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Passage Illustrated: Emma Breaks the News of Her Engagement to Mr. Woodhouse

As soon as Mrs. Weston was sufficiently recovered to admit Mr. Woodhouse’s visits, Emma having it in view that her gentle reasonings should be employed in the cause, resolved first to announce it at home, and then at Randalls. — But how to break it to her father at last! — She had bound herself to do it, in such an hour of Mr. Knightley’s absence, or when it came to the point her heart would have failed her, and she must have put it off; but Mr. Knightley was to come at such a time, and follow up the beginning she was to make. — She was forced to speak, and to speak cheerfully too. She must not make it a more decided subject of misery to him, by a melancholy tone herself. She must not appear to think it a misfortune. — With all the spirits she could command, she prepared him first for something strange, and then, in a few words, said, that if his consent and approbation could be obtained — which, she trusted, would be attended with no difficulty, since it was a plan to promote the happiness of all — she and Mr. Knightley meant to marry; by which means Hartfield would receive the constant addition of that person’s company whom she knew he loved, next to his daughters and Mrs. Weston, best in the world.

Poor man! — it was at first a considerable shock to him, and he tried earnestly to dissuade her from it. She was reminded, more than once, of having always said she would never marry, and assured that it would be a great deal better for her to remain single; and told of poor Isabella, and poor Miss Taylor. — But it would not do. [Chapter 53, pp. 332-333]

Commentary: Another Awkward Scene as the Lovers Break the News to Mr. Woodhouse

The consolation prize for Mr. Woodhouse, immediately, then, will be Knightley's more frequent visits. Nevertheless, the illustrator feels compelled to depict Mr. Woodhouse as suffering from shock, perplexity, and disorientation as he looks up from his book to study his daughter's demeanour. She hardly looks "cheerful" as, looking away and playing with a ribbon on her dress as, perhaps, her father reminds her that "she would never marry" (333). And, after all, isn't Mr. Knightley already at Hartfield on most days anyway? The answer is, of course, that Emma's husband will live with her at Hartfield. Nevertheless, Mr. Woodhouse hopes to put the wedding off for a year or two. Although most of Highbury society approve of the match, Mrs. Elton feels that Knightley has been "taken in"; she is chiefly concerned with his no longer being a regular visitor: "a Mrs. Knightley to throw cold water on every thing" (338).

Bibliography

Austen, Jane. Emma. Ed. R. Brimley Johnson. With coloured illustrations by C. E. and H. M. Brock. The Novels and Letters of Jane Austen. 2 vols. New York & Philadelphia: Frank S. Holby, 1906.

Austen, Jane. Emma: An Annotated Edition. Ed. Bharat Tandon. Cambridge, Mass., and London: Belknap Press of Harvard U. P., 2012.

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Created 13 April 2026