Oh What a Night
~Blog Post #4~
Topic D
May 7, 2015
By: Rose Poplawski
Throughout the novel, Austen uses parties as
motifs. Parties in the book are not just gatherings of people, but are actually
organized by social classes. Austen uses the parties to bring attention to
important character details or thought changing information to the reader. For
example, in the first party in the novel, Emma finds out that Mr. Elton
actually has feelings for her and not Harriet. From this experience, Emma is
humiliated and the reader is able to interpret that she isn’t just a pretty
face. Parties are significant events throughout the novel and occur often.
Towards the end of the novel, Emma and her friends reschedule a ball; Austen
uses the ball to show the growing relationship between Mr. Knightley and Emma.
During the ball a song comes on and everyone has a dance partner but Harriet
and Mr. Elton. Mr. Elton refuses to dance with Harriet, which causes her to be
humiliated, but Mr. Knightley steps in and dances with Harriet. From his
actions Austen reveals that Mr. Knightley is a down-to-earth man and cares for
others’ well being. Emma witnesses Mr. Knightley’s good dead and thanks him.
After thanking him Emma confesses that she was wrong about Mr. Elton. Mr.
Knightley then asks Emma to dance and she says, “Indeed I will. You have shown
that you can dance, and you know we are not so much brother an sister as to
make it all improper” (Austen 315). They then seal their newly formed relation
with a dance. Without the ball it would be hard to reveal Mr. Elton’s true
character, thus Emma and Mr. Knightley would not have come to an agreement,
which forms a healthier relationship between them.
Rose, I definitely agree that parties are more than just gatherings in this novel; they are used as a way to show off social class. They are used to show important relationships, as you pointed out, but also the misunderstandings between major ones such as Frank and Emma or Mr. Knightley and Jane. When Emma and Frank dance at a party, this becomes their tradition and Emma "longs to dance again" (232). This gives the wrong idea about their relationship and makes it seem romantic, when that is not true because Frank loves Jane. At another party, Emma hears word that Mr. Knightley might have feelings for Jane Fairfax, although he really has feelings for Emma. While in the end a party helps to form a healthy relationship between Emma and Mr. Knightley, throughout the novel many of these events cause confusion and clashes in Highbury.
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