S04E11 Emma, Chapters 51 to 55

Reading Jane Austen

In this episode, we finish up Emma with chapters 51 to 55. We talk about the decision for Mr Knightley to move to Hartfield, the resolution of Harriet’s story, and the final scenes between Mr and Mrs Elton. We also reflect on the insights we have gained through this close reading of Emma, and how it has changed our views of the novel.

The character we discuss is Jane Fairfax. In the historical section, Ellen briefly revisits her earlier comments about vicars, and then talks about magistrates. For popular culture Harriet talks about four books that retell some or all of the story through the point of view of a different character.

Things we mention:
General and character discussion:

• Richard Cronin and Dorothy McMillan [Editors], The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Jane Austen: Emma (2005)
• Janet Saidi, ‘Jane Fairfax Drops the Mic‘, The Austen Connection (9 September 2021)

Historical discussion:

• William Savage, ‘The Georgian Clergy’, Pen and Pension (16 May 2018)
• Charlotte M. Yonge, Talks about the Laws We Live Under (1850)
• Irene Collins, Jane Austen and the Clergy (1994)
• Alan Lambert, ‘650 years of the office of Justice of the Peace/Magistrate‘, Amicus Curiae Issue 88 (2011)
• Elizabeth Gaskell, My Lady Ludlow (1858)

Popular culture discussion:

• Naomi Royde-Smith, Jane Fairfax (1940)
  • William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair (1847) – the character of Becky Sharpe appears in Jane Fairfax
  • Characters from the novels of Maria Edgeworth also appear (and probably other novelists as well)
• Joan Austen-Leigh, A Visit to Highbury: Another View of Emma (1995)
• Diana Birchall, In Defense of Mrs Elton (1999)
• Amanda Grange, Mr Knightley’s Diary (2006)

For a list of music used, see this episode on our website.

Chapters

1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. In which we discuss Chapters 51 to 55 (00:02:34)

3. In which we talk about Jane Fairfax (00:21:09)

4. In which Ellen revisits vicars, and then talks about magistrates (00:33:33)

5. In which Harriet talks about four books that retell Emma through the perspective of another character (00:47:17)

6. End credits (00:58:28)