Emma represents one of Jane Austen’s romantic works.

Jane Austen is an English novelist who wrote during the romantic

period and published all her novels between 1811- 1818. One of her
most beautiful novels is Emma. The novel represents many elements
of the Romantic period, such as nature, living in a rural society, a
new individual, the importance of creative imagination, recollection
from the past and the idea of solitude.
Nature is a major element of the romantic period. The description of
nature in Emma reflects the way the characters think or feel. Austen highlights
the importance of the walk in nature to the characters of the novel ‘’ as a
walking companion, Emma had very early foreseen how useful she might find
her. In that Mrs. Weston’s loss had been important.’’ Chapter 4. When a
character is happy, he/she recollects his/her feelings in nature rather than
talking about the beauty of it, ‘’Harriet was very ready to speak of their
moonlight walks and evening together.” Chapter 4. The landscapes and
nature in the novel play a huge role in the changes of the characters and their
minds. After the beginning of the novel, it moves in describing the long winter
nights during which Emma feels alone after the marriage of her governess. At
the middle of winter, Mr. Elton proposes to Emma on a snowy evening with a
strong wind, ” and of it still snowing fast, with a strong drifting wind”
chapter15. Such weather reflects Emma’s anger because Mr. Alton does not
propose to Harriet as Emma was planning, and because he assures that it is
impossible for him to marry such a girl with a less level than him. It also
reflects how the misbehaving of Emma by her interference in the lives of
others goes against her better nature, which is kindness and loving. In the
spring, Emma became more cheerful. The day in which Emma realises her
love feelings towards Mr. Knightly is on July. The proposal of Mr. Knightly to
Emma occurs on July in a garden at Hartfield with a very delightful weather,
as a sign of their beautiful affection. Before Emma reaches her full change,
she goes through loneliness and melancholy in a cloudy and stormy day
which reflects the change of her mind. At the next day, the cloud were
removed by the sun. Finally, the most important marriages of the novel occur
in October which is the time of reaper as Emma rewarded by her spiritual
maturity. These sequences reflect the power of nature which Austen believes
in. Feelings also are connected to nature in the novel, Mr. Frank Churchill for
example, was living in Highbury but he left it and from the death of his mother
he “had never been there in his life” chapter 2
In the romantic period, people prefer to move from urban
society to a rural one. This theme is seen clearly in Emma. Emma ,the
heroine of the novel, her family, friends and acquaintances live in the
village of Highbury. Moreover, in chapter three it is mentioned that Mr.
Woodhouse “ could command the visits of his own little circle, in a
great measure as he liked. His horror of late hours and large dinner
parties made him unfit for any acquaintance ,but such as would visit
him on his own terms”. This means that Emma’s father and this small
group are parted themselves from other people who have unfamiliar
values or behaviours.
Another important element of the romantic period is to use
common language that is used by men to describe common human
beings. In Emma the reader realizes the human conditions of the
19thc. and sees the influence of the cultural and social conventions on
the people at that time. Austen focuses on the lives of her ordinary
characters, and on introducing them as they exist in their world. She
does not perfect these people, and this is good, because a perfect
human being wouldn’t be a human at all. That is why everyone in
Emma is so likeable. It is also full of ordinary incidents and places.
The reader of this novel has this feeling that he/she already met these
people , and that he/she goes through these landscapes. The way
Austen uses fiction to describe the reality of her time in England is so
acceptable. The social life that the characters go through are similar
to our own: a small dinner with our relatives, playing backgammon
with parents, a solitary female walking. Moreover, all of the reader of
our time might encounter the relationships which Austen introduces in
this novel. All of us encounter the dread of a new love, the beauty of
meditation at night and the effects of a dominating friend.
Women who lived during Austen time were facing many
oppressive issues by instructed them to accept their roles as only
children rearing, housekeeping and seeking a good marriage that
gives them financial stability and social respect in their society. In
Emma, Austen individualizes her female characters and makes them
different. She names this novel after its heroine, gives this wide
spaces for women to speak their minds and to express their feelings
and fears. Many practices of the 19th c. are criticized by Jane Austen,
such as women who are playing music or drawing in order to attract a
noble husband with a good income. Emma is essentially an
independent single woman. She refuses to marry Mr. Elton who likes
her for her beautiful drawings. She tells her friend Harriet that she
should only marry for love , ” I have none of the usual inducements of
women to marry. Were I to fall in love, indeed, it would be a different
thing.” We see Emma at the end of the novel makes it clear that she
loves Mr. Knightley and that is why she accepts marrying him. Austen
also satirizes Harriet, the intimate friend of Emma, who is not clever,
submissive and guided by anyone. This proves that Jane Austen is
extremely feminist.
According to the romantic writers, the Internal journey or the
spiritual experience is but a must that every individual has to go
through to be a new individual who has a new ways of seeing.
Throughout the novel Emma becomes a new individual. Readers can
clearly see the mental and emotional transcendences that has
happened within Emma. At the beginning of the novel, Emma
describes herself as “ such a troublesome creature.” Chapter1. She
is spoilt, proud and arrogant. ‘’Emma’s freedom and her disposition to
think a little too well of herself, were disadvantages which threatened
the alloy to her many enjoyments.” Chapter 1. She believes that her
good role in life is to try to arrange other people’s marriage and love
affairs.  Then, as the events go on, we start to see the two sides in
Emma’s personality. Sometimes she acts foolishly ,but she at the
same time know that she is misbehaving. As when she says about
her attempt to unite Elton and Mr. Elton: “Does my vain spirit ever tell
me I am wrong?” “they cannot forgive me,”. Then, Emma starts
knowing herself. she realizes the bad consequences of her
interference of the live of Harriet and she realizes that she herself
loves Mr. Knightly. Her knowing of such facts contains a transcendent
process in her soul and mind: “A mind like her is opening to
suspicion, made rapid progress.  She touched—she admitted—she
acknowledged the whole truth.” The thing that lead to humiliate her.
Then Emma starts to get rid of the vain side of her own character.
By her spiritual transcendence, Emma has grown up. She goes
through a change like the changes of the season. She experiences
new things, makes mistakes, learns from her mistakes, goes through
spiritual changes and finally rebirths again as the new reasonable and
rational Emma.

On the other hand, some readers see Austen as a less romantic

author than other romantic writers. They believe that Emma has a
degree of scepticism about romantic love, which questions the
ideology of romance. They say that Austen changes the idea that
women are sentimental, and in her novel, a marriage or a love match
is to create the happiness of a female rather than a marriage of
convenience. Moreover, These reader face the complexity of reading
Emma. They feel that if they look beneath the surface, the novel’s
simple words might refer to other things. They add that ,unlike many
romantic works ,Emma is not about adventures, gothic or
supernatural things and that the novel has no details about the
French Revolution, fighting Napoleon’s armies or the industrial
revolution that were happening in England during the time of writing it.
Instead, Austen indicates the social changes that occur during her
time such as the changes of power, values, customs and beliefs.
People say that Austen is sometimes realistic rather than romantic ;
as she always in this novel mentions the amount and the source of
her characters’ income.
Finally, I cannot but recommend people to enjoy reading this novel and to
feel the beauty of Austen’s writing which gives fertility to it. I hope I will be a
great author one day and to be able to affect readers positively just as Jane
Austen does.
1- http://www.austen.com/emma/

2- Austen, Jane.  Emma.  Ed. R. W. Chapman.  3rd

ed. London: Oxford UP, 1969.

3- Emma.  Dir. Douglas McGrath.  Perf. Gwyneth

Paltrow, Jeremy Northam.  Miramax, 1996.

4- https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-
victorians/articles/jane-austens-social-realism-and-
the-novel

5- Emma.  Dir. Diarmuid Lawrence.  Perf. Kate

Beckinsale, Mark Strong.  Meridian-ITV/A&E,
1996.

6- http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/on-
line/vol28no1/stovel-b.htm