Emma as a Comedy: Realism and Romanticism

Emma, by Jane Austen, can be placed on neither extreme of end of the scale of comedies that range from romantic to realistic. It is certainly not representative of the midway mark between romantic comedies such as Twelfth Night and realistic comedies such as Way of the World, but it is closer to the center than it is towards either side. At first glance, the book seems to be romantic because of a few major characterizations of romantic literature, but these characterizations are misleading without deeper analysis. Emma is not necessarily a complete critique of the world of romance, but the fact that everybody ends up happily married in the end should not be taken as anything more than an indicator of the comedic nature of the story; in the end, the seeming nature of Emma as a critique of the society in which Austen lived definitely makes the book more realistic than romantic.

The first major temptation that might lead a modern reader to classify Emma as romantic is the setting. It is imperative that one realizes the historical setting in which the story is set; while for us it may seem to take place a long time ago in a distant culture, Austen was writing a realistic story about the culture in which she lived. That, along with the lasting popularity that this book has enjoyed, should make one aware of the likelihood of the presence of some form of innovation or criticism. Additionally, there is a sort of "middle ground" to be found among other elements of the book. The overall location is not necessarily pastoral, but neither is it what one would call urban. In fact, major events occur in places that range from obscure English hillsides and pastures in the country to upper class sections of London. By using places to which everyone would have been able to relate, Austen was most likely able to allow a greater readership to sympathize with the main message of her story.

Furthermore, Austen made the characters somewhere in the middle of the class spectrum; while none of the characters are dirt poor beggars, neither are any of them royalty. Emma's family seems to represent the very upper end of the middle class, and most of the other characters seem to fall somewhere in or near that category. This would have ensured that a variety of people from the middle class could sympathize with the characters, but, at the same time, the characters could represent the peak of society. For most people, this would be more "realistic" than a love story between a princess and knight in shining armor. This then leads to the question of virtue and human nature. While romantic virtues such as honor, loyalty, chivalry, and true love are present, the world of Emma is not so black and white. To rigidly assign these qualities to some characters and not others would have been to create a world of absolute right and wrong, good and evil morals; Austen is more realistic in mixing both good and bad virtues among most of the characters, each with their own motivations. The style is not necessarily bitingly or cynically or satiric, but there is some criticism of such idealized virtues present. This same principle can be applied to the romantic love which is so central to this story; basically, it is not an idealized love. There are real problems and concerns-like money-involved with falling in love and getting married. However, at the same time, sex and money are not the central concerns of this story.

In the end, romantic love does win, but that same romantic love is criticized by many realistic elements and concerns. The class differences and biases that create so much of the conflict in this story are only one of the many realistic things that imply some type of critique on the part of Austen. Also, the absence of fanciful things that normal, everyday people never see (like ghosts, dragons, and princesses with ridiculously long hair like Rapunzel, etc) makes the realism in this story evident.

Sources:
Book - Emma, by Jane Austen, Oxford World's Classics version
Book - The Norton Anthology of English Literature, eighth edition, volume one
Book - The Complete Pelican Shakespeare