Class and Privilege

[Kate]

The worldviews of Emma and the other characters are definitely shaped by the strict class structure of their society, and Emma herself is very privileged. How do you think this affects her? How about Harriet - do you think it is important for her to "know her place" or was Emma right to try to change Harriet's social position? Do you think she and/or the other characters learn anything that makes them question this narrow worldview?

[Lieselotte]

The whole class structure back then was very important. The only reason why Emma could even think about not getting married was because of her class. If her father was poor the whole story would have been different. If she didn't want to get married when her father was poor she could have ended up like ms. Bates.

And to answer the other question, I don't think anybody's point of view about class structure has changed at the end of the novel.
The part of the book I always liked the least is when Emma finds out that Harriet and Robert Martin will be getting married and suddenly she thinks that Harriet is very lucky to marry him since his family connections are probably better than hers. I know Harriet loved Robert Martin but it is just a pity that just because her father isn't as rich as mr Woodhouse, Harriet has to get married (she can't stay single). She doesn't have the same amount of freedom as Emma has about those things.

[Kim]

I think it's also interesting that once Harriet marries Robert Martin, Emma and Harriet are no longer friends - just as Emma had predicted at the beginning of the novel. A lot of this was a result of the class structure (i.e., a person of Emma's social standing could not be friends with a farmer's wife, thus their friendship petered out as a result of no interaction/communication).

[Dayeanne]

In regards to Emma and Harriet's relationship, does it bother you that Emma cuts off all ties to Harriet after appearing to care so much for her well being throughout the book? Do you think it bothers Harriet?

[Kim]

Austen comments that Harriet and Emma's friendship peters out naturally, and so I've always thought of it being along the lines of being friends with someone in high school and then drifting apart as your lives change and you don't have that tie that's constantly pulling you together. I wouldn't necessarily say that either regretted the end of their friendship, but I'd like to think that both felt the absence of their friendship once it had cooled. If that makes sense.

[LouLouReads]

I think that, although no-one's point of view on the class system has changed by the end of the novel, perhaps Emma has learnt how constricting it is and how vulnerable it makes people. Before, she thought that she could help Harriet work the system to her advantage; eventually she learns that, although the class system benefits those towards the very top of it (such as herself and Mr Knightley), it's not so flexible for those caught in the middle or even at the bottom. The same goes for Miss Bates--her poverty leaves her very vulnerable to Emma's unkindness, largely because she has no way of turning the system to her own advantage.

I don't know if Emma consciously decides that the class system is detrimental by the end of the novel, but her eyes have certainly been opened to some negatives associated with the system, whereas perhaps she was blind to how confining it was before.

(I haven't actually started rereading this so it's based on what I remember from ten years ago; I reserve the right to change my opinions once I've reread it! ;-))