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Jordan Lett

Dr. Schroeder

The English Novel

22 October 2018

Emma and the Auxiliary Plot of Psychological Repression

Emma by Jane Austen is often read as a narrow and concrete view of the lives of small-

town aristocracy. Arnold Kettle battles with this idea in his essay, “Emma”, and concludes that

Emma’s value lies in the way readers grow “intimately and wisely sensitive to the way men and

women in a particular, given situation, work out their problems of living” (Kettle 123). Looking

beyond this idea, there may be more to the actions of the novel’s protagonist that clue the reader

in to Austen’s commentary on the psychological issues that spring from problems of high living.

Emma, being the protagonist of the novel, naturally has the reader’s focus throughout the novel.

Her actions give the reader several chances to consider how her mental/emotional state stands

out from others in Highbury.

In chapter three, Emma is introduced to young Harriet Smith, a school girl from an

unknown familial background. Emma is delighted and sees this as a great opportunity to practice

a personal favorite pastime: “She would notice her; she would improve her; she would detach her

from her bad acquaintance, and introduce her into a good society; she would form her opinions

and her manners” (Austen 13). The narrator is outright about Emma’s intentions, but Emma’s

actions suggest different intentions. Throughout the first volume, Emma tests her abilities to

persuade Harriet’s opinions about Mr. Martin and Mr. Elton, but defends her actions by claiming

she has a talent with matchmaking. After her governess, Miss Taylor, marries Mr. Weston,

proving Emma’s predictions about the couple, Emma determines to make a sort of charity out of
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her matchmaking skills. She is also fervent in her praise of Harriet’s status and elegance. This is

an example of sublimation, or the act of morphing impulses into socially acceptable behavior.

Emma uses the veil of matchmaking services to defend against possible accusations that she is

arrogant and controlling. Furthermore, if the reader has not come to this conclusion by the end of

the novel, the narrator feeds this information during Emma’s painful realization: “With

insufferable vanity had she believed herself in the secret of every body's feelings; with

unpardonable arrogance proposed to arrange every body's destiny” (223).

Another example of sublimation begins in chapter ten, as Emma reveals her plans for the

future. Emma explains to Harriet that she does not plan to marry, despite the societal

repercussions most women fear. To Harriet, Emma says, “Fortune I do not want; employment I

do not want; consequence I do not want. I believe few married women are half as much mistress

of their husband's house as I am of Hartfield; and never, never could I expect to be so truly

beloved and important; so always first and always right in any man's eyes as I am in my father's”

(46). This is a graceful way to express Emma’s inner desire to live an indolent lifestyle. Her

slothful ways are masked by her outward concern and love for her father, Mr. Woodhouse, who

is a senior hypochondriac. By expressing her devotion to her father, she not only masks her

complacency, but also hides her insecurities that are bubbling close to the surface at any given

moment throughout the novel.

Emma’s tendencies to control young Harriet, her determination to remain single forever,

and the many dreadful social blunders she commits all connect to seemingly insignificant

moments touched upon throughout the novel. For example, during a social gathering, Emma (as

most women of the house in the nineteenth century) entertains the guests by drawing likenesses,

and these portraits are less than impressive. Emma is aware of this, but does not turn down the
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self-esteem boosting compliments the Hartfield guests give her. The narrator confirms this in the

passage, “She was not much deceived as to her own skill either as an artist or a musician, but she

was not unwilling to have others deceived, or sorry to know her reputation for accomplishment

often higher than it deserved” (24). This false sense of accomplishment is later threatened upon

the arrival of Jane Fairfax, a beautiful, traveled, and musically talented woman who seems to

strike a wrong chord with Emma from the beginning. Mr. Knightly is not afraid to point out

Emma’s fault in disliking Jane so early. The tension between Emma and Jane is caused by

Emma’s projection of her own insecurities. Emma tries to convince herself that Jane is not as fair

as she seems, when in reality she is attempting to save her own self-esteem as it is threatened by

a woman who is better than her. This threat is made more dangerous when in a small town.

Emma presents several opportunities to connect Freudian psychological ideas to its

characters, but the power of these moments comes from their subtlety. There is still validity in

Arnold Kettle’s argument even when looking at the novel from such a different angle. Emma’s

value lies in the closed-off feeling of Highbury, and by creating this feeling, Austen may be

hinting at a sense of imprisonment that Emma (and the rest of the higher class) feel. This sense

of confinement can cause anxious, dismal, or even resentful reactions, but this high-class society

comes with uptight social standards that leave the residents of Highbury with extremely little

wiggle room for expression. As women, Emma, Jane, and Harriet are closely observed for who

they will marry, and whether their social status will raise, lower, or remain the same as they

move towards these drastic life changes. When Emma tries to steer Harriet away from Mr.

Martin, it is because she fears Harriet’s status will be damaged by associating with a farmer. As

it is revealed that Jane Fairfax may become a governess if she does not marry, Emma is overly
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appalled by the idea. However, Emma dodges marriage to remain in Hartfield and diverts

attention towards Jane and Harriet.

In a sense, Austen has created an example out of Emma. The readers experience Emma’s

thoughts, her struggles to repress these thoughts through projection and sublimation, and the

neurosis (or the breaking free of her repressed thoughts) in scenes later in the novel. One of those

scenes is Box Hill, the afternoon where Emma decides to remove the filter between her thoughts

and her words. Emma insults Miss Bates by insinuating that she is very dull. While modern-day

readers may not find this disastrous, it is certainly a weighty mistake in Emma’s world. This is

an important scene because it is a pivotal moment in Emma’s character development. It is also

important because it concludes the cycle of repressed emotions, thus justifying the concept of

Emma’s role in portraying a prisoner of small-town aristocratic living. It is often argued that

Sigmund Freud’s theories can live in any piece of literature. In Jane Austen’s Emma, his theories

do not only live; they deepen and enrich the reader’s experience.

Works Cited

Austen, Jane. Emma. Garden City, Black and White Classics, 1815.
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Kettle, Arnold. “Emma.” Jane Austen: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Ian Watt.

Prentice-Hall, 1963, pp. 112-123.