Jane Austen’s EMMA: How are Emma Woodhouse and Miss Bates introduced? Literary analysis of the novel

Jane Austen's novel Emma opens by declaring that heroine Emma Woodhouse is "handsome, clever, and rich", while a few chapters later we are told that Miss Bates is "neither young, handsome, rich, nor married". This video compares and contrasts the introductions of two central characters in Jane Austen’s novel Emma: Miss Bates and the heroine Emma Woodhouse. I examine Jane Austen’s diction, how she uses parallels and antitheses, and ultimately what is revealed and suggested through the comparison of the two single women.

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[soulfoodie]

New Dr Octavia Cox essay. Cause for celebration!

[brokkli]

Love the fact that Miss Bates' introduction is 10 times as long as Emmas. Really fits her character.

[feeling-dizzie]

I also love how Emma has had "very little to distress or vex her" -- which is not the same thing as actually **having** anything to delight her. Miss Bates is genuinely contented with having so many good neighbors and friends; Emma is... not distressed. Nothing's gone wrong in her life, but it's a bit empty. I think it was a very deliberate choice to make all of Emma's friends 10+ years older than her -- she's lonely and doesn't even fully realize it. She didn't grow up with peers other than her sister. (And personally I think this is the source of a lot of her bad behavior -- she's never spent time with people who didn't think of her as a kid and coddle her socially! she's never experienced rejection!)

[DavidErroll]

It's interesting that Austen sets up Miss Bates as a foil to Emma so early because the incident where Emma makes her hurtful remark to Miss Bates at the picnic seems to be where everything kind of unravels for Emma – and after which, Knightley's "remonstrance" forces her to really think about her station in society.
That bit from Knightley (basically the Austen version of "don't punch down") is as meaningful today as ever.

[tessat]

I love how Austin then proceeds to let Miss Bates annoy the heck out of us, along with Emma. None of us can get away from her! Then when Emma finally shuts down Miss Bates with her callous remark, we're complicit. When Mr. Knightly, who has been presented to us as a paragon, gives Emma her dressing down, we get lectured for our impatience with Miss Bates along with Emma.

[catrionahall]

Rereading Emma 20 years after first reading it, the introductory description of Miss Bates brought tears to my eyes, her position was so precarious and her only ability to improve her life was by careful money management. Her general good will towards her neighbours assisted her but she was not motivated by self interest in that, it is just her natural gift. Such a vivid portrait.

[larusafox]

Thank you for juxtaposing these two descriptions, it underscores the novel’s merits even more. I was always struck by the description of Ms Bates - it established her so firmly among Highbury residents as the one possessing the key characteristics that make life worthwhile. Every village has (or ideally should have) a person that elevates everyone else and makes them appear in a better light. What is also great is that the whole village understands this and values having someone like Ms Bates in their midst. This predisposes the reader to like the residents of Highbury right from the start.

[caro.s.]

I seriously arranged a babysitter so I can watch this. I am so happy that you're back! ❤

[tangentreverent]

I hope that things are going well for you, Dr. Cox

[SchlichteToven]

I think it's interesting that Miss Bates was an "old maid, " a way of being that would generally invite contempt (she had an "uncommon" degree of popularity despite this, showing most unmarried, middle-aged women in her position would not be well-liked), and Emma's stated goal at the outset was that she wouldn't marry. But Emma's main occupation was getting other women to marry. All of Austen's books centre around marriage, and the heroine in all of her novels eventually gets married to a worthy man. Yet Miss Bates doesn't disparage herself for not having married, and no one else except Emma seems to look down on her.

Maybe Emma really believed all along that marriage to a man you loved was the only route to happiness, but being astute, she realized that as she never ventured out of Highbury, she might never meet a man she loved enough to marry (not having considered Knightley a possibility at the time). So she doth-protest-too-much and made a point of making it known to all that she had no intention of marrying, as a preemptive strike against the pity of others. Maybe this was why she had a particular antipathy for Miss Bates, because she was afraid of becoming like her. But the narrative voice lets us see that Miss Bates has none of the qualities or blessings that most people would think a woman required to be happy - she'd never married, had no children, had almost no money, wasn't young or pretty or clever/accomplished. But she was happy. So maybe Austen, who was never married herself, was showing that a woman's worth to her neighbours and her own happiness didn't have to be dependent on marriage. Jane Fairfax's father died, causing her mother to apparently die of grief. Frank Churchill's mother married for love, but it didn't live up to her expectations and she wasn't happy (and she died). Emma's mother also had a short-lived marriage, as she also died. Harriet's life was probably the result of her father having cheated on his wife. Marriage/a man didn't necessarily improve the lives of the female characters in Emma.

[micheleainsworth]

You're back on YouTube, Hurray!! Austen's family were religious as her father was the rector of the local parish. This came to my thoughts as you explained differences between Emma and Miss Bates. Emma being the worldly one (with a huge ego) with everything she could want she actually had. Whereas, Miss Bates, the simpleton, was the model Christian. She had nothing, and she did not want or ask for anything. Thus, Austen's novel, Emma, provides the reader with a lesson of life, how we should live it, from her own experience as the child of the village rector. That course on P&P looks AMAZING!

[MoonyAJ]

I'm a simple woman. I see that a Dr. Cox video has been uploaded; I watch it. Here I go!

[LittleMissLion]

It is so interesting that you bring this up. This is the first time I've considered that Emma perhaps even has an underlining jealousy for Miss Bates that she does not quite comprehend and understand.

[margaretinsydney]

Always a delight to have one of your wonderful videos. Yes, I see how Miss Bates is a foil for Emma. But I also think Jane Fairfax, a young woman with real accomplishments, is a mirror for Emma, as is Mrs Elton. Mrs E, with her airs and graces, reveals Emma's silly snobbery. I love this book so much! I've lost count of how many times I've read it, and each time, it reveals things I had not seen. Again, thank you! 😊

[vivburgess]

So good to see a new Dr Cox analysis of Austen. As always, she opens up new ways of thinking about Austen novels and characters through close examination of the text. I'd never noticed the close comparison of Miss Bates and Emma before. Knightly sees Miss Bates' true worth as we see from his remonstrance of Emma at Box Hill. The book is very much about 'seeing' people as they really are, a skill that Emma lacks and has to painfully learn through the novel.

[sarahmwalsh]

Over the thousands of times I've read and listened to this novel and watched adaptations, I had never really thought about the fact that both Emma and Miss Bates have a parent who is dependent on them for just about everything - even though Mr. Woodhouse is definitely not as old as Mrs. Bates, he acts older than his years. And both Emma and Miss Bates truly prioritize the care of their parent out of duty as well as love. Thank you for this analysis!

[yasminaraks]

I’d never noticed the incredibly direct comparison between the two! Austen is so deft! I shall never tire of reading her and thinking about her prose! Thanks for the lovely video!

[Artfanbookfan]

I've actually been rereading _Emma_ these past two weeks. I keep thinking about how Maria Edgeworth shaded Austen in a letter by claiming that "there was no story" in _E_ and that no one had a clue as to making Mr Woodhouse's "thin, watery gruel". 😂

[dsr]

Such a treat to come home and find a video from you, and it's on two of my favorite J.A. characters. I enjoyed your thoughtful comparison. You have been missed by so many of us!

[katinphilly]

Yes! Can’t wait, so happy you’re back