I am woman....hear me roar.....
9 years ago
Monday, March 4, 2013
Classes
Describe
the class and rank of various characters in the village of Highbury.
Compare the positions of Mr. Weston, Mr. Elton, Miss Taylor, Harriet,
and Emma with others in Highbury. How do matters of class affect the
interaction of these characters, and would you describe class as being
rigid or flexible as it is depicted by Jane Austen? To what extent can
class be said to be of central importance to the development of the
novel, since it is one of the most important considerations in marriage?
Does class seem to be treated differently by those in Highbury than it
does by outsiders, for example Frank Churchill and Mrs. Elton? Do you
think it is significant that no woman in Highbury is of Emma's age and
rank?
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3 comments:
At the time the story takes place, class is still very important among society. Class almost always has influence on society, but at this time it dictated much if not all of their daily lives. Respect was always shown in an upward direction; lower classes always needing to show respect to those classes above them. Ideally the upper classes would also show respect to those beneath them, but they were not required by social conventions.
As far as the characters in this book, Highbury seems to be a small place, and so there are fewer people who live there. In a big city I doubt there would have been as much mingling of the classes as there was in Highbury, but if Emma has no counterparts, she would of course need to still socialize with somebody. I think for the purposes of this story it is important that no woman in Highbury is of Emma's age and rank, because this made it necessary for her to spend more time with those beneath her in status. But it also left her unchecked as she threw caution to the wind attempted to mix classes in the marriages she sought to arrange. If the class ranks hadn't existed or mattered as much, Emma likely would have had more success.
I thought that outsiders were less snobby about class than the people in Highbury, or at least less snobby than Emma. I agree, Holly, that they did mingle with them but they were so snotty where someone like Frank was less discriminatory about social ranking, although he did hide his engagement to please his snobby family so maybe they were all snobs.
I get so bugged by books from this time period where the people of a lesser class suck up to the upper class. People treat you the way you allow them to treat you and I don't care what was proper I would have told them to shove it or I would have just avoided them. I certainly wouldn't have wasted my time feeding their ego. I get that this is how it was but I still find it annoying to read.
I suppose it is significant that no one else is Emma's age/rank because she can kind of get away with running amuck but I wonder if people really like her or are just bowing down to her because of her status. She is such a brat.
Class distinction was very important in England then and probably still is to a certain degree (Royalty) but it affects many in our country even today. In Emma's day it was very important but interesting that Frank Churchill and Miss Fairfax, Mr. Weston and Miss Taylor, Mr. Elton and Mrs. Elton were examples of different classes marrying so I think the people in Highbury were a little less rigid in whom could marry.
I hadn't thought about it before but Emma was the only girl of her age until Harriet came along. So Emma really had no competition until Harriet decided she liked Mr. Knightly.
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