Volume the Second (My version starts over again numbering the chapters from one as the volume changes)

Grace brought up an interesting question about Austen’s books being published anonymously, but not in a male or gender netural way. This site speculates, “Walter Scott published anonymously (most women did not), so maybe Jane Austen took her cue from that quarter - I simply don't know. She published under the title "by a Lady". That was always curious to me because I thought that the word "Lady" meant a little something different then. I think I am right about that because if you read about the guesses her contemporaries made about the authorship of the novels, you will find that the speculations most often centered upon women of the aristocracy.” Other references just simply say, “as was the custom."

Questions:

1) We are introduced to Jane Fairfax in Chapter II. We learn, “Emma was sorry;—to have to pay civilities to a person she did not like through three long months!—to be always doing more than she wished, and less than she ought! Why she did not like Jane Fairfax might be a difficult question to answer; Mr. Knightley had once told her it was because she saw in her the really accomplished young woman, which she wanted to be thought herself; and though the accusation had been eagerly refuted at the time, there were moments of self-examination in which her conscience could not quite acquit her. But "she could never get acquainted with her: she did not know how it was, but there was such coldness and reserve—such apparent indifference whether she pleased or not—and then, her aunt was such an eternal talker!—and she was made such a fuss with by every body!—and it had been always imagined that they were to be so intimate—because their ages were the same, every body had supposed they must be so fond of each other." These were her reasons—she had no better. (page 150 in my version) Why do you think that Emma doesn’t like Jane? How is Jane portrayed throughout this section, and what do their interactions say about the character of Emma? How do they impact the plot?

2) Frank Churchill travels to London in Chapter 7 to have his hair cut. Emma, who had set her hopes on Frank, “moralises” in Chapter 8: "I do not know whether it ought to be so, but certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way. Wickedness is always wickedness, but folly is not always folly.—It depends upon the character of those who handle it. Mr. Knightley, he is not a trifling, silly young man. If he were, he would have done this differently. He would either have gloried in the achievement, or been ashamed of it. There would have been either the ostentation of a coxcomb, or the evasions of a mind too weak to defend its own vanities.—No, I am perfectly sure that he is not trifling or silly." (page 192) What do you think of the character of Frank? Is Emma’s assessment true of him? Is he a good match for Emma?

3) In Chapter 11, a dance is proposed. What did you think of Mr. Woodhouse’s objection to having a dance? What do these plans say about the character of Emma, of those in her social circle, and of the town that she lives in?

4) After professing his love for Emma, and rebuffing Harriet, Mr. Eton is quickly married. In Chapter 15, we get to know the new Mrs. Eton. What do you think of her character? What is your assessment of Emma’s reaction to the character? And, how does Jane Fairfax fit into this?

5) In Chapter 17, Austen has Jane looking for employment
"Excuse me, ma'am, but this is by no means my intention; I make no inquiry myself, and should be sorry to have any made by my friends. When I am quite determined as to the time, I am not at all afraid of being long unemployed. There are places in town, offices, where inquiry would soon produce something—Offices for the sale—not quite of human flesh—but of human intellect."
"Oh! my dear, human flesh! You quite shock me; if you mean a fling at the slave-trade, I assure you Mr. Suckling was always rather a friend to the abolition."
"I did not mean, I was not thinking of the slave-trade," replied Jane; "governess-trade, I assure you, was all that I had in view; widely different certainly as to the guilt of those who carry it on; but as to the greater misery of the victims, I do not know where it lies. But I only mean to say that there are advertising offices, and that by applying to them I should have no doubt of very soon meeting with something that would do." (pg 269-70)
What is Austen saying about the role of women in English society, of employment, and of being a governess?

(quotations copied from Emma online)