Hi everyone, I need help in developing a thesis for a comparative essay between 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'Emma'. I have been working on it for a while, but havent come up with anything that will make a good impact in the essay. Your help will be highly appreciated.
thanks
I haven't read Emma in 8 years, and don't remember anything about it,Originally Posted by smilingalways
so I don't have an opinion myself, but this website has a synopsis on each of the books,
and if you were to read them,
it might give you some valuable ideas.
Here are the links to the 2 pages.
http://www.online-literature.com/austen/prideprejudice/
http://www.online-literature.com/austen/emma/
Unfortunately, the synopsis on Emma is significantly shorter than the other.
Perhaps you could find a synopsis of Emma somewhere else online.
This would give you an idea of the most significant points of each story,
and hopefully, you would see a similarity in order to find a strong thesis for your essay.
My own opinion after reading the synopsis on Emma is that the presence of "meddlesome"
people trying to get spouses for other people is something the 2 books have in common.
And of course, the underlying assumption that one must marry.
thank you
Write something about Elizabeth's need to get married versus Emma's reluctance to get married.
Isn't Elizabeth also reluctant to get married?
She turned down 2 marriage proposals.
While her mother and sisters may have "needed" her to marry a rich husband,
she apparently was not moved by their need.
I am unfamiliar with Emma's situation.
Last edited by sciencefan; 03-24-2007 at 09:39 PM.
Can someone please tell me if there are any similarities between Emma and Liz?
They're both really stubborn. :P And both have the uncontrollable inclination to reject respectable, religious men.
I beg to differ, I apologize.
I didn't think that the fact that Mr. Collins was religious had anything to do with Lizzy being unable to accept his offer of marriage.
Lizzy was willing to marry a man who was her intellectual equal and for whom she felt "love". Lizzie thought Mr. Collins "ridiculous". We know that Lizzie was the clever one in her family, and that Mr. Collins was not even as clever as Mary, Lizzie's sister.
Perhaps the similarity is that they were both proposed to by a clergyman and they both turned him down.
Not only that, but both clergymen immediately went to secure a wife elsewhere after they were refused, and afterwards rubbed the girls' noses in it a bit.
I don't know what Emma thought about her suitor, or what she wanted in a husband.
Last edited by sciencefan; 03-26-2007 at 08:52 AM.
hello, a fan also of P&P, maybe not as knowledgeable, found Emma dull reading. Both Liz and E are independent thinkers and totally unaware that they are in love until said man is almost lost to them. Only then do they realize that he was their match.
I have not read Emma nor seen the movies, but I just read a brief character description online.
Lizzie is clever and probably of average beauty since she was not handsome enough to tempt Mr. Darcy to dance, (but since he hates dancing, one can only assume even Jane's beauty would not have tempted him.)Emma Woodhouse: The daughter of Mr. Woodhouse, and sister to Isabella.
Emma is beautiful, clever, and rich.
Lizzie is not rich.
Lizzie walks 3 miles to care for her sister when she is sick. We can probably say they have this in common.She can be generous and caring, as in her behavior to her father and the poor family she visits.
Lizzie does not always suppress her honesty either.But she is also a snob, and she does not always suppress her honesty.
I'm not sure if Lizzie is a "snob" but we know she is prideful and quick to judge others unfavorably if offended.
I do not recall any similarity here.She has good intentions with Harriet Smith, whom she befriends and tries to improve.
Lizzie does not do this, though it could be said that her mother does.Emma has a strong imagination, and it often gets her in trouble. She loves matchmaking, and she looks so hard for clues that she will often manufacture them.
Lizzie is not a gossip.She also likes to gossip
I don't believe this presents a similarity either.She is a romantic, and this attention to the hearts of others keeps her from examining her own.
This "later realization that she is in love" happens to Lizzie when opinion of Darcy changes after he acts in a way totally opposite from how she had previously judged him.When she does, she realizes that she loves Mr. Knightley. He loves her too, and they marry.
This is very interesting to me. This very same thing happens to Mr. Darcy after Elizabeth reprimands him for not behaving in a "more gentleman-like manner". He reforms! He changes his ways, becoming more friendly and sociable.Emma Woodhouse experiences a great reversal in character. When she insults Miss Bates at Box Hill, Mr. Knightley's reprimand really shames her. Emma reexamines not just this, but all her behavior.
This is the link from where I copied the description.
http://www.bookrags.com/notes/emma/CHR.html
Last edited by sciencefan; 03-26-2007 at 08:52 AM.
That's what I meant. It was just an observation.
This sounds like a good estimation.
Ah. No offense meant. Just trying to help with the particulars.
The difference is Elizabeth must marry for financial security, since her estate is passing on to Mr. Collins, and not to someone in her family, thereby leaving her penniless, and with low prospects (that is why her mother is so pushing for her to marry Mr. Collins, since that would fix the financial problem for the family). Emma on the other hand comes from money, and instead of thinking of marriage for herself, contents herself by playing matchmaker for her friends, and sometimes ruining them.
The key difference is the finance. Emma has money, and is the first Austen heroine who comes from money, and therefore isn't obligated/compelled to get married. Elizabeth on the other hand realizes the need for marriage, though she is reluctant to marry someone insensible, and too proud sometimes to see what is best.
I agree with you. Well said.
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