NOTE: I'm starting where we left off on the questions, even though I told you to try to finish Volume II for Wednesday's class. But since we didn't really discuss it much (other than the parts which were covered by the movie), I thought we would go back and pick up some of the important passages in these earlier chapters.
Answer two of the following:
Q1: Though Austen tries not to delve too much into politics and social causes, how do some issues of the world 'outside' bleed into the novel? Where do we see that Austen was aware of the social ills of her society, and wanted to address them, even slightly, in her novel? And which of her characters seem most aware of thes social reality of early 19th century England? (hint: you might look at Chapter 35)
Q2: How does Emma's interest seem to shift from Frank toward Knightley in these chapters? Where do we see--and perhaps, where does she see--that she is more interested in Knightley than she may have realized? And why might the Frank/Jane duo be necessary for her to realize this?
Q3: Why does Emma concoct the scheme to bring Harriet and Frank together? Isn't this a match doomed to fail? And isn't her too highborn for Harriet (who is an orphan, after all) to aspire to? Besides hubris, what else motivates Emma to bring the two of them together?
Q4: In many ways, Chapter 43, at Box Hill, is the dramatic heart of the novel. We saw this scene dramatized in the 1996 BBC version of Emma on Wednesday. What does Austen, herself, show us about this scene that makes it so important to the novel and to the characters in it? What comes out in this scene, and what can never be put "back in"?
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