The Annotated Emma

by Jane Austen

  35. This famous line is from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, used by Lysander in attempting to persuade his beloved, Hermia, not to despair despite her father’s opposition to their marriage. It is possible the line is also meant by Jane Austen to reflect critically on Emma’s attempt to guide Harriet’s romantic choice. Lysander follows it with a list of the various ways true love has been foiled, one of which is when “it [love] stood upon the choice of friends”; Hermia responds, “O hell! to choose love by another’s eyes.”

  36. Starting in the early eighteenth century, many editions of Shakespeare appeared, as one editor after another attempted, through careful study of the original editions, to produce the most authoritative version possible. Two of the leading writers of the century, Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson, were among these editors. Other editions appeared that were designed to make Shakespeare more accessible to general readers. By the late eighteenth century, new editions were appearing on average once a year, though some of these were revised versions of existing editions. Editors regularly included copious notes along with the text, in which they would discuss their reasons for choosing a particular version of a line or offer commentary on the meaning or significance of a passage.

  37. Michaelmas, or the feast of St. Michael, is September 21. It was one of the four days used to divide the year, the others being Christmas, Lady Day (March 25), and Midsummer (June 21). Quarterly rents were due on those days, and people often used them as points of reference for various activities. In the novel, it is currently the first half of December (see chronology).

  38. At this time clergymen would frequently use sermons from books rather than composing their own. The practice reflects a preference for long-established truths over individual originality. Many books of sermons were published, including some by leading authors, that could provide those like Mr. Elton with what they needed. These books were also read by others: Jane Austen refers more than once in her letters to books of sermons she read and admired. For an illustration of a clergyman preaching, see next page.

  39. “Friends” was earlier used by Mr. Knightley to refer to Harriet’s sponsors; the term could include relatives.

  40. “Well married” referred particularly to being married in a manner that was financially and socially beneficial.

  41. establishment: settled position, especially that achieved by marriage.

  42. Harriet’s complete inability in this regard, which her earlier efforts attested to, makes it ironic that she, under Emma’s inspiration, should have undertaken the compiling of a book of charades and riddles.

  43. Literary taste emphasized the virtue of succinctness. The charades in published books were consistently shorter than Mr. Elton’s, as are the examples of Jane Austen’s private charades given above.

  44. Much of the rest of the novel will demonstrate the value of the very principles of directness and clarity now being rejected by Harriet.

  45. Since Mr. Elton said they were the lines of a friend, for another lady, and were intended only for Emma’s private perusal, it would be awkward for Harriet to show him that she has read them.

  46. She means that the appropriation or assignment of the charade to a specific purpose, in this case a compliment to a particular lady, ceases.

  Preaching a sermon.

  [From William Combe, The Tour of Doctor Syntax in Search of the Picturesque (London, 1817; 1903 reprint), p. 178]

  [List of Illustrations]

  47. Harriet’s intense feelings on Mr. Elton will persist, and prove more powerful than Emma anticipates.

  48. refine: affect or assume extreme fastidiousness.

  49. Meaning too quick to discern the meaning or too aware of it.

  50. Emma’s attitude contrasts with both Harriet’s and Mr. Elton’s, for they treat all this as serious business while she treats it more as a game. In this respect her choice of riddles and charades as means to advance the love of the other two is appropriate.

  51. Fairies had been a fundamental feature of English folk beliefs for centuries, and figured in a host of literary works, with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream being one of the most noted and influential. Interest in fairies experienced a resurgence in this period, spurred particularly by Romantic writers (this interest would climb to even greater heights in the succeeding Victorian period). Jane Austen, according to a memoir by her niece Caroline, entertained her nieces and nephews by telling them “the most delightful stories chiefly of Fairyland, and her Fairies had all characters of their own.”

  The Court of Common Pleas, the principal court in England for civil suits.

  [From Fiona St. Aubyn, Ackermann’s Illustrated London, illustrations by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson (Ware, 1985), p. 67]

  [List of Illustrations]

  52. The lines, as Emma indicates, are by David Garrick (1717–1779), the leading actor of eighteenth-century England and also the author of plays and poems. The piece was first published, in 1757, as “Written by a Lady, whose Maid had set her Chimney on Fire.” The rest of one version (it went through several slight modifications over the years) is:

  At length, propitious to my pray’r

  The little urchin came;

  At once he fought the midway air,

  And soon he clear’d, with dext’rous care,

  The bitter relicks of my flame.

  To Kitty, Fanny now succeeds

  She kindles slow, but lasting fires:

  With care my appetite she feeds;

  Each day some willing victim bleeds,

  To satisfy my strange desires.

  Say, by what title, or what name,

  Must I this youth address?

  Cupid and he are not the same,

  Tho’ both can raise, or quench a flame—

  I’ll kiss you, if you guess.

  The answer is “chimney-sweeper.”

  53. A search of a number of editions of the work Elegant Extracts, a popular anthology, has not revealed this particular poem. Thus this is probably a mistake, either by Emma or by the author. The former seems less likely, since Emma is not the sort of person to misremember the source of something she just copied or to lie about it, especially since such a lie would serve no purpose. Jane Austen, however, could easily have mistakenly recollected seeing the poem in Elegant Extracts, for it is the sort of piece that does appear there.

  54. Families typically named the eldest daughter after her mother, so Isabella was probably also the name of Emma’s mother, and of her mother before that; the grandmother named Catherine was most likely Mr. Woodhouse’s own mother. The oldest daughter of Emma’s sister is called Bella (see here), which means that she was named Isabella, after her mother. Jane Austen’s sister, Cassandra, the elder girl in the family, was named after her mother.

  55. The nursery is the room or section of the house for young children and their nurse. Hartfield would have had one when Isabella and Emma were young, and with only two people living in a sizable dwelling they would never have needed to convert it to other uses and thus could preserve it for the visits of Isabella and her children.

  56. The English court system at this time was extremely centralized: the leading courts were all located in London and most cases were tried there; see below and this page for two of these courts. The main arrangement for accommodating provincial legal needs was the circuit courts, a set of six courts presided over by London judges; each circuit covered one part of the country, and the courts would travel through there twice a year in order to hear cases. These cases were argued mostly by London lawyers who followed a particular circuit. Thus the overwhelming majority of barristers, the type of lawyer authorized to appear before the court and the type John Knightley undoubtedly is, had their offices and homes in the capital. For more on his profession and what it entailed, see note 12.

  57. the Abbey: Donwell Abbey, Mr. Knightley’s residence.

  58. In this conversation, as throughout the book, Emma shows great care and atte
ntion for her father, as well as a great capacity to understand his foibles and eccentricities and to speak to him in a manner that allays his anxieties.

  The Old Bailey, the main criminal court in England.

  [From Fiona St. Aubyn, Ackermann’s Illustrated London, illustrations by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson (Ware, 1985), p. 199]

  [List of Illustrations]

  59. Jane Austen’s parents also bestowed the father’s name, George, on their second son, although the standard practice then was to name the eldest son after the father. George is the name given to Isabella and John’s third son, identified earlier as little George (see here); in this case it was the name of his next-closest male relative, Mr. Knightley.

  60. The decades prior to this novel witnessed a gradual move toward more lenient methods of raising children. Austen’s novels show consistently a world in which parental authority is always upheld and children, even when grown, are deferential, but in which parents treat their children with gentleness and affection, sometimes even spoiling them, and in which physical chastisement is never mentioned or suggested.

  61. They would be changing into more formal clothes for dinner. This was standard practice among the wealthy, frequently for men as well as women. Ladies could wear three outfits over the course of a day: a relatively relaxed one for activities at home during the day, a sturdier one for daytime activities outside the house, and a fancier one for dinner and the evening.

  62. Most people ate dinner at this time, or only a little later. Originally dinner was the midday meal and supper the evening meal. But during the eighteenth century the wealthy began to keep later hours, partly under the influence of better lighting technology, and therefore began to eat dinner later; this in turn made a later dinner hour a source of social distinction, which further encouraged the process. By the time of this novel the typical routine of the wealthy was to have breakfast at nine or ten, to have perhaps a snack later in the day (often referred to as “nuncheon” or “luncheon”), to have dinner, the largest meal of the day, around four or five (Mr. Woodhouse’s old-fashioned ways cause him to have dinner on the early side of this), and to eat a relatively modest supper later in the evening. Among the very wealthy and fashionable, especially in London, dinner was even later and supper had almost disappeared.

  Even as the traditional midday dinner moved to a later hour, the entire period before it continued to be called “morning,” while “afternoon” usually referred only to the hour or two between dinner and evening—hence it is “later in the morning” that the girls are about to separate for dinner. By the middle of the nineteenth century dinner had completed its migration to the evening, supper had become synonymous with dinner, lunch had emerged as a full meal, and “morning” and “afternoon” had resumed their earlier meanings of before and after twelve o’clock.

  63. push: effort or attempt.

  64. The die metaphor may be a natural one for Emma to use from frequent use of dice when playing backgammon with her father.

  65. For the Coles, see here, and note 11. Mr. Elton may be posing the question in the hope that Emma will insist on his presence.

  66. A rubber is a set of card games requiring usually three and sometimes five players. In other words, Emma’s father is sure to have enough people for his card game, and hence Mr. Elton is not needed to ensure that Mr. Woodhouse can play (“rubber” could also refer to backgammon, but Mr. Elton’s presence would never be necessary for that, since it is a two-person game and Emma is always there). The earlier description of Mrs. Bates, one of Mr. Woodhouse’s most frequent guests, referred to her playing of quadrille, a four-person card game. If that is what Emma is envisioning, then Mr. Woodhouse, Mrs. and Miss Bates, and either Mrs. Goddard or Emma herself would ensure sufficient numbers for a game.

  67. Mr. Elton clearly did not intend for the charade to be made public, and seems to feel that its placement in Harriet’s book is a violation of the laws of honor. He presumably intended it to be seen by only one person, the lady referred to in the charade.

  68. Mr. Elton uses such exaggerated language elsewhere. He may feel that his charade has been particularly honored by being reproduced in Emma’s handwriting, as his careful examination of its place in the book would reveal.

  69. parade: ostentatious ceremony or pomp.

  The exterior of a cottage.

  [From George Williamson, George Morland: His Life and Works (London, 1907), p. 14]

  [List of Illustrations]

  VOLUME I, CHAPTER X

  1. Charity to the poor was one of the most basic duties of the wealthy, particularly wealthy women, who were expected to visit poor families in need of assistance. As the mistress of the wealthiest household in Highbury, and someone who is conscientious about her social obligations, Emma would do this regularly.

  2. The mixture of poor houses amid wealthier ones was typical in country villages. London and other cities had witnessed a segregation of neighborhood by wealth and social rank, but this was rarer in rural areas.

  3. The Vicarage is the residence of the vicar. Clerical residences were often of poor quality or in poor condition, relative to the social standing of their inhabitants. Their construction and upkeep were the responsibility of whoever had the right to appoint the clergyman to the position, and the former, not actually living there, did not have a strong incentive to spend money on the house.

  4. situation: location, site.

  5. Many clergy did not spend much on improving their homes, since the homes would not devolve on their heirs but be taken over by the next holder of the position. Mr. Elton, being young and likely to live there a long time, has more incentive to invest in the house, though his improvements may mostly be less expensive, cosmetic ones, such as the curtains Harriet mentions below.

  6. Curtains had over the past century become popular in English homes. By this time the most popular type hung from a rod and opened horizontally, which meant they would be easily visible from the outside. For examples of contemporary curtains, see this page and this page.

  7. pools: pools of standing water (that are filled naturally and would have nothing to do with swimming).

  8. pollards: trees that have been cut off at the top to produce a thick growth of branches, one forming a rounded head. This would be done for decorative purposes.

  9. within side: inside.

  10. exteriors: external features or appearances.

  11. The housekeeper was the chief female servant in a household, and often the only chief servant. The butler would be the equivalent male servant, but more modest households, such as Mr. Elton’s probably is, could not afford both, and since the most basic indoor work was done by female servants, who significantly outnumbered male servants, the housekeeper was more essential as a supervisor. This function is why Emma would ask her about a servant. She might do so in order to learn how a servant who used to work for the Woodhouses, or is related to one of the Woodhouse servants, is doing; such paternalistic care of one’s servants was a frequent practice.

  12. going to be: about to be, intending to be.

  13. She realizes she has indicated Mr. Elton’s lack of superiority, which is something she believes but does not wish Harriet to know.

  14. Emma’s wish to be always right in another person’s eyes is a significant clue to her character. Her words also show her not anticipating what will happen after the death of her father, despite his age and feeble constitution. Were he to die while she was still single, she would have plenty of money—her fortune is later identified as an ample thirty thousand pounds—but propriety would dictate that she, at least while young, should not live on her own. This would mean becoming part of someone else’s household, most likely her sister’s, and thus no longer being the mistress, which would subtract from her independence and power to manage things, from her employments, and from her social consequence or standing.

  15. An old maid was an older woman who had never married. Such women were often looked down up
on and subject to ridicule.

  16. prosing: tedious.

  Curtains of the time.

  [From The Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions, Manufactures, &c, Vol. I (1809), p. 254]

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  17. candour: fairness, generosity.

  18. Meaning the world is not so unjust to treat poor old maids worse than wealthy ones.

  19. illiberal: ungenerous, sordid, narrow-minded.

  20. Shilling and pence were, along with pounds, the basic British monetary units. Twelve pence made a shilling, and twenty shillings a pound. Hence to have only a shilling would be to have little, and to give away sixpence would be to deprive oneself of half that little. Sixpence and one shilling were also the value of commonly used coins.

  21. resources: sources or means of relaxation and enjoyment.

  22. Carpet work was a common female activity; those described as engaged in it in Austen’s novels are older or married women, which may be why Emma envisions it as something she could take up in later life. It involved stitching threads of colored wool onto a canvas in order to make rugs, hangings, coverings for furniture, or cushions.

  23. Isabella already has five children and could easily have many more, for she is still in her late twenties. Large families were common then: Jane Austen’s parents had eight children, and some couples of their acquaintance had well over ten children, since birth control was rarely practiced—though Jane Austen herself, in commenting on a relative of her niece who was expecting her eighteenth child, hopes that she and her husband will henceforth adopt “the simple regimen of separate rooms” (February 20, 1817).

  24. put one out of conceit with a niece: give one an unfavorable opinion of nieces.

  Needlework pattern.