ipl-logo

Social Classes In Jane Austen's Emma

848 Words4 Pages

The culture portrayed through Jane Austen’s “Emma” shows the values and nature of the social classes. Each social class was distinguished by their values. The social classes also developed respect and manners as part of the Romantic Period. Lastly, the values of truth and reason were some of the more important values of the culture. All together, these aspects make up the culture of the social classes during the eighteen hundreds.
The social classes during the late eighteen hundreds were separated by their values. The social classes included a lower class, middle class, and upper class. David Cody, an English professor at Hartwick College, explains how the structure of the time period consisted of the upper classes, middle classes, and lower …show more content…

Manners were an important aspect to the upper class. In Emma, Jane Austen shows how important manners were when Emma criticizes Mrs. Elton and says, “Insufferable woman!” was her immediate exclamation. “Worse than I had supposed. Absolutely insufferable! Knightley!-- never seen him in her life before, and call him Knightley!” (Austen 229). This shows that Mrs. Elton did not possess proper manners and addressed Mr. Knightley inappropriately. Emma is quick to point out this flaw in Mrs. Elton as it was disrespectful. “In Emma and Pride and Prejudice, Austen shows the increasing class tensions of the time by demonstrating how anyone can learn or lack manners, and she explores the idea that sincerity is the key to true manners, which was a quality of particular importance for the upper classes in maintaining their social distinction” (Koziar 39). As mentioned by Koziar, manners were wanted by each class, but manners were to be sincere, and the upper class stressed not only proper manners, but also the execution of them. This allowed for each class to be seperated. “A lack of sincere manners is what divided characters like Elizabeth and Darcy initially and is what caused Mrs. Elton to be seen as an upstart while Mr. Weston was welcomed” (Koziar 47). This example shows how characters from Jane Austen’s novels are affected by the sincerity of their manners. In order to be seen as

Show More
Related

  • Overview Of Thank You For Arguing By Jay Heinrichs

    559 Words  | 3 Pages

    This chapter introduces decorum: a particular requirement of behavior or etiquette. Heinrichs portrays the idea that one must “fit in” with the audiences style for them to agree with what they’re trying to get across. For example, when applying to be a teacher, one does not wear simply a robe and house slippers during an interview with the principal. This type of approach is very important due to the fact that varieties of audiences exist and may only not agree with the contentions of the argument, but they might not be interested

    Read More

  • Arrogance In To Kill A Mockingbird

    887 Words  | 4 Pages

    “You can have a certain arrogance, and I think that 's fine, but what you should never lose is the respect for the others.” said Steffi Graf. She is a professional tennis player that has won 22 grand slam titles, which makes it very hard to stay humble. That’s why she mentions being arrogant, because it is ok, you can’t forget to be sensitive towards others. Contrary to Steffi Graf, there are many people who lose their respect towards others. Mayella and the jurors in Harper Lee 's To Kill a Mockingbird and Mr. Collins in Darcy Swipes Let by Jane Austen.

    Read More

  • What Does Atticus Finch Mean In To Kill A Mockingbird

    559 Words  | 3 Pages

    Courtesy means to show politeness to others in attitude and behavior. Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, a sickly, ill-mannered woman, acted rudely to the Finch family on numerous occasions. For example, Mrs. Dubose insults Atticus by calling him a nigger-lover. Nonetheless, Atticus still spoke politely to her by saying, “Good evening, Mrs. Dubose! You look like a picture this evening” (133).

    Read More

  • The Foils In Jane Austen's Emma

    1263 Words  | 6 Pages

    In her writing, Jane Austen used literary techniques to display her character’s integrity, poise, grace and charm, or lack thereof. Throughout most of Austen’s works, a common theme is women and their behavior. In Emma, Jane Austen weaves a story between the differences of society through the actions of a young woman, Emma Woodhouse. The strongest literary technique in Jane Austen’s Emma is the use of a foil.

    Read More

  • Social Classes In Medieval Europe

    1075 Words  | 5 Pages

    Medieval Europe was “once regarded as a time of uninterrupted ignorance, superstition, and social oppression.” [a.] The social classes existed simply because of the Feudal System, a system which where all of the land belonged to the king. These social classes can simply be categorised into the nobles and the peasants. “There was a very distinctive social class system during the Middle Ages. ”[b]

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Emma And Clueless

    2101 Words  | 9 Pages

    , Austen’s utilisation of dramatic irony makes it clear to readers that Emma was wrong about Mr. Elton’s feelings for Harriet. Her employment of Emma playing a matchmaker and hurting Harriet in the process just for her benefit and entertainment affirms the idea that women don’t have boundaries and are constantly sticking their noses in other people’s business.

    Read More

  • Social Class In The Elizabethan Age

    1038 Words  | 5 Pages

    Social class played a key role in the Elizabethan Age; without social hierarchy society would have fallen apart, the people did not know of anything else other than the role of classes. Each class had different situations of life, some were wealthy and had nice homes while others were poor and living off of the streets. The class rankings were given to each individual by situations such as birth, fame, wealth, and known skills(“Elizabethan Era.”). One could only move up a class by the Queen's approval, obtaining sudden wealth, going into debt, losing your job, and many other specific conditions(“Elizabethan Era - The Lost Colony.”). For instance, marriage between two people from separate classes could alter social class and was often frowned upon.

    Read More

  • Clueless By Amy Heckerling: Film Analysis

    902 Words  | 4 Pages

    The reinforced idea of class by "Clueless" presents the idea that values in the context of "Clueless" are similar, and if not the same as "Emma" despite the contextual difference. Appearance in both Jane Austen's 'Emma' and Amy Heckerling's 'Clueless' has great importance placed on it and this value of appearance

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Emma And Clueless

    1266 Words  | 6 Pages

    Emma’s and Mr Knightley’s engagement is Austen’s statement on social status as a crucial resolving factor of an appropriate prospective marriage, seen through Mrs Weston’s comments: “so proper, suitable, and unexceptionable” and “so peculiarly eligible, so singularly fortunate”. The accumulation, repetition of ‘so’ and connotations of the words, such as “proper”, “suitable” and “eligible”, imply that an ideal, befitting relationship is contingent on socio-economic compatibility and maintaining social harmony. This also infers the engagement’s undeniable rationality and enforces the notion of a quintessential relationship. The correlative significance of marriage in Highbury and Regency England signifies that the unobjectionable engagement is Austen’s authorial intrusion and her statement on marriage: spouses should have equivalent socio-economic competence. Similarly, in Clueless, Heckerling infuses the use of social status in match-making criteria through the scene of Cher attempting to find a decent partner for Mr Hall.

    Read More

  • Social Status Between Men And Women In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice

    2801 Words  | 12 Pages

    Jane Austen lived in a period at the turn from the eighteenth century to the nineteenth century, which was a period of mixed thoughts, which conflicted all the times. Among all the conflicts, the most important one was the disparity in social status between men and women. Not only men’s status was in the center of the society but also common people thought it was right that men were much more important than women were. In those days girls were neither allowed nor expected to study much because they did not have to work for a living. They were supposed to stay at home and look beautiful in order to get suitable husbands.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Gender Inequality In Persuasion

    1007 Words  | 5 Pages

    The gender roles of Jane Austen’s time, and the mirroring of them in Persuasion, are good examples of how hard it can be to resist inequality amongst sexes. Gender inequality is a social issue that recurs throughout the novel. Most of the characters that face gender inequality comply with their oppression. Moreover, the characters that are oppressed by gender inequality have come to expect such injustice. Jane Austen’s Persuasion demonstrates true-to-life examples of how both women and men accept their “role” in society, accept and expect it.

    Read More

  • Social Class In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice

    716 Words  | 3 Pages

    The above passage from Pride and Prejudice depicts a major turning point in the novel. This passage follows Mr. Darcy’s marriage proposal to Elizabeth. Before this passage, Mr. Darcy proposes to Elizabeth and then follows by explaining to her all the reasons he tried to stop himself from falling for, claiming that Elizabeth’s low social class would degrade his own social standing and the problem with her family were reasons he tried to resist his feelings for her, which emphasizes the theme of social class because it shows how social class means something different for everyone and is more important to some people than to others. What Mr. Darcy says to Elizabeth before the passage above illustrates a justification to Elizabeth’s anger towards Mr. Darcy and is a reason Elizabeth was so angry and frustrated towards Mr. Darcy in this passage, compared to when she rejected Mr. Collin’s marriage proposal.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice

    1485 Words  | 6 Pages

    It is evident from reading Austen’s novel; Pride and Prejudice, that she possess a certain sense of empathy towards the female population and the roles they played in society. From the way in which the narrator speaks of the different female characters and how the female characters interact and develop throughout the plot, the women in this novel convey Austen’s distaste for the position women had in society during that period of time. In this essay I will discuss how the female characters view women and their roles in society and how they discuss topics such as; marriage, the ways in which a “proper” lady should behave, the roles of women in the family and finally how Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine in this story, portrays Austen’s subtle notion of rebellion towards these social constructs to which these women are tied to.

    Read More

  • The Social Class In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice

    866 Words  | 4 Pages

    The author tells about how young people leave their families for a wealthy man/woman, marriage is the goal. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” (Austen, 5) Pride and Prejudice is a courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth; this novel is one of the most honorable love stories in the English language. In this love story they have to overcome many obstacles just as any normal couple would. Elizabeth has pride that makes her miss judge Darcy on their first time meeting, but Darcy’s prejudice which makes him misjudge Elizabeth because of her poor society standings.

    Read More

  • Social Class In Charles Dickens Great Expectations

    932 Words  | 4 Pages

    Social Class Social class assumed a significant part in the general public portrayed in Charles Dickens ' Great Expectations. Social class decided the way in which an individual was dealt with and their right to gain entrance to instruction. Yet, social class did not characterize the character of the single person. Numerous characters were dealt with contrastingly on account of their social class in Great Expectations. Seeing the difference between how the poor and the rich were dealt with will give a clearer understanding of the amount of social class mattered.

    Read More

More about Social Classes In Jane Austen's Emma

Open Document