Notesale: Turn your study into money

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‘It was child’s play, chosen to conceal a deeper game on Frank Churchill’s part
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PLAN

Introduction:
Games and riddles are a main part of the Highbury society and the inhabitants enjoy a wide
variety, including backgammon, whist and piquet
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Whist,
another popular game played at the important social event of the “whist-club night”, is a card game
played by two players
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Piquet is
a more intimate game played by two players and a favourite of Mrs Goddard who plays it with Mr
Woodhouse while Emma is out one evening
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Emma and Harriet puzzle over riddles, enigmas
and conundrums as well as a group playing of the alphabet game
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It has often been suggested that
games in Emma function as symbols of the society which they are played in and this is what I will
explore in this essay
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Each player must understand and
agree to abide by the rules, and accept the role assigned to him or her within the game
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This strongly reflects the society
of Highbury where there is a strict social system that people are expected to abide by:
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Mr Woodhouse is distressed by the “more animated sort [of game]” e
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the more freer
games with less rules such as hide and seek – reinforcing how Mr Woodhouse likes to have
control and exact authority
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“Highbury will only put her out of conceit with all the other places she belongs to
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” – Chapter 5
Marriages and alliances and even friendships are formed based on society’s rules
and if these limits are overstepped, the strict social order of Highbury is threatened
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Emma must submit to stand second to Mrs Elton, though she had always
considered the ball as peculiarly for her
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By drawing our attention to the games played in Highbury, Austen is drawing our attention
to the social organisation within the community
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In many
ways this is satirical as we get an over view of the giant game being played by the
inhabitants of Highbury
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This
reflects the Highbury society
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Emma is initially outraged at the thought that
they might invite her to their party:
“They ought to be taught that it is not for them to arrange the terms on which the
superior families would visit them” – Chapter 25
When the Coles consider Mr Woodhouse’s needs, they are adhering to the social
hierarchy and Emma accepts their invitation
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The only purpose of Emma’s planned refusal of the Cole’s invitation was to teach
them the rules of Highbury society as though it was something she and the other inhabitants
of Highbury had set up themselves and had control of
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Para 3:
Word-games in Emma – the collection of riddles and conundrums in chapter 9 and the
alphabet game in chapter 41
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In chapter 41 everyone is engaged in making anagrams out of the letters of the alphabet
but Frank exploits the situation to send a message to Jane
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”
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Frank Churchill and Jane are literally and figuratively playing a ‘secret game’ hidden from
everyone else
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These games are not only about unravelling messages but also about interpreting them
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Jane has to unravel
“blunder” and “Dixon” and realises she is being taunted by the man she is engaged to
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It seems that Austen uses these word games to represent the communication in Highbury
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Harriet is talking of Mr Knightley asking her to dance when
no one else would, and Emma is talking of Frank saving her from the gypsies
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Austen underlines that there is no such thing as simple communication, such as when Mr
Knightley tries to declare his love for Emma
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The
games played reflect the rigorous social structure of Highbury and in many ways, the riddles could
point us to try and unravel the conundrum that the novel so clearly is
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This might possibly be Austen indicating to
the reader that they will need to analyse her book carefully in order to truly understand it

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