“You will be an old maid! and that’s so dreadful!” [Harriet]
“Never mind, Harriet, I shall not be a poor old maid; and it is poverty only which makes celibacy contemptible to a generous public! A single woman, with a very narrow income, must be a ridiculous, disagreeable old maid! the proper sport of boys and girls, but a single woman, of good fortune, is always respectable, and may be as sensible and pleasant as any body else.” [Emma]
Emma, volume 1, chapter 10
Filed under Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Harriet Smith, Money, Poverty, Singleness, Wealth
“I have no doubt that he will thrive and be a very rich man in time-and his being illiterate and coarse need not disturb us.”
Emma’s backhanded compliment of Robert Martin, the farmer Harriet adores
Emma, volume 1, chapter 4
Filed under Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Harriet Smith, Insults, Men, Money, Robert Martin, Wealth
“Encouragement should be given.”
This is of Emma, and her perhaps unwise decision to encourage Harriet Smith into a different sphere of life. But it’s a good sentiment all the same, no?
Emma, volume 1, chapter 3
Comments Off on Encouragement
Filed under Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Friendship, Harriet Smith
“Oh! to be sure,” cried Emma, “it is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage. A man always imagines a woman to be ready for anybody who asks her.”
Emma discussing with Mr. Knightley the face that Harriet Smith has refused Robert Martin
Emma, volume 1, chapter 8
Filed under Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Harriet Smith, Marriage, Mr. Knightley, Proposals
“Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief.”
Mr. Knightley, on Emma’s encouraging Harriet Smith to raise her sights too high
Emma, volume 1, chapter 8
Filed under Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Harriet Smith, Mr. Knightley, Pride
The Jane Austen Guide to Life: Thoughtful Lessons for the Modern Woman (May, 2012)
A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love, and Faith