... acquaintance acts. We can see that Emma enjoys mothering and guiding Harriet, which is easy in this case because of the lack of parental guidance that Harriet has had in her life. This is because Harriet was given to Mrs Goddard's school, a school of a fairly good reputation, at a young age by her parents. Emma finds this quite an enchanting story because of the mystery ... in Harriet's background. However, she chooses to believe that Harriet is in fact the daughter of a gentleman and ... only way to describe his reaction at Emma's inclination is as sheer amazement at the thought that ...

• Word Count: 1159
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... are not good enough for her and that they are holding Harriet back from a better social life and status. Even though Harriet is in the social class she should be in and as Mr. Knightly points out, "We do not even know her parents. They could be pirates for all we know". To prove Mr. Knightly wrong, Emma sets out on a mission to ... push Harriet forward to a more desirable status. Emma is hopeful that her influence on Harriet will be more than positive and sets out to improve Harriet and to remove her from bad acquaintances, and to ... introduce her to a good society where she would for...

• Word Count: 1362
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... consider England's best novelist, was born in 1775 in Steventon, England. The seventh of eight children, Austen lived with her parents for her entire life, first in Steventon and later in Bath, Southampton, and Chawton. Her father was the village rector, ... local boarding school. Mrs. Goddard brings one of her boarders, Harriet Smith, a girl whose parentage is unknown. Emma admires Harriet for her beauty and for her respect of Emma and Hartfield. She resolves to pursue friendship with Harriet, and to improve the nave girl by detaching her from the ... is shown contemptibly in her att...

• Word Count: 4896
• Approx Pages: 20

... miseries of being a governess by getting married. Such was the lot of Jane Fairfax, or would have been, if she hadn't "attached" herself to Frank Churchill. Harriet Smith is a girl of no social position and she has no fortune. Nobody knows who her parents are or were. As a small child she was left at Mrs. Goddard's School for Girls and there she remained ... . Harriet is a pretty girl but she has no special talents and has relatively little intelligence. Mr. Knightly says this of Harriet: Let her marry Robert Martin, and she is safe, respectable and ... be satisfied with nothing less th...

• Word Count: 852
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... looking for a suitable husband. If a husband was of lower social degree, it was seen as a failure. Emma was horrified at the thought of Harriet marrying lower than she ought, to Mr Martin, and she says with relief after having refused the proposal, "It would have grieved me to lose your ... " their new friends; the end result is an improvement in them. Through their experiences of trying to alter and affect the lives of others (Harriet/ Tai) they realise the faults and weaknesses in their own characters. They become no longer convinced that their judgement is always correct and they lear...

• Word Count: 3852
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate