Emma Gender Quotes Page 1
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
| Quote #1 […] perhaps no man can be a good judge of the comfort a woman feels in the society of one of her own sex, after being used to it all her life. (5.6) |
Mrs. Weston articulates a stream of which is largely sidelined in this narrative – that women, without men, develop their own societies. Readers, the most reliable judges of a novel, are hereby warned not to judge women’s (or Emma’s) actions in society too quickly.
| Quote #2 […] till it appears that men are much more philosophic on the subject of beauty than they are generally supposed; till they do fall in love with well-informed minds instead of handsome faces, a girl, with such loveliness as Harriet, has a certainty of being admired and sought after, of having the power of chusing from among many, consequently a claim to be nice. (8.44) |
Emma’s conviction that Harriet is a gentlewoman leads her to expect unrealistic things from her marriage. Note how many conditional phrases pepper this quote!
| Quote #3 A young woman, if she fall into bad hands, may be teazed, and kept at a distance from those she wants to be with; but one cannot comprehend a young man's being under such restraint, as not to be able to spend a week with his father, if he likes it. (14.24) |
Austen’s female characters frequently reflect on the different possibilities available to different genders. In this case, Emma reflects upon the utter economic dependence of women upon their caretakers.
