Jane Austen Research Paper

When discussing charity in Austen’s work, it must be noted that Emma is remarkable and distinguishable from her other novels. It is perhaps the only text where the privileged central characters directly interact with the lower classes, and they unwittingly play a role in the frequently narrow concerns of the often socially ignorant protagonist. The author actively engages with how each character sees and uses charity- for his or her own benefit or for those in need- as a key device in character development, particularly signifying the dramatic change in Emma’s concerns after the Box Hill incident. In doing so, Austen raises current issues surrounding new conflicts between landed and non-landed gentry, displaying an innate ability and interest

It could perhaps be argued that Emma’s words about the lasting power of the concerns of the poor in the mind of the wealthy links to Austen’s attention to them in their own novels, giving them a minor but still significant appearance in Emma but not in preceding or succeeding works. Whilst Sarah Elmsley argues that ‘Austen may have at times been uncharitable, but she was intensely interested in what charity is’ , I would argue that it is in Emma she considers this most fully and centrally to both plot and character development. Overall, charity is most fervently and significantly explored in this rare episode in Austen, where the problem of the poor are addressed directly rather than hidden in the subtext and is key in revealing how Emma’s charitable nature can co-exist with her famous snobbery. It is false charity- not grounded in compassion for the

Knightley. It could be said that Knightley makes Emma not more charitable in her deeds, actions and spending of time, but opens her eyes to a more giving attitude. He does not make her more charitable, but changes the nature of her charity. Shinobu Minma has noted in her study Self Deception and Superiority Complex: Derangement of Hierarchy in Jane Austen’s Emma, that Knightley and Emma differ significantly because he is from the landed gentry, whereas she represents a new type of higher class that did not own land, and were in competition with each other for a status which now had to be shared . Austen herself was in support of the traditional system relying on land ownership , so perhaps making Knightley such a charitable, righteous and considerate character and Emma deluded in her motives and importance, the author is condemning the power of this emerging class. There are other charitable characters in the novel, such as Miss Bates who takes Jane Fairfax in in her desperate situation (‘nobody can nurse her as well as we can!’ ) and even old Mr. Woodhouse when he offers to give a loin of pork to the poor Bates family (although it can be argued his charity is more limited than it should be). However, none of these examples out shadow Mr. Knightley, who can be seen to be the epitome of a charitable gentleman, chivalrous and considerate to others no matter what their class. He