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"I will keep my ill-humour to myself. I have a very sincere interest in Emma . . . There is an anxiety, a curiosity in what one feels for Emma. I wonder what will become of her!" Mr. Knightley, Emma, Chapter 5 For me, reading Jane Austen's  Emma is a delight. However, not all readers have... Continue Reading →
You would have held the memory of your friend Jane too in tender regret I am sure. - But the Providence of God has restored me - & may I be more fit to appear before him when I am summoned, than I sh'd have been now! - Sick or Well, beleive me ever your... Continue Reading →
 "Be satisfied," said he, "I will not raise any outcry. I will keep my ill-humour to myself. I have a very sincere interest in Emma. Isabella does not seem more my sister; has never excited a greater interest; perhaps hardly so great. There is an anxiety, a curiosity in what one feels for Emma. I... Continue Reading →
"I lay it down as a general rule, Harriet, that if a woman doubts as to whether she should accept a man or not, she certainly ought to refuse him. If she can hesitate as to "'Yes,'" she ought to say "'No'" directly. It is not a state to be safely entered into with doubtful... Continue Reading →
DISCERN Mr. Elton was only too happy. Harriet listened, and Emma drew in peace. She must allow him to be still frequently coming to look; anything less would certainly have been too little in a lover; and he was ready at the smallest intermission of the pencil, to jump up and see the progress, and... Continue Reading →
VALUABLE "I cannot rate her beauty as you do," said he; "but she is a pretty little creature, and I am inclined to think very well of her disposition. Her character depends upon those she is with; but in good hands she will turn out a valuable woman."Mr. Knightley on Harriet Smith, Emma, Chapter 8... Continue Reading →
VERDURE It was a sweet view -- sweet to the eye and the mind. English verdure, English culture, English comfort, seen under a sun bright, without being oppressive. The Narrator on Abbey-Mill Farm, Emma, Chapter 42 These poetic lines were prefaced by a description of Abbey-Mill Farm, which Emma and her party of family and... Continue Reading →
INSUFFERABLE "Insufferable woman!" was her immediate exclamation. "Worse than I had supposed. Absolutely insufferable! Knightley! I could not have believed it. Knightley! never seen him in her life before, and call him Knightley! and discover that he is a gentleman! A little upstart, vulgar being, with her Mr. E., and her caro sposo, and her... Continue Reading →
EXCEEDINGLY they had suddenly perceived at a small distance before them, ... a party of gipsies. A child on the watch, came towards them to beg; and Miss Bickerton, excessively frightened, gave a great scream, and calling on Harriet to follow her, ran up a steep bank, cleared a slight hedge at the top, and... Continue Reading →
IMAGINIST "Oh! to be sure," cried Emma, "it is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage. A man always imagines a woman to be ready for anybody who asks her." Emma Woodhouse, Emma, Chapter 8 Emma has just told Mr. Knightly that her friend Harriet Smith has... Continue Reading →
ALLOYÂ The real evils indeed of Emma's situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself; these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments. The danger, however, was at present so unperceived, that they did not by any... Continue Reading →
DOUBLE-DYED (Augusta Elton) "...My brother and sister will be enchanted with this place. People who have extensive grounds themselves are always pleased with any thing in the same style." Emma doubted the truth of this sentiment. She had a great idea that people who had extensive grounds themselves cared very little for the extensive grounds... Continue Reading →
