Complicated
Relationships
~Blog
post #4~
Topic
E
May
7, 2015
By:
Natalie Lindquist
An
important scene is the setting of the party and the events that occur after the
party in chapter 14-15. The significance of the setting is how the party goes
from high spirits and everyone enjoying themselves to becoming awkward. The
scene following the end of the Christmas Eve party begins with Mr. Elton acting
concerned more about Emma than Harriet, which takes Emma off guard. Then they
find each other alone in the carriage and Mr. Elton professes his love to Emma
and immediately proposes. Emma could not believe that “Mr. Elton, the lover of
Harriet, was professing himself her lover”
(122). This is significant because Emma has been trying to set up Harriet with
Mr. Elton due to the fact she did not approve of Harriet’s attraction to Mr.
Martin. So, setting her up with Mr. Elton would almost suffice as way to get
her mind off of him and forget that Emma is the reason they cannot be together.
But this scene is a turning point in which she learns that Mr. Elton has strong
feelings for Emma, not Harriet. Emma thought that this whole period of time
when she was matchmaking them that Mr. Elton was attracted to Harriet but
instead the tables have turned and Emma is the one he loves. Emma tried to
believe that he was just drunk and unaware of what he was saying by “trying to
stop him; but vainly, he would go on, and say it all” (122). This is a very
significant scene and setting because Emma was trying to match make Mr. Elton
and Harriet but when she learns of Mr. Elton’s burning love for her she must
find a new plan to set up Harriet.
This is a huge turning point for Emma. She finally realizes that she was wrong, and this is not easy for her to fathom. Emma was always the one who was right and could have control of so many situations. When Mr. Elton declares his love for her, this completely takes her by surprise and she doesn't want to believe it. How could she have misread Mr. Elton? She wonders what went wrong, and wants to figure it out. It makes me wonder if she had stopped worrying about the fact that she was wrong and couldn't control everyone, maybe she could've fallen for Mr. Elton. Emma is a complicated character, and this scene is enlightening for her, when she first gets an idea that maybe shes not always right.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the significance of this scene as well as Mary Kate saying this was a huge turning point for her. Once Emma realizes this, she has to take a step back and really look at how things are, not the way she imagines them in her head. She is so used to getting what she wants and things working out exactly how she wants them to that this is the first time she is kind of awoken from her ignorance. I also think that this was a sign for her to stop meddling in people's lives because even though she was just trying to fix Harriet up with someone she believed was good enough for her, she took Harriet away from someone who she clearly cared about.
ReplyDelete