Emma into Mansfield Park

Emma, our last month’s novel for The Jane Austen Book Club seemed to be less impressive compared to our first read, Persuasion. I must admit that it incidentally was harder for me to dig Emma because I was so bitten by the Cullen virus that time (or until now?!).

I so admire Sinta for being so on time with our reading schedule. If there’s an early bird award, that would surely go to her. (I’ve started drafting the mechanics for the December contest. I’ll announce it next month). Like her, there was a time when I was so confused that I didn’t know who Emma would end up with. As to her favorite quote in the book, she wrote:

My favourite quotes in the book though didn’t stem from Emma, but from Jane Fairfax; a temporary evil in the plot. And not on the subject of romance, but on post offices! She has a discussion with Mr John Knightley, who believes letters to be worthless, especially letters of friendship. Letters of business on the other hand may bring money. Jane defends, reasoning that she is very far away from home.

“…I can easily believe that letters are very little to you, much less than to me, but it is not your being ten years older than myself which makes the difference, it is not age, but situation. You have every body dearest to you always at hand, I, probably never shall again; and therefore till I have outlived all my affections, a post-office, I think, must always have power to draw me out, in worse weather than to-day.”

While mine came in the almost end part,

The marriage proposal part is so heartwarming:

Mr. Knightley: I rode through the rain! I’d – I’d ride through worse than that if I could just hear your voice telling me that I might, at least, have some chance to win you. Marry me. Marry me, my wonderful, darling friend.

Emma: Mr. Knightley, if I have not spoken, it is because I am afraid I will awaken myself from this dream.

It’s not conclusive, but I generally find it cute to hear/see long time friends profess love more than friendship for each other. It just sometimes needs a trigger to admit it. That it explains why they cannot have much attraction towards the others. Because they are fools to admit that the one they are longing for already belongs to them. Well, of course, I respect the other state of friendship. There are friends, who will just be friends, and for some reasons, are just better off as friends.

This is my most favorite line in the story (Mr. Knightley telling Emma):

“Maybe it is our imperfections which make us so perfect for one another.”

I must admit that besides reading the novel, I had to watch one of the film adaptations because I hardly appreciated the story at first. I can totally relate to JMom when she said:

I just did not like Emma (the character) from the beginning. I thought her shallow and just plain infuriatingly dull. I don’t get why other readers liked her. To make matters worse, it seemed like Jane Austen’s writing had taken on a bit of Miss Bates’ tendency for verbosity. Some paragraphs just went on and on about seemingly nothing. It got a bit annoying at times.

Maybe I was just in a mood. I don’t know. I really wanted to like this book, but even the story line did not resonate with me. I never did fall in love with Mr. Knightly like I did with Mr. Darcy. I never grew to admire Emma like I did Anne and Elizabeth. At the end I didn’t sigh for the love of Emma and Mr. Knightly, I just sighed because it was over.

Renin wrote,

Match-making is also my strong point. It makes me jolly whenever I can pair my assumed well-suited friends with each other (but only a few end up as couples). Honestly, I also have some factors to consider before I even act on matching two of my friends or acquaintnces. I scrutinize if they have complementing triats. (hehehe) Oopps, here is a BIG BUT— I hate it when I am the one who is being matched. *grrr* (hehehe)

This novel made me ponder three things: use of wit and tenderness of the heart, respect, and sincerity.

While Jeanny wrote,

Actually I started reading this last September but at the beginning of the story I was really bored so It took me months to get back with it. On my second read, after reading few more chapters, I find it a very amusing book and the various characters really show Jane Austen at her farsighted best .

She added,

True enough this story involves many unsuspecting twists and turns.

And CandyQ, whose already done reading all the Austen novels said,

I have to say that Emma isn’t my favorite character. She’s the stereotypical queen bee of her small social circle – rich, beautiful, shallow and liked by everyone. And because of this, she has developed a very inflated view of her own insight which also keeps her from relating well with other people.

Emma isn’t much of a romance novel because you’ll know from the get-go who’s going to end up with whom. I also found that it lacked the emotional weight of other Jane Austen novels. But it’s a light, funny and a pretty good read and to borrow Mr. Knightley’s words, “…faultless in spite of all her faults.”

***

This October, we’re reading Mansfield Park. I want to find out why this is the so-called most controversial novel by JA. I’m now peeking through the e-book and this line is for all the Austen lovers out there:

“But there certainly are not so many men of large fortune in the world as there are pretty women to deserve them.”

Happy reading!

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