(This conversation will contain spoilers for the current chapters.)

S: Oh dear. I have a feeling Emma’s pride is going to get the better of her.

R: Indeed, and Mr. Knightley again calls Emma out on her behaviour, though he seems to do so almost gently in this case. Perhaps because Mr. Woodhouse is present.

Mr. Elton seems to have recovered from his disappointment over Emma rather quickly. The Bates bring the news that he is to be married to a Miss Hawkins. 

S: Yes, the whole thing is just ridiculous. I hope the woman he is marrying will end up being as sweet as Charlotte from Pride and Prejudice, because the quick engagement between her and Mr. Collins is exactly what this reminds me of.

I love what Miss Bates says: ‘One takes up a notion and runs away with it’. This is exactly what Emma is doing regarding the elusive Frank Churchill and what she’s done with Harriet and Mr. Elton!

R: That she does! On the one hand I was impressed with Emma in not pressing her objections to Mr. Martin when she and Harriet encounter him and one of his sisters, but at the same time, Austen reveals that Emma still thinks poorly of the man and his attachment to Harriet Smith. 

S: In Chapter 22 I just shake my head at Emma, for she has fully made a mess of things and there are still over 30 chapters, half of the book!, to go. I hope Harriet gets a happy ending. 

I have two main thoughts after reading Chapter 23, the first of which is: Do Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax have an understanding? After Emma tells him of the Bates and of how Jane is ‘…a very elegant young woman…’ Austen writes: ‘He agreed to it, but with so quiet a “Yes,” as inclined her almost to doubt his real concurrence…’. To me, this is Austen’s clever way of hiding what might be a possible connection between the two. 

My next thought is: The way Emma is behaving toward Frank, with her excitement about him visiting, her rushing to defend his actions, seems to show that she is blinded by who she supposes him to be, not who he really is. He reminds me of a combination of three characters we’ve met in previous Austen works: Mr. Robert Ferrars from Sense and Sensibility and Mr. Crawford and Mr. Bertram from Mansfield Park.

R: In this chapter, Frank Churchill seems to be polite and respectful enough. He is certainly full of praises for his stepmother, of which she seems to be entirely deserving. I do agree that Emma seems to have an inflated opinion of Frank at this point.

S: In Chapter 24 Emma has no idea how rude she is appearing! I can’t peg Mr. Churchill, but Emma seems so blind to her jealousy of Jane Fairfax and how she sounds when she talks of her. If Emma wants Mr. Churchill to fall in love with her, she needs to do some serious rethinking, because she’s not making herself very likeable.

Chapter 25 is so ridiculous! The further we get into the story, the less reason Emma has for being stuck up and proud. Her father is a recluse, she speaks rudely of others – how is she so liked?

R: Emma definitely has an inflated sense of her own consequence and superiority to others in her sphere. I wonder if Mrs. Weston has encouraged it, even inadvertently, in how she handles giving Emma advice about whether she should accept the Coles’ invitation or not. Likely as consequence of having lived in the Woodlouse household as Emma grew up and having to manage Mr. Woodhouse’s oddities, Mrs. Weston may have learnt to baby them too much.

S: I leave this section feeling very confused and conflicted. I hope Emma turns her attitude around before the end of the book because I want a happy ending for her, but right now she really is acting rather immature

R: Overall this was a busy and revealing section of the book.