The Role Of Education In Jane Austen's Emma

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Emma: Education (rough draft) Education has changed drastically in the last few centuries. More specifically, the roles women regarding education has transformed significantly. This is brought to our attention through the works of Jane Austen’s book, Emma. Within the fictional literature of Jane Austen, the differences in educational expectations and jurisdictions of men and women were demonstrated. The difference of education between men and women are incontrovertible; the men were significantly more privileged than the women. Women were underprivileged because it was simply the normality Education was important amongst the men and was a critical proclamation amongst the women. The women were expected to be educated and proficient in tasks …show more content…

Governesses did not live very fulfilling lives. From Emma, we learn of Jane Fairfax’s dread of becoming a governess during a dinner conversation between her and Mrs.Elton. In this conversation, Mrs. Elton offers Jane Fairfax a position as governess; in return, Jane compares the entitlement of governess to a sort slave trading, "Excuse me, ma 'am, but this is by no means my intention; I make no inquiry myself, and should be sorry to have any made by my friends. When I am quite determined as to the time, I am not at all afraid of being long unemployed. There are places in town, offices, where inquiry would soon produce something—Offices for the sale—not quite of human flesh—but of human intellect" (Austin). In the blog post The Governess in the Age of Jane Austen, the author explains why Jane Fairfax would be opposed to the offer proposed by Mrs. Elton, “Jane Fairfax had every reason to fear her future employment... Governesses seldom earned enough to save for their old age, and their services were often exploited and undervalued” …show more content…

The poor did not obtain a good education if they obtained any education at all. School cost a considerably large amount of money. That is not to say that the lower class did not obtain any education at all; rather, it was much harder for one to obtain a great education. This correlation is portrayed in Jane Austen 's Emma through the traits certain characters within the story display. The greatest example of wealth and its corresponding educational status would be through the portrayed personality of Emma herself. Emma is considered very wealthy, and in relation to her status of wealth, she was also very educated. Accomplished

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