Social Events in Jane Austen's 'Emma'

Throughout Emma, parties and social events are used widely as turning points in the novel. Social occasions are a vital part of rural Highbury life in Emma, as they are used to further the plot and give an otherwise unseen insight into the depth of different characters. Due to the uncommon occurrence of social events in Highbury, they are described in great detail and given a vast importance in Emma. Also, through analysis of the progressive social occasions of the novel, Emma's growth in maturity and increased self-awareness can be observed.

The Christmas Eve dinner at Randalls is the first social occasion of grand importance. In the build up to the dinner, Emma is warned by Mr John Knightly of Mr Elton's "great deal of good-will towards" herself, and that her manners towards him are "encouraging". Despite John Knightly's advice to "regulate her behaviour accordingly", Emma's stubbornness and occupation by her own scheming causes her to ignore his adv

Chapter 15 contains the conclusion of the dinner party and Mr Elton's declaration of love to Emma on their journey home. Emma's fury that he had the "arrogance to raise his eyes to her" (p122) displays her snobbery, however she is forced to endure the irony of her own argument as Mr Elton is also offended that Emma should imagine Harriet to be his object. Emma's astonishment at Mr Elton's declaration of love, indicates her lack of perception and need for maturity in listening to the advice and warnings of the two Knightly brothers.

The continual existence of Emma's active imagination, for example in her persisting belief that Jane Fairfax and Mr Dixon have formed an illicit attachment, proves that Emma has not yet reached full maturity. However, as can be noticed throughout the development of the three mentioned social events, Emma's character develops and matures as the novel progresses. The vast improvement in her behaviour at her own dinner party denote her increased self awareness and imply that the rest of the novel can only bring further improvements to her character.

Throughout the dinner party, Mr Elton pays intense attention to Emma and it begins to cross her mind that her brother in law may have been right. However, her belief that Mr Elton is "transferring his affections from Harriet" to herself (p107), subsequently highlights her lack of comprehension of the situation. This Chapter also indicates Emma's ignorance, through the mention of Frank Churchill. Her cherished thoughts of marriage to him, despite never having met him and knowing almost nothing on his character, denote her naivety on the topic of marriage.

Some topics in this essay:
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