#Mrs.Weston

[recycledmoviecostumes]

This pastel yellow gown with white lace collar was likely created by Ruth Myers for the 1996 film adaptation of Emma, where it was worn by Greta Scacchi as Mrs. Weston . It was seen again most recently in 2019 in the first season of Sanditon where it was worn by Alexandra Roach as Diana Parker.

Costume Credit: bellcs

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#emma #greta scacchi #Mrs.Weston #alexandra roach #sanditon #diana parker #costume drama #period drama #jane austen

[synchronousemma]

11th July: Harriet arrives in Brunswick Square

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Read: Vol. 3, ch. 16 [42]; p. 296 (“It was all arranged” to “safe in Brunswick Square”).

Context

Harriet arrives at the residence of Isabella and John Knightley.

Reading and Interpretations

Regarding syntax and style in Emma, Linda Bree notes that “Austen often uses short sentences, or quasi-sentence statements split by semicolons or dashes, to move the story swiftly forward. When it becomes expedient for Harriet to visit John and Isabella in London, ‘Harriet was to go; she was invited for at least a fortnight; she was to be conveyed in Mr. Woodhouse’s carriage.—It was all arranged, it was all completed, and Harriet was safe in Brunswick Square’” (p. 99).

Laurie Kaplan argues that the “recurring reference to Brunswick Square” in Emma (p. 236) forms the “centerpiece” of a pattern linking the seemingly “disparate themes” of “selfishness and generosity,” specifically as they pertain to children:

Introduced in the first chapter of Emma, Brunswick Square—that very superior part of London—features prominently at the end of the novel. Even as Mrs.Weston tries to rationalize Frank’s secretive behavior, Emma finds her own thoughts turning to Mr. Knightley—wherever he is, either at Donwell Abbey or at Brunswick Square. Mr. Knightley’s expeditious return to Highbury from Brunswick Square, after he has heard about Frank and Jane’s secret engagement, signals the beginning of the novel’s dénouement. In the proposal scene in the garden at Hartfield, when Emma thinks Mr. Knightley is “within a half sentence” of proclaiming his love for Harriet, she tries to divert him: “she would speak of something totally different—the children in Brunswick Square” [vol. 3, ch. 16; p. 296]. Of course we assume that she is referring to the young Knightleys, but the ambiguity of this reference is in keeping with Austen’s subtle reticulation of the novel’s themes. After Emma agrees to marry Mr. Knightley, she conjures up another plan, this time to remove Harriet from Highbury to Brunswick Square, where Harriet’s spirits might benefit “by novelty and variety, by the streets, the shops, and the children” [vol. 3, ch. 14 [50]; p. 285]. The excuse for Harriet to go to Isabella’s home in London was “a tooth amiss,” but the placement of the “natural” daughter within a stone’s throw of the Foundling Hospital [established in 1742 for the care of London’s unwanted, illegitimate, or orphaned babies] rounds off the subtext linking children, orphans, illegitimacy, and care. (p. 245)

Kaplan further argues that the “direct reference to (Princess Caroline of) Brunswick,” the “despised and spurned” wife of the Prince Regent who gave the Square its name, alongside the references to illegitimacy and neglect, “create a complex subtext critiquing the state of the nation” and the notoriously profligate Prince (p. 238).

Bibliography

Austen, Jane. Emma (Norton Critical Edition). 3rd ed. Ed. Stephen M. Parrish. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, [1815] 2000.

Bree, Linda. “Style, Structure, Language.” In The Cambridge Companion to Emma. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2015), pp. 88–104.

Kaplan, Laurie. “Emma and ‘the Children in Brunswick Square’.” Persuasions 31 (2009), pp. 236–47.

#Jane Austen #Emma #Harriet Smith #e

[janeaustentextposts]

I think I'd ship emma/jane more than emma/harriet. I think Harriet is too naive and glorifies emma too much. And definitely not emma/mrs.weston! She raised emma!

Yeah, that’s fair, and I don’t mean to say all of Emma’s crushes would lead to healthy relationships; she deeeefinitely could have a crush on Harriet, and a more non-sexual admiration crush on Mrs. Weston; but Jane is indeed the likeliest candidate for someone who could be a true match for Emma without some questionable power imbalances.

But I mean give me the story of Emma going to live in London with Isabella for a while and meeting HEAPS of pretty, accomplished, intelligent women and just having a frenzy of girl-on-girl adoration at every level.

#Ask Me Anything Austen-Adjacent #AMAAA #Jane Austen #Anonymous