In this episode, we read chapters 27 to 31 of Emma. We talk about the entwined group of people who visit one another, how so many scenes read differently the second time through, Miss Bates’s monologues, Jane and the piano, reactions to the plan of having a ball, and Emma encouraging Harriet to stop thinking about Mr Elton. 

The character we discuss is Harriet Smith, and Ellen talks about illegitimacy. In the popular culture section, Harriet talks about the 1995 modernisation Clueless.

Also, we are now on Instagram, at reading_jane_austen.

Things we mention:

General discussion:

• John Mullan, What Matters in Jane Austen?: Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved (2012)

Character discussion:

• Edith Lank, ‘“The word was blunder”: Who was Harriet Smith’s Mother?‘ Persuasions 7, 1985: 14-15
• Helena Kelly, Jane Austen, the Secret Radical (2016)

Historical discussion:

• Max Weber (1864-1920)
• Claire Tomalin, Charles Dickens (2011)
• Christine Kenyon Jones, ‘Ambiguous Cousinship: Mansfield Park and the Mansfield Family‘ Persuasions On-line 31 (1), 2010
• BBC, Olivia Colman episode of Who Do You Think You Are (2018), Season 15, Episode 2

Popular culture discussion:

• Main version considered:
  • Paramount Pictures, Clueless (1995) – starring Alicia Silverstone and Paul Rudd
• Other 1990s/2000s high school films based on classic literature
  • 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), based on The Taming of the Shrew
  • Cruel Intentions(1999), based on Les Liaisons dangereuses
  • She’s All That (1999), based on Pygmalion / My Fair Lady
  • O (2001), based on Othello
  • She’s the Man(2006), based on Twelfth Night
  • Easy A (2010), based on The Scarlet Letter

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