Emma is a great English novel, written by the most influential female English novelist, Jane Austen. Anyone familiar with her writing styles knows that one of the most prominent themes of her novel is marriage and social status. The theme of conjugal importance always lingers in all of her novels, and in Emma to anyone can easily capture Jane’s inclination towards marriage and the social status. It would not be unjustified to conclude that marriage and social status play a key role in the development of the plot of her novels. Being herself a woman, she was quite familiar with the importance of a conjugal bond for women.
At the time when Jane was writing, women were not quite active in the lives beyond the domestic circle. Therefore, they were deprived of all the chances to prove themselves equal to men and to attain a higher social status by working outside the domestic realm. The only way they could upgrade or change their social status is through marriage. A match with a man of sufficient wealth and noble upbringing was considered as the last resort for women to get a respectable position in the society. In Emma also, the plot revolves around the same theme. Not only the marriage of the protagonist, young Emma, is seen finding a suitable match till the end of the novel, but other characters are also seen concerned about their marriages. Emma, in the beginning, seems quite reluctant to get marry someone and always busy in contemplating and plotting marriages of her close relation and acquaintances.
One of the noteworthy things in Emma is that marriages among people belonging to different social statuses are meant to be ended on a sad note. Mr. Weston’s first marriage to Miss Churchill, a member of a well-connected and wealthy family ended up due to inequality of their social statuses. Emma tries to tie Harriet with Mr. Elton but after knowing that Harriet is the daughter of a tradesman, she quit contemplating their marriage as Mr. Elton is from a noble background. The novel is wrapped with the happy ending, as the protagonist, Emma, marries Mr. Knightly who is not only a man of character but of sufficient fortune and high social status. Their marriage is shown as an ideal conjugal bond because both of them are equal in social status.
