by Jane Austen
25. the glasses: the carriage windows.
26. spruce: neat, dapper.
27. Clergymen often wore black. He would not be dressed this way simply because it was evening, for men still wore a variety of colors at evening parties, even fancy ones.
28. obligation: obligingness, civility.
29. A cordial was a substance to revive people or assist their recovery from illness. A variety of substances fell under that rubric; many contained alcohol. In this case Mr. Elton is referring to Emma’s visit to her friend as a cordial.
30. A prominent trend of the past century had been to explain human physiology in terms of nerves (this partly displaced earlier theories that relied on the idea of bodily humors). A host of ailments were ascribed to nervous disorders or nervousness. In this case Emma is probably classifying any agitations or emotional distresses as nervous parts of Harriet’s illness.
31. In other words, Mr. Elton does not know, probably because he did not inquire.
32. comfortable: encouraging, reassuring.
33. Carriages, with no built-in source of heat, could be very cold, so sheepskins would be useful in winter; passengers would also sometimes place hot bricks on the floor of carriages.
34. This period witnessed an increasing emphasis on the idea of improvements and the introduction of a number of technical contrivances that reduced physical discomforts.
35. fenced: protected.
36. Meaning exactly a week, i.e., seven nights, later.
37. Other Austen heroines also are inclined to derive amusement or interest from observing the varieties of human character, and they obviously take after the author herself, whose novels delight in presenting a variety of people and who liked to arrange encounters like this one in which two incompatible characters confront each other in mutual confusion or incomprehension.
A coach. It could seat six people inside, with three on each facing seat. Not all coaches had such fancy trimmings.
[From T. Fuller, An Essay on Wheel Carriages (London, 1828), Plate 11]
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38. London was known for grand parties, for almost the entire social elite of England spent at least part of the year there, and offering elaborate fetes in addition to attending those given by others was an essential part of establishing one’s social position.
39. Many lawyers, especially successful ones, were busy, but in general it was not a profession that demanded burdensome hours. Mr. Knightley’s habits result more from his own domestic preferences than from necessity.
40. The principal reward a hardworking lawyer could look forward to was appointment to a judgeship, a position of great distinction (there were only approximately fifteen in all of England) but not necessarily of greater leisure.
41. A sweep was a curved carriage drive leading to a house. Hence passing the sweep gate would mean being almost at the house.
A judge.
[From William Alexander, Picturesque Representations of the Dress & Manners of the English (1813), Plate 10]
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VOLUME I, CHAPTER XIV
1. as nature prompted: as she already was, or according to her existing, natural inclinations.
2. This gives a sense of what Emma has lost by no longer having Mrs. Weston constantly at hand, as well as of how spoiled she was previously, with such a devoted friend living with her.
3. Mr. Woodhouse earlier expressed his satisfaction at James’s being able to see his daughter at the Westons’. His satisfaction derives undoubtedly from genuine benevolence, supplemented perhaps by his more selfish wish to keep James happy so that Mr. Woodhouse would never experience the trauma of having to accustom himself to a new coachman. James would be able to join the other servants in their separate quarters; servants formed their own distinct society, one that Jane Austen alludes to occasionally but never attempts to depict, since she could not know its inner workings.
Evening dress.
[From The Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions, Manufactures, &c, Vol. XII (1814), p. 57]
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4. It soon becomes apparent that this is not an accident.
5. insensibility: indifference.
6. It is characteristic of Emma, with her imaginative qualities, to be so animated with interest by the mere idea of someone.
7. condition: social rank, or situation with regard to their families.
8. Her surmise proves to be correct. Throughout Austen’s novels most characters are quick to expect marriage between two eligible single people. This results from the strong belief in marriage as a highly desirable good and from the reality that a strong majority of people do marry, and usually without a long courtship. Moreover, most members of this class know few suitable candidates among their own circle: Frank Churchill, if he ever visits, will be about the only suitable young man for Emma, and she will be in a similar position for him among the young ladies in Highbury. At the same time, Emma’s willingness to entertain the idea of marriage with him, even before meeting him, indicates the limits of her earlier professed resolution of never marrying.
9. saddle of mutton: joint of mutton consisting of the two loins.
10. Thus Emma has quickly proven correct in her expectation that Mr. Weston will repeat his information. Mr. Weston, who appears for the first time as a character in this chapter, consistently shows himself eager to communicate information, especially pleasant information, with almost anyone he can get to listen to him.
11. put-off: delay, postponement; or pretext for deferring something. Either meaning is applicable here. The contrast between the optimistic Mr. Weston and his pessimistic, or at least anxious, wife will appear on numerous occasions.
12. He offers no reason why, if this is a secret, Emma in particular must be told; he will divulge other secrets to a variety of people, even while insisting on the need for discretion.
A grand country house (Kippax Park) in Yorkshire, such as Enscombe is.
[From John Preston Neale, Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen, Vol. V (1822)]
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13. This is Mrs. Churchill, Frank’s aunt; she resides at Enscombe.
14. Throughout the novel Mr. Weston will declare his unwillingness to speak ill of Mrs. Churchill before delivering harsh criticisms of her.
15. The standard procedure after dinner was for women to withdraw from the dining room to leave men to their own talk and pursuits for a while. The women would gather in the drawing room, whose name derives from the idea of withdrawing.
A drawing room.
[From John Swarbrick, Robert Adam and His Brothers (New York, 1915), p. 99]
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16. Her two daughters are Emma and Isabella, whom she brought up for years in the absence of their mother.
17. She means the Westons’ hope that Frank will marry Emma. Mrs. Weston would be unwilling to express that hope, but Emma has already guessed it.
18. Drinking and conversation were the two main activities of men while left at the dinner table.
A woman (Countess Gower) and her daughter.
[From Lawrence, (Masters in Art) (Boston, 1907), p. 13]
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19. Men enjoyed significantly greater personal freedom than women. This included the freedom to travel where they liked without an escort, the freedom to live on their own if they could afford it, though Frank has not done that, and, in most cases, larger fortunes.
20. Thus Emma has already imagined an elaborate scenario concerning people about whom she has received only second- or even thirdhand reports.
Evening dress.
[From Elisabeth McClellan, Historic Dress in America, 1800–1870 (Philadelphia, 1910), p. 139]
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VOLUME I, CHAPTER XV
1. Tea was usually taken in the early evening, an hour or two after dinner. Mr. Woodhouse appears to be taking his after an even shorter interval.
2. The men may proceed into the drawing room individually, as Mr. Woodhouse has already done.
3. Sophas, or sofas (both spellings are used in this novel), had only recently become widely used in England. Their new popularity represented a slight relaxation of formality, for reclining was traditionally scorned as self-indulgent and improper except for those who were ill or enfeebled. This attitude continued in this period, but not quite as strictly; hence a piece of furniture that enabled one to lie down, even if most avoided using it for that purpose, was now more acceptable.
4. amusement: pleasant occupation.
5. His inquiries probably result from Emma’s comments about Harriet when he entered the carriage and his embarrassment at not being able to offer any further information. He now wishes to atone for any offense he may have caused. That he does not attend to the answer signals his lack of real interest in Harriet.
A sofa of the period.
[From K. Warren Clouston, The Chippendale Period in English Furniture (New York, 1897), p. 187]
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6. An ulcerated sore throat often meant scarlet fever (see note 25), though medical terminology then was not always precise or consistent. This is the first time anyone has spoken of an ulcerated sore throat; earlier Mr. Elton worried if Harriet might be suffering from a putrid sore throat, which frequently meant diphtheria. His tendency is to describe Harriet’s ailment in alarmist terms to bolster his argument for Emma’s need to avoid her friend.
7. Even were he certain of Emma’s interest in him, it would be presumptuous of him to assume any special right to counsel her until they actually became engaged. This would explain Mrs. Weston’s surprise, which may also result from incredulity at the idea of a match between Emma and Mr. Elton.
8. directly: immediately.
9. opened on: spoke out to.
10. In fact, Mr. Woodhouse was described as not noticing the weather at all.
11. The common field is land that is owned by the lord of the manor, generally the leading local landowner, but on which others in the local community have the right to graze animals or engage in other activities. Such commons had long been a fundamental part of the rural landscape, and had served especially the poorest members of the community by allowing them to gather fuel or make other use of the land, but the enclosure movement of recent decades, which sought to put land to more productive agricultural uses, had transformed many commons into normal, i.e., restricted, private land. Common fields were frequently uncultivated lands of poor quality; they would be an especially unfortunate place to founder, and of course the bleak part of it would be worst of all. John Knightley is trying to make their situation sound as dire as possible.
12. At this point, since dinner is an early meal and they have not been finished with it that long, it is many hours before midnight, and they are only three-quarters of a mile from home.
13. Mr. Weston’s triumph is in his own attention to Mr. Woodhouse, though his silence also served his own interest in preventing his guests from leaving his party.
14. Women’s shoes were almost always thin, lightweight slippers, and evening shoes were especially delicate. They usually had almost no heel and very thin soles, and many had satin uppers. Hence they would be completely unsuitable for walking through snow. In a scene in Pride and Prejudice the author speaks of ladies wearing more sturdy, everyday shoes who are still forced to go inside by “the remains of a white frost.” For examples of thin evening shoes, see picture on this page and this page.
15. Isabella, in the extremely rare position of venturing an opinion contrary to her husband’s, must turn immediately to others to get their approbation and support.
16. The sweep leads to Highbury Road, which would be the main road running through the village and leading ultimately to Hartfield or near to it.
17. There is a coachman for each carriage that has arrived; the Westons may have their own as well. The coachmen would have a natural incentive to survey the driving conditions they will face and would also be the best judges of whether roads were passable, a skill necessary to develop, since the ubiquitous dirt roads of the countryside would present a variety of difficulties.
18. Mr. Knightley’s procedure of finding out the important facts before offering opinions on what they should do sets him apart from the others.
A carriage drive in front of a country house (Beckford Hall, Gloucestershire).
[From John Preston Neale, Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen, Vol. V (1822)]
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19. Their short, decided sentences and quickness in coming to a conclusion, in contrast to the others, indicate their affinity and shared common sense.
20. The bell would summon a servant, who could then be given the order to get the carriages ready. By this time better houses contained an elaborate series of cords and pulleys for summoning servants. Each room would have a cord to pull, and it would trigger a bell in the servants’ quarters, which would indicate the room where somebody was wanted.
21. spoken for: ordered.
22. The use of “were” is an example of the subjunctive mood, in this case regarding the uncertainty of a future event. Eighteenth-century grammarians emphasized the need to employ the subjunctive, and Jane Austen uses it more than writers today would.
23. The first companion is Mr. Elton, the second John Knightley.
24. In the original edition of the novel this was “carriage.” The plural makes more sense because there are two carriages, though the singular still works because one carriage does come first.
25. first object: principal object of interest.
26. Carriages had lanterns offering some illumination, but people still preferred to have the aid of moonlight when traveling at night.
27. The smaller enclosed carriage that the Woodhouses probably own (see note 19) would have a seat for three people, even if two would be more comfortable. Hence John Knightley could also fit there. Any servants with the carriage would ride on the outside.
28. The exact meaning of “lawfully” here is not certain. It probably means that their being placed alone together, a breach of normal rules governing relations between an unmarried man and woman, has occurred in as approved or permissible a fashion as it could, since neither designed this result.
29. It later says that Mr. Woodhouse has confined them to a foot pace, but even at that, three-quarters of a mile would not take too long.
30. exquisite: carefully calibrated, precise.
31. cut up: broken off, disrupted.
32. Physical contact of any sort between men and women not related was generally frowned upon, so Mr. Elton’s seizing her hand is certainly inappropriate.
33. making violent love to her: professing or demonstrating passionate love for her; “making love” had no further meaning then.
34. The difficulties of private conversation between unmarried men and women make this a rare, and therefore important, opportunity for him.
35. These phrases are further examples of the hyperbole he consistently employs.
36. A declaration of love such as this constitutes an effective offer of marriage, for it was improper for a man to make such professions to any unrelated woman whom he did not intend to marry.
37. half and half: half one thing, half another; in this case Emma means his being half sober, half drunk.
38. injurious: insulting, defamatory.
39. Mr. Elton now begins to reveal the underlying callousness beneath his earlier expressions of affection and benevolence.
40. accent: tone.
41. insinuating: ingratiating.
42. He has a solid basis for this claim, for Emma’s previous friendly behavior would be interpreted by most men as a sign of interest, assuming they did not suspect her motive of fostering Harriet’s hopes—and few would expect an unmarried young woman to be devoting her time to matchmaking for others. One contemporary reader of Emma complained of the unnaturalness
of “a match-making Miss…that is a metier so much more confined to the matronly part of her sex.”
43. interesting: significant.
44. “Madam” is very formal, and thus a sign of Mr. Elton’s sudden coldness. It was almost always used for older women.
45. “Respectably settled,” or married, suggests he does not expect her to marry someone of gentility, for “respectable” usually meant below that.
46. alliance: marriage; the use of this term indicates the tendency then to view marriage as a link between families, and Harriet’s lack of family is certainly on Mr. Elton’s mind.
47. This is another sign of Mr. Elton’s poor manners. Even if he did consider Harriet beneath him, he should not proclaim that opinion to others, especially to her friend. Emma, as soon revealed, believes that Mr. Elton is socially inferior to her, but she never utters that conviction aloud.
48. Emma’s astonishment reveals her blindness about how her actions could be perceived by others, especially considering how quickly people in this society, including herself on many occasions, leap to detecting symptoms of love. Thus, a little earlier, John Knightley, after only brief exposure to Emma and Mr. Elton, warned her that her manners to him were encouraging.
49. views: designs, expectations.
50. Mr. Elton drops his good manners even further. Emma, while also very angry, still makes an effort to speak politely.
51. Vicarage-lane was earlier described as intersecting the main road at a right angle (see here), and this would represent a dangerous corner to Mr. Woodhouse.
52. Emma would have been conducted by John Knightley’s coachman, since she was in his carriage.
53. Despite being in a state of great perturbation and eager to be alone with her thoughts, Emma must participate in the general conversation and act cheerful. Others in Austen’s novels will operate under similar obligations, a product of the priority given to the needs of the group over those of the individual.