S04E04 Emma, Chapters 16 to 21

In this episode, we are joined by Harriet’s partner, Michael, and read chapters 16 to 21 of Emma. We talk about the mystery plots, Emma’s fantasies, Emma and Mr Knightley’s interactions, and Harriet’s encounter with Mr Martin (which had us revisiting the map of Highbury).

The character we discuss is Miss Bates, and then Michael talks about army widows and orphans. In the popular culture section, Harriet talks about the 2009 BBC adaptation of Emma.

Things we mention:

General discussion:

• John Mullan, What Matters in Jane Austen?: Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved (2012)
• Map of Highbury, created by Professor Penny Gay of the University of Sydney, and reproduced with her permission. The map was drawn in the 1980s and published in Penny Gay’s work Jane Austen’s Emma (Horizon Studies in Literature) Sydney University Press, 1995. More information about it is available in ‘A Hypothetical Map of Highbury‘, Persuasions Online, Volume 36, No. 1, Winter 2015.

Character discussion:

• Elizabeth Gaskell, Cranford (1853)
• Agatha Christie’s books and stories featuring Miss Marple
• Lucy F. March Phillipps, My life and what shall I do with it? By an old maid (1918)
• Mary Russell Mitford, Letter to W.W. Ogbourn (April 3, 1815) – read the extract about Jane Austen
• Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night (1935)

Popular culture discussion:

• Main version considered:
  • BBC, Emma (2009) – starring Romola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller
• Other versions mentioned
  • BBC, Emma (1972) – starring Doran Godwin and John Carson
  • Miramax, Emma (1996) – starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam
  • ITV, Emma (1996) – starring Kate Beckinsale and Mark Strong

 For a list of music used, see this episode on our website.