her womanhood. Even "if" Harriet and Mr. Martin do end up together, or she ends up with Mr. Elton, which Mr. Knightley professes is the wrong man for her, at least Emma is teaching her that her worth is much more than mere beauty, which can fade. Jane Austen was a woman ahead of the times, in writing the feelings Emma is expressing in her argument with Mr. Knightley. I would want to give my daughter the same advice. Don't be haste, take your time, and know you are worth more than just a pretty face.
(Although....shhhhhh....in the back of my head, I fear Emma may see a Harriet she does not like, rise up.) I'm sensing some hurt in the future.
