Keep reading, even if you fall short of Chapter 50. You can catch up for Friday and even next Monday. And heck, even if you don't finish the book, you can still answer the questions and do the Final Paper assignment. So just try to enjoy the story and see where it takes you! There are many surprises in store...
Answer two of the following:
Q1: Why do you think Emma falls in love with Mr. Knightley? Do you believe, as she comes to believe, that she always loved him, but just didn't recognize an emotion that was so familiar to her? Or did it actually happen in response to Jane and Harriet's rivalry? Consider Emma's reflections at the beginning of Chapter 48: "Till now that she was threatened with its loss, Emma had never known how much of her happiness depended on being first with Mr. Knightley" (336).
Q2: Is Frank Churchill a scoundrel, even despite his happy ending with Jane (who seems to care for him--if we can believe Mrs. Weston and Frank himself)? Why does Knightley thunder against him and even claim "He is a disgrace to the name of man...Jane, Jane you will be a miserable creature" (345-346)? Is this still Knightley's jealousy speaking, or is Austen creating the very real possibility that Jane has made a disastrous match?
Q3: In Chapter 50 we get a long letter from Frank himself, which is the only time we get a parallel narrative to the episodes related to us by the narrator/Emma. How does it change the story as it was set down in the previous chapters? Is he a convincing narrator--or an unreliable one?
Q4: In Chapter 47, Emma realizes with horror that she has 'ruined' Harriet forever--made her into a vain, upstart woman not unlike herself! As she reflects, "Oh! had she nevr brought Harriet forward! Had she left her where she ought, and where he had told her she ought!" (336). Do you think it's true that Harriet has been corrupted or spoiled in some manner by Emma's friendship? Would Harriet herself agree with this? Did she gain nothing from the chance to move in higher circles? Or is Emma just angry that she created a rival?
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