Emma has been eulogised for its remarkable and insightful illustration of the rituals and daily occurrences of a small, English township during the Napoleonic Wars. Having been used in modern-day analysis and evaluation of life in the nineteenth century, the novel acts as a window into the past. With social status and marriage both playing key roles in this book, and more over in Victorian society as a whole, I was easily stirred by what were in my opinion ridiculous notions, which in turn forced me to read much of the text alternatively… with the exception of the ending of course (no girl can resist such a soppy and long awaited love match).
After spending the most part of my time in anguish, all I could hope was that in the end, all would work out nicely and, once more, the novel delivered. In a most pleasing and soothing conclusion, I came to realise just how much I had come to know and understand the characters and just how involved in the book I had truly become. In retrospect, I have come to acknowledge just how unique and extraordinary this novel really is in its ability to move me, to arouse such emotion.
After some time, I am able to openly admit that I stand corrected; and as I confess this, in my mind I see all too clearly the many characters of the novel all sitting triumphantly around the piano, all well aware of the irony of the situation. After so often making fun of them all, now they would have the last laugh.
Reader-Centred Defense
Overall, I can see looking back that the practices generated through a reader-centred approach have enabled me to, as a reader, challenge textual ideologies through examining matches between personal ideologies and those of the text (Thomson, 1992; QSA, 2002; Johnson, 2002), thus bringing my prior knowledge and experience to the text. While considering this, and applying it to Beach’s five theoretical reader perspectives, I have come to realise that although the brunt of my reading is experientially based, each individual perspective has been employed during some stage of my reading of Emma.
An experiential perspective is evident in my reading from the very beginning. The focus of my reading is the characters and the remarkable yet hilarious portrayal of everyday life, which reflects my engagement with the text. I establish this engagement with the text when I acknowledged that “I knew enough about a character to be humored by their idiosyncratic behavior” and how torturous it was “having to accept that I was unable to intervene and alert characters”, thus making evident my construction of the world of the text. Then, in my description of Emma herself, I am drawing parallels between her life and mine (acknowledging my utilisation of a psychological perspective), applying my understanding of the world and my own personal experiences and relating this to her disposition, openly admitting that “Emma was not at fault”, that “her antics were merely a product of her upbringing.” In doing this, I am taking on an aesthetic stance towards the novel, based on my knowledge of the formation of texts, thus enabling me to
become more emotionally involved with the characters (Greer, 2002, P.14).
The knowledge I have accumulated of how texts work (Beach, 1993) has deeply influenced my reading of Emma, as it encouraged me to take a deeper look into the framework of the story, and also created preconceptions about the novel. In my reader-centred approach, I acknowledged that my appreciation and engagement in the novel, while seemingly dull and uneventful on the surface, was in both the extraordinary and insightful portrayal of characters and Jane Austen’s persistence in mocking them; deploying my knowledge of textual conventions to the text itself. In addition, my inter-textual reference to Pride and Prejudice and its influence in my preconceptions of Emma displays my utilisation of prior knowledge of textual conventions in order to respond to specific textual features and make meaning.
My reader-centred response also presents elements of other theoretical perspectives. Because my purpose for reading this novel was for an English Extension assignment, other members of the class have influenced my overall analysis, as I adopted many of the views openly discussed in class. Consequently, a social perspective is evident. Also, in voicing my disapproval of “social status and marriage both playing key roles in the book, and more over in Victorian society as a whole”, I am applying a cultural perspective to my reading, connecting with the views, values and ideologies expressed in the text (Beach, 1993).
Throughout my reading of Emma, I have come to understand that a reader–response produces infinite readings based on personal experiences (Moon, 2002, P.129); consequently enabling me to establish that while there will of course be an invited reading, the interpretation of literary texts will never lead to a final, definitive conclusion. I have come to realise that my reading is uniquely formed as a result of my own knowledge, experiences, values and beliefs (QSA, 2003) and that even the same reader can have a different response to a text during a subsequent reading, depending on what is happening in their lives at the time (Greer, 2002, P.14). For instance, in reading the very first paragraph of the novel a second time, my attitude towards Emma had completely transformed, from a feeling of utter contempt to that of delight and even amusement. In this theory, a psychological perspective is apparent.
As I have learned, the five theoretical perspectives are interrelated, so that a mature reader-centered response to a text will not rely on a single perspective exclusively (Beach, 1993). However, I discovered that in practice, it is entirely probable that at any one instance during the reading of a text, one or two perspectives might predominate. I brought my knowledge, experiences, habits, expectations, values and beliefs to the text and, as a result, in my reading, an experiential perspective was adopted more often that others. Furthermore, my understanding of the concept of invited reading enabled me to recognise that multiple readings and meanings can be generated from the same text because of what each reader brings to that text (Senior Extension English Literature, P.17); therefore allowing me to read the text alternatively (verifying that I am far from the implied reader), embracing ‘simultaneously a willingness to suspect and a willingness to listen to an invited reading’ (Ricoeur, 1991).
Author-Centered Approach
Wealthy, pretty and self-satisfied, Emma Woodhouse is quite possibly Jane Austen’s most complete heroine. Indulging herself with meddlesome and unsuccessful attempts at matchmaking, Emma struggles to shed her vanity and fear of confronting her won feelings. While both of which cause her to misinterpret and misunderstand those around her, Emma’s persistent interference has disastrous effects. Though Austen herself described Emma as “a heroine whom know one but myself will much like” (Website 3), she bestowed her creation with enough charm to see her through her most egregious behavior, and the saving grace of being able to learn from her mistakes; thus resulting in a neatly tied and most pleasant ending. On the surface, this novel is a romantic comedy of manners, examining the behavior of men and women of a single social class, exposing each characters frailties and intern, emphasizing the notion that nobody is perfect. Through a deeper analysis however, Jane’s true intentions become more and more obvious.
While being set in the early 1900’s, during the French Revolution, Jane Austen’s novel Emma takes on a very unique approach to story telling. She has become known for her “gently satirical portraits” of village life and of the “rituals of courtship and marriage” (Website 2), while most writers of that period were concerned with a very different set of interests and values. Austen’s detailed examination of the rules of decorum that govern social relationships, and her focus on people rather than events or coincides, make her seem out of step with the literary times, but this is what I like so much about her. She didn’t get bogged down in the gloominess and heredities and of the Napoleonic Wars; instead, she stepped out of that part of life and wrote about the things that, while seeming so normal to daily life, provided an amazing insight into a part of life that people had become so naturalized to that no one had really given much thought to. Sir Walter Scott once remarked that it is Jane’s "exquisite touch, which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting, from the truth of the description and the sentiment" (Website 2).
An understanding of the text Emma is never restricted to its language or writing. I have found that it is important to enter into the world that the author has created and implied author narrates in order to come to grips with the influences in Jane Austen’s life, which may have contributed to her writing of Emma. While I can only speculate, my reading of this novel suggests to me that Jane has in many ways based the novel on her own life. Jane lived in the popular image of Victorian society and was well connected with the “middling-rich landed gentry” (Website 2) that she portrayed in her novel. Her nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh claimed that "of events her life was singularly barren: few changes and no great crises ever broke the smooth current of its course... There was in her nothing eccentric or angular; no ruggedness of temper; no singularity of manner..." (Website 2). Immediately, the similarities between Jane and Emma struck me, and as I researched further into Jane’s life, it became more and more obvious.
Being the seventh of eight children, Austen lived with her parents for her entire life. Her father was the parish rector in her hometown and, though not wealthy, her family was well connected and well educated. She had a happy childhood amongst all her brothers and the other boys who boarded with the family. With only one sister, Cassandra, Jane and her were inseparable. What's more, while Jane’s social life was active, having ‘suitors’ and romantic ambitions of her own, she remained unmarried until her death in 1817. With these facts in mind, and after reflecting on the story of Emma, the resemblance left me with a great deal of questions and queries. With seven other siblings, did Jane write this novel to finally experience the alien extravagancies of single childhood, or wealth, or love for that matter? Why did she only portray her father in the story? Was the connection between Emma and Ms. Taylor merely a reflection of Jane’s relationship with her older sister? Did having so much male influence force Jane to present her male characters in a particular light? Unfortunately, in order to deter from ‘problematising’ my reading of the text, answers to these questions can only be speculated and consequently will forever remain a mystery.
As with much of Jane’s work, external evidence of her meanings and intentions are not always available. While reading Emma, I found it interesting to consider to what extent Austen accepted or questioned the idea that marriage represented a woman’s maturity and fulfillment, seeming that Jane herself never married and had even once turned down a marriage proposal from a fairly prosperous man. As a result, I found Jane’s work to be from a feminist and progressive perspective. In the early nineteen hundreds, female writers were unable to freely voice their opinions. With this in mind, I believe that Jane Austen subtly yet quite intentionally used Emma as a means of exploiting females’ true capabilities, voicing her objections to the treatment, or more appropriately confinement, of females in her society. The intelligence and resourcefulness of her heroines, as Jalic (Website 2) establishes, “stands in constant contrast to the limits of the constricted world of courtship and marriage defining their sphere of action.”
There are countless possible explanations that can be extracted from Austen’s own life that could support possible connections between her life and the text, however it is problematic to assume that these are accurate. Even if Jane’s intentions were more obvious, according to Booth (cited by QSA, 2002), they are merely one reading among innumerable other legitimate interpretations.
Austen described her work as “a little bit of ivory, two inches wide, one which I work with so fine a brush as to produce little effect after much labor” (Website 2). This is manifest when analysing Emma, as meanings and intentions are blurred and uncertain. However, as a reader, I was still able to interpret themes and agendas through my own attitude, values, beliefs and experiences. Through my reading of Emma, I have come to deeply admire Jane Austen’s courage in challenging the cultural assumptions of her times, portraying women as independent and highly capable of living without male intervention. With meanings constantly evolving, the messages embedded in the text still remain relevant to this day, with for instance traces of the notion that marriage is fundamental to a woman’s happiness still in existence in our modern society. Since reading the novel, I have acquired a profound appreciation for Jane as both a woman and an author. The peculiar tact with which she presents characters is unequivocal, and her unique writing skills, including dry humor and “a witty elegance of expression” (Website 3), in conjunction with her extraordinary knowledge of the world have attracted generations to her work.
Author-Centred Defense
In a contemporary author-centred approach, the author is no longer regarded as the “ultimate arbiter of the text’s meaning” (draft syllabus, 5.3.2, P.9). While I would like to think of my interpretation of this text as being superior to all others, and closest in contrast to Ms. Austen herself, I now understand that my reading is only one of many. As Bathes (1987) argued (cited by Johnson, 2002), the “death of the author” allows for the “birth of the reader.” Through my reading of Emma, I have come to challenge the definition of the ‘original cannon’ and intern, the presumption that just because Jane Austen was a stereotypical white, middle class citizen, and just because her work is classified as one of the ‘great works of literature’, her writings are categorised in the original cannon. The ideologies and messages deeply embedded in the text are, in my opinion, far from universal or dominant truths, especially when considering the time at which she wrote Emma. As a result, my response to this novel is based around the view that the story’s meanings go much deeper than the one-dimensional notion of human imperfection.
With the establishment of a time period, a genre and a particular style of writing, the use of Foucault’s author-function of classification becomes evident. In the introduction, I acknowledge that Emma is a “romantic comedy of manners”, thus outlining the general genre of the novel. In my description of Emma as being progressive when considering the goings-on of that period, I am revealing my personal point of view, in that Jane’s work was not connected to the era in which she wrote Emma. Instead, her novels have emerged as works of the Romantic Movement. I demonstrate this when I point out that her work “makes her seem out of step with the literary times.” Then in a brief synopsis of the story’s prevailing styles, in the comment that “she has become known for her ‘gently satirical portraits’ of village life and of the rituals of courtship“; I am identifying the common elements that make this text Jane Austen’s text. In doing this, I am illustrating that because Emma is connected to the Romantic Period, Jane’s work and Jane herself, as well as other texts with similar attributes, have become synonymous with that period, and could be classified as Austen texts (draft syllabus, 5.3.2, P.10).
To properly analyse the text, it is essential to have an understanding of the world in which the author lived, as the author and thus the text itself have been shaped by personal events, treasured experiences and individual values. In my description of Jane Austen’s life, I made connections between her life and the novel Emma, deliberately using questions instead of statements as a means of stressing that my reading is not necessarily the implied reading. In a more modern approach, it is not possible to “read off the author’s life and times directly from the text” (draft syllabus, 5.3.2, P.11). Hence, when identifying the fundamental ideals, messages and reader positioning embedded in the text, biographical or autobiographical information must also be treated as a text open to interpretation.
In a historical response, the reader’s role was to identify the author’s intended message about the world. Furthermore, the text was esteemed on its capability to establish an “intimate relationship with the author’s mind” (draft syllabus, 5.3.2, P.10). In am more contemporary approach however; the concept of the implied author has challenged this notion of “authorial presence” (draft syllabus, 5.3.2, P.10). As it is now widely acknowledged that the implied author may be quite different from the actual writer, following my interpretation of the novel, I firmly reiterated, “It is problematic to assume that these [interpretations] are accurate.”
In my author-centred reading of Emma, I came to realise that while Jane Austen brought her own understanding and interpretation of the world to the text, I can only speculate as to what actual influences affected her writing of the novel. I emphasized that my reading of Emma is merely one among innumerable other legitimate interpretations, applying Foucault’s author-function of classification as an instrument of demonstrating this. I contested the classification of Emma in the original cannon and generated my own theory of Jane’s true intentions and possible hidden agenda. Finally, I challenged the old view that meanings are unchanging, using a modern day example to reinforce that meanings are constantly evolving with time.
REFERENCES
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Austen, J. (1816). Emma. Penguin Books Ltd: London.
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Beach, R. (1993). A Teacher’s Introduction Reader Response Theories. Urbana, III: NCTE.
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Johnson, Dr G. (2002). Defending Reading Practices: A life-Long learning Process.
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Moon, Brian (2001). Literary Terms: A practical glossary. Chalkface Press: Cottesloe, Western Australia.
- Queensland Studies Authority, (QSA). (2002). English Extension: Reading Approaches, QSA, Queensland.
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Ricoeur, Paul (1991). From Text to Action, Essays in hermeneutics 2. Kathleen Blamey and John B Thompson, trans. Northwestern University Press: Evanston, Illinois.
- Robina State High School-Senior English Extension (Literature). (draft syllabus, 5.3.2).
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Rosenblatt, Louise (1968). Literature as Exploration, revised edition. Nobel and Nobel: New York.
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Thomson, J. (1992). Reconstructing Literature Teaching. Australian Association for the Teaching of English.
Websites:
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/emma2.asp.
www.online-literature.com/austen/emma/
www.amazon.com
Acknowledgements: Ms. Kennan, who went through my drafts.
