Marriage in Emma Essay

One of the main themes and preoccupations of Jane Austen's character, Emma, is that of marriage. Although Emma herself claims she has no wish for marriage, for the other female characters in the book it is one of the most important events in their lives. At the time that this novel is set, in the 1810's, marriage was more than the uniting of two people in love, for many women, in particular, it was an important opportunity in life that opened new doors to them. It was not uncommon for people to merely marry in order to gain status, for a poor lower middle class girl the only opportunity she had for a more comfortable life would be to get married to a well healed upper middle class gentlemen who had either inherited or earned enough wealth to support a family. Mrs Elton's family and what Emma wants for Harriett are examples of how many people would have viewed marriage as a chance for wealth. This therefore means Emma's unwillingness to marry set her apart from the other female characters in the book and results in us seeing several important sides to her character.

Emma's independence is highlighted by her claim that she has no wish to marry. She is in a unusual situation where she does not have the same need as other girls to marry. Emma has many of the advantages of marriage already at her disposal, she tells Harriett that "Fortune I do not want; employment I do not want; consequence I do not want", the repetition showing how she has no need for these things, that she does not even consider them that important mainly because she already has them and takes them for granted. Therefore Emma has no need to marry for status like others do. Her willingness to accept this shows us her independence; she is not reliant on anyone else apart from herself and is therefore in control of her own life. However this also suggests another side to her character. She is spoilt by her father and takes her wealth to much for granted, she admits herself that "I believe few married women are half as much mistress of their husband's house, as I am of Hartfield" Her father has allowed her a freedom that no other female characters has been afforded. An opportunity to run her own life as she has the money and freedom to do so. The reader therefore sees her as spoiled and taking life too much for granted. This is especially seen when Austen uses the admirable Jane Fairfax to contrast with Emma, Jane is seen as Emma's equal in looks and skill, however her situation does not allow her the comfortableness that Emma has at Hartefild. The fact that Jane is now forced to go out and work as a governess serves to remind us how spoilt Emma is, who has never had to work hard at anything in her life. Emma's lack of wanting for marriage means the reader sees Emma's own independence and how spoiled she is by her current situation.

Her claim can also be seen to highlight her snobbish side, as it seems that marriage is below her and is for those of a lower status, such as Harriett. In fact often she sees marriage as a game that she uses for entertainment. At the beginning of the novel she talks of match making to her father saying "I promise to you to make none for myself, papa; but I must, indeed, for other people. It is the greatest amusement in the world" we are able to see how she has no real intention of marrying herself, the fact she promises to 'make none for myself' shows she simply is not interested in finding a partner, which is what most girls her age would be occupied with, perhaps her promise also suggests her detest at the idea of her own marriage. However the fact she then goes unto claim match making as the "greatest amusement" shows how she considers it to be a game, so not taking matrimony as seriously and most people do. She is too immature to relies the importance of marriage for some people and what good it could do for herself. There fore her claim to never wanting to marry can also be evidence of both her snobbish attitude and her immaturity in not being able to see the seriousness in the sacrament of marriage.

The reader is also invited to contrasts Emma to Mrs Bates, also a single woman who never married. It is suggested by Harriett That Emma shall become an old maid like Mrs Bates if she does not marry, exclaiming, "You will be a old maid! And that's so dreadful!" The exclamation marks showing how low a social status an old maid was. The naivety is therefore shown in Emma who protests that "it is poverty only which makes celibacy contemptible to a generous public" Emma believes that simply because she is rich she will be able to keep her current social position, however she fails to relies that it is the very thing she is rejecting, marriage, is the only way to keep her at her current social standing, which is by far the most important thing to her at this stage in the novel. Her lack of understanding about the importance of marriage means her immature naivety is shown in her character.

However there are certain positive traits that can be seen in her character when she claims she will never marry. The reader admires the fact that she says "if I were to fall in love, indeed, it would be a very different thing!" By breaking this sentence up with the word "indeed" Austen creates a pause to show that Emma has contemplated the idea of love and that she will genuinely only marry if she finds herself in love. The reader admires this as it suggests that for Emma marriage is not only a way of securing a future but a genuine joining of two people who are in love. Having said this, however, Emma clearly has little idea of what love really is, and can certainly only see her self-falling in love with some one in the same class as her self. The reader also sympathises with some of the reasons why Emma feels she will never marry, She clearly loves her father, Mr Woodhouse, and many critics suggest that it is through her love and paternal feelings for him that she delays in trying to find a partner, worried that he could not cope with the change. This brings out Emma's caring side, which the readers sympathise with.

Marriage is also a highly important theme for other characters in the book. The website Bookrags.com describes how "Marriage is presented in this novel as the ideal state for women and indeed for men, which is exactly how it was viewed amongst society at the time", In this Novel many of the Female characters lives revolve around trying to find the right man and marring well. In fact the novel starts off with the marriage between Miss Taylor and Mr Weston which can be seen as the perfect match, which all of the other couples to come in the story later, should aim to be like.

However, from the start of the novel it is made clear that marriage is not a completely happy event, In the Woodhouse's we see the negative side off marriage, the inevitable loss of friends and loved ones. All though happy that Miss Taylor is married, Emma is described as in "grief" due to the fact that "the want for Miss Taylor would be felt every hour of every day." The words used are almost as if Miss Taylor had died and are not usually connected with such a happy occasion. Mr Woodhouse even makes it sound bad for her as he repeatedly says "Poor Miss Taylor", the reader finds this humorous as we relies that she is probably very happy, where as Mr Woodhouse is only depressed that she has left him and Emma. However this is understandable as we see that Mr Woodhouse has lost the ones he loves through marriage, like his daughter, Isabella, who moved to London. With the First marriage in the book having so many negative connotations and causing so much pain for those who are left behind, we realise that the theme of marriage in the novel is not something which only effects the couple, but one that can cause both pain and joy for many of the other characters, explaining why it is such a important theme with in the story.

The couples and marriages signify great changes for those concerned and for all the people in the Highbury society. It is the changes brought about by the marriages that much of the novel deals with. In Mrs Weston we can see the changes that marriage brings to her personally, Mr Knightly comments on how a good wife is required to "submit [their] own will, and doing as [they] were bid." This is something that does not comes easily to all women and will, in the case of Emma, may stop them getting married. Furthermore in the case of Mrs Elton we can see how Marriage can change a whole family, Emma points out her family is only well off due to "the elder sister, who was very well married, to a gentleman in a very great way...that was the glory of Miss Hawkins", The sarcastic comment at the end shows us how she disapproves of Mrs Eltons family simply because they were able to marry into money. The Hawkins family fortunes had been totally changed by the single marriage of one of the daughters. In turn this change in fortune has changed Mrs Elton, who now thinks herself above everyone and is constantly name-dropping, as if to prove her wealth. Here we can see that Marriage has changed both the women's personalities and their families, which shows how important it is to them.

Marriage also affects the whole society and is important to the story. Marriage provides a vast majority of the conversations between characters as it provides the most interesting gossip between the ladies. Mrs Weston suggests the coupling between Jane and Mr Knightly and Emma who is constantly trying to make a match with her friend Harriett. This constant match making often leads to misunderstandings that is important to the story. Emma admits that "it is wrong to take so active a part in brining any two people together", Emma has learnt that match making brings trouble, as it is easy to get wrong, after her experience with Mr Elton. However this does not stop her latter thinking that Mr Frank Churchill would be suitable for Harriett, especially after he saves her from the attack of the gypsies, Emma cannot stop herself speculating "it was not possible that the occurrence should not be strongly recommending one to the other." All the characters are constantly on the look out for signs of a possible match and often contrive there own opinions out of events that mean very little, this leads to misunderstandings that are essential to the plot of the novel.

In conclusion marriage is an essential theme in the society created by Austen, which seems mainly preoccupied with the idea of match making. Emma's claim to never want to marry shows us a lot about her character, we see her independence in the current situation she has and also see her snobbery as she originally thinks marriage is something for people who are below her class. However we also see a genuine side to her character, as she comments on how she will only marry for love and clearly delays finding a partner in order to look after her father. The importance of marriage to the society of Highbury is also clear, marriage provides the basis for all the great changes that happen within the town, it has the ability to change peoples lives and effect a whole community. The importance of marriage therefore leads to much speculation through out the book as to who is to be married, it is this speculation and constant match making that contributes to making the novel so enjoyable.