# Chapter LV explained — Emma

> Chapter companion for Emma by Jane Austen.

## What happens

Emma resolves her anxieties about Harriet's attachment to Mr. Knightley when Harriet reveals her renewed affection for Robert Martin. Harriet's parentage is disclosed as the daughter of a tradesman, and she marries Robert Martin. Emma and Mr. Knightley plan their own wedding, overcoming Mr. Woodhouse's reluctance after a poultry theft prompts him to accept their marriage for security. The chapter concludes with their wedding, celebrated by true friends.

## Themes in this chapter

### Social Class and Mobility

Harriet's parentage as the daughter of a tradesman is revealed, and Emma reflects on the 'stain of illegitimacy' and the social implications of Harriet's connections, underscoring class distinctions.

### Marriage as Social Contract

The chapter concludes with three marriages: Harriet and Robert Martin, Jane Fairfax's return to the Campbells, and Emma and Mr. Knightley's wedding, each representing different social and personal contracts.

## Character check-ins

### Emma Woodhouse

Emma is relieved to see Harriet cured of her attachment to Mr. Knightley and fully approves of Harriet's marriage to Robert Martin. She also navigates her father's fears to secure her own wedding to Mr. Knightley.

### Harriet Smith

Harriet confesses her former self-deception and joyfully embraces her love for Robert Martin, detailing their time together. She marries Robert Martin by the end of September.

### Robert Martin

Robert Martin is now introduced at Hartfield and is acknowledged by Emma as a man of sense and worth. He marries Harriet Smith.

### Mr. Knightley

Mr. Knightley is part of the plan for his marriage to Emma, and his presence reassures Mr. Woodhouse after the poultry theft.

### Mr. Woodhouse

Mr. Woodhouse initially resists Emma's marriage but gradually resigns himself, especially after a poultry theft makes him value the protection of the Mr. Knightleys.

## Key lines

> Harriet was a little distressed—did look a little foolish at first: but having once owned that she had been presumptuous and silly, and self-deceived, before, her pain and confusion seemed to die away with the words, and leave her without a care for the past, and with the fullest exultation in the present and future

Harriet initially felt embarrassed but quickly overcame her discomfort by admitting her past mistakes, and soon felt joyful and carefree about her current and future happiness.

_Harriet's emotional shift from distress to exultation after confessing her self-deception._

> The stain of illegitimacy, unbleached by nobility or wealth, would have been a stain indeed.

The disgrace of being born out of wedlock, without the mitigating factors of noble birth or riches, would have been a serious blemish.

_Emma's reflection on the social consequences of Harriet's illegitimacy._

> The wedding was very much like other weddings, where the parties have no taste for finery or parade; and Mrs. Elton, from the particulars detailed by her husband, thought it all extremely shabby, and very inferior to her own.

The wedding was simple and unpretentious, which Mrs. Elton considered very plain and much less grand than her own wedding.

_Contrast between the modest wedding of Emma and Mr. Knightley and Mrs. Elton's judgment of it._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emma_se/chapters/lv
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emma_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emma_se/chapters