Subjects:
As the protagonist, it seems imperative that Emma must undergo form of metamorphosis, to warrant her dominant part in the book. Strikingly, much comment on Emma by Austen primarily is undeniably pejorative, ‘the real evils indeed of Emma’s situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself’. This early remark accentuates the negative aspects of Emma’s personality and prepares the reader for the inevitable progression to the feminine ideal (education) that manifested at Austen’s time of writing.
Emma’s education is largely informal which accounts for the its furtive nature. We are informed that Emma has received limited tuition from her governess Miss Taylor who departs to be married before the onset of
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Emma’s education does not achieve unblemished virtuosity. This infers further that Emma believes herself to be morally inviolable. Knightly as the moral center of the book, and the man Emma finally marries qualified to be Emma’s teacher. Knightly’s concerns it seems are in some way paternal. In essence she still suffers from the same faults which distinguished her personality previously- an inability to see beyond status, arrogance and a fervent desire to meddle in the affairs of others. In this way we can discount Miss Taylor’s instruction from the general subject of education.
Essay's Topics
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