Emma Home Quotes Page 1
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
| Quote #1 "It is the greatest absurdity [….] The folly of not allowing people to be comfortable at home—and the folly of people's not staying comfortably at home when they can!" (13.24) |
A man’s home is his castle. Valuation of home (and domestic spaces) reaches its height with Mr. Woodhouse.
| Quote #2 Nobody, who has not been in the interior of a family, can say what the difficulties of any individual of that family may be. (18.15) |
Austen’s narrator advocates for a sharp division between personal and public life.
| Quote #3 She had a great idea that people who had extensive grounds themselves cared very little for the extensive grounds of any body else; but it was not worth while to attack an error so double-dyed […] (32.21) |
Emma’s ironic observation can, of course, be taken two ways. It’s clear that Mrs. Elton cares nothing about anybody but herself (and her family’s land). It’s also somewhat true that everybody – even good people – is most attached to their own, familiar landscape.
