Retelling of Emma From Jane's Perspective - Essay Sample

Introduction

Jane Fairfax had just returned to the village of Highbury to visit her aunt Miss Bates and her grandmother Mrs. Bates. She knew that she only had a few months before she would have to be an independent young lady working as a governess. She felt that she did not want this career, but she had little options to choose from; She was an orphan and having been educated by her father's friend from the army, Colonel Campbell, she felt that she was grateful for having the opportunity.

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Jane had lived with Colonel Campbell's family since she was nine following her parent's death. Campbell had worked so hard to provide her with everything that she needed. She took her in as her daughter. Consequently, Jane received the best education there was to offer. This made her intelligent and knowledgeable. However, Jane managed to remain humble. She did not allow her education to cloud her judgment with regards to how she related to others. She was well mannered and respectable.

During her stay at her aunt and grandmother's place, she got to interact with Mr. Knightley and Mrs. Weston. They developed a strong liking of her because of her excellent personality and sweet nature. She won their hearts through her intelligence and outgoing nature. Consequently, they openly praised her in their conversations with others. She was good at singing, playing the piano and sewing. Nevertheless, this did not sit in well with Emma Woodhouse, who was around Jane's age. She felt envious of the praises that everyone around her had for Jane. She thinks that Jane tires herself to death (Austen, 2010). She was aware that she was also intelligent and this contributed to the jealousy because she felt Jane was competition. As a result, she was not friendly to her.

However, Mrs. Elton decided to take Jane and patronize her. She wanted to ensure that despite the scarcity of governess positions, Jane would finally land herself an opportunity. After Emma learned about Jane's story and how she had lost her parents at an early age, she became sympathetic. She now understood why Jane was so determined at being good at what she does. She saw Jane from a different perspective. Her heart developed a liking for her since she had a soft spot for poor people despite having a great sense of class.

However, Jane was surprised when Emma made suggestions that she was attracted to Campbell's new son-in-law. This is because she felt that the Campbell family was like her own. She could not have romantic relations with any member of their family. They had taken her in as their daughter and provided for all her needs. Therefore, she viewed them as though they were her parents. In addition, they were very fond of her, and this cemented their close relationship. Consequently, she found these allegations to be farfetched and outrageous. These allegations were further fueled by the piano that Jane received from an anonymous benefactor. It created a lot of suspicion with regards to who Jane was attracted to.

Even though Jane is engaged to Frank Churchill, she wanted the engagement to remain a secret. As a result of this, she felt that she should not speak about it when Frank appeared to be attracted to Emma. She decided to be silent about it in order to avoid exposing her engagement. This also fueled her private nature. She did not like to openly share her opinion, and she chose to be polite in order to avoid being disrespectful or speaking hurtful truths.

Frank's aunt stood in the way of his independence. As a result, when he visited her, and she died shortly after, Frank was able to inherit the estate. In addition, since he no longer feared her opinion or her control over who he should or should not marry, his relationship with Jane was finally made public. The first people to learn about the engagement were the Westons. Frank already knew that his aunt would disapprove his engagement to Jane. However, his uncle approved of their engagement and gave them his blessings.

The announcement of Jane and Frank's engagement shocked Emma, who was misguided all along. She had not anticipated that Frank and Jane would be engaged since she even gossiped with Frank regarding her. However, the revelation about the engagement made Jane become more outgoing and engaged in other people's lives. She was able to reveal her other side that she always kept reserved or hidden. Even though she had had issues with Emma, she was able to set them aside and embrace a new begging. The new beginning seemed to bring her so much happiness. She laughed more and even has an excellent relationship with her mother in law.

Since Jane was well educated, skilled in various tasks and had a good personality, she felt that she was not destined for a governess. This occupation was among the lowest in the social hierarchy. It was mainly for women who were not successful at getting suitors to marry them off. Due to her humble family background, she had been left with no option but to work as a governess. However, her marriage to Frank saved her from this eventuality. It may have contributed to her sense of happiness after their engagement was made public.

Altering stories or retelling them from a different character's perspective allows for the exploration of different sides of the story that may not have been emphasized in the original story. For example, in Jane Austen's Emma, the story is told in Emma's perspective. Consequently, she appears to dominate most of the opinions regarding other characters. The story focuses on her. This leaves room for her bias. Even if she is not right, we learn some aspects of the story from her point of view.

However, if the story was narrated from Jane's perspective, a number of items would have been different. This is because even though Emma was envious of Jane as her competitive heroin, she did not possess the same outlook as Jane. Jane was from, and this made her work hard for everything. It also instilled humility in her. However, Emma inherited property and this influenced her attitude towards life and others around her. She did not know the value of hard work as Jane did. She was also more willing to judge and meddle in other people's affairs, unlike Jane who preferred to keep her life private as she sought to better it. If the original story would have been told through Jane's perspective, the reader would have been exposed to the realities of working to build a reputation and a life from nothing. However, Emma's perspective highlights how she felt accomplished having inherited property that she did not think of herself as marriage material. She sought to make matches for others, and the reader is exposed to this perspective.

References

Austen, J. (2010). Emma, by Jane Austen. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/158/158-h/158-h.htm