Waitkus 1

Kristin Waitkus
ENGL 4214
11/21/08
Annotated Bibliography

Bibliography

Allott, Miriam. “Jane Austen: Emma. A Selection of Critical Essays.” The Review of
English Studies. Macmillan Casebook Series. Basingstoke and London. (1991).
This article focuses on a selection of critical essays based on Jane Austen’s
writing and the story of Emma. Here the writer looks at trying to develop new
approaches in order to “crack the nut” of Jane Austen’s writing. The article focuses at
looking at many different views from different scholars and formulating multiple
opinions, noting that the opinions that are foreseen of Austen’s work are almost as
important as the work in its self. Within the article the writer uses Andrew Kettle’s,
Introduction to the English Novel and notices the writers traditional Marxist criticism.
Here it is very interesting as Kettle uses Austen’s development of moral identity through
the character of Emma, this opinion makes the reader want to shape the linear line that
Austen uses and sets up a useful argument. The article is constantly referring to Jane
Austen as a “hard nut” which gives the inclination that many of the opinions that are
structured around her writing could be for the lack of understanding of what Austen
really means. As the article concludes the reader is left with many structuralized opinions
that are beneficial in trying to convey an argument.
I think that this source will be a valuable research material. It seems to have a
much more critical analysis than the other articles I have read and gives many structural
opinions that will be valuable in my research. The information is very reliable as it
focuses on multiple critical essays that all come from highly acclaimed resources as well
as a source that is highly acclaimed. Since the article possesses multiple opinions it is
somewhat biased which makes it interesting to read. The article points out many
objectives to be seen throughout Emma, but does not force you to change your own
viewpoints. The article rather expands the reader’s horizons by pointing out multiple
ideas that are presented in the text and creates multiple critical topics to think about. The
texts goal is to look at Jane Austen’s Emma and be able to acknowledge the way in which
Austen wrote the story in modern terms. The article is interesting as it uses many critical
essays in order to deconstruct Jane Austen’s writing and in which case gives the reader
multiple interpretations of how to view the novel.
I think that this source will be extremely valuable to my research. Not only does
this article touch on multiple topics but also it gives an example of a feminist study that
was done on Jane Austen for feminine anxiety. Although this may not help me
immensely in my research it was still interesting to look more in depth at Jane Austen
through a feminist lens. Also as I pointed out before it may be valuable to look at the
moral identity of Emma and focus on Jane Austen’s desire to create her character in such
a way. This article was useful as it gave me opinions from multiple resources, allowing
me to have a more open-minded idea at the end. Each idea formulated within this essay
could be useful to me at some point in my research regardless of the topic I choose to
cover. I think by reading a critical essay such as this one my interpretations of the book
 Waitkus 2

will become much more versatile and will therefore help me in forming a stable argument
and developing my research. Compared to my other sources I think this source will help
me develop a more concrete argument. While many of the others I have found have
given me good examples that will be useful, this article will help me formulate good
ideas and a strong argument.

Gammer, Michael. “Unanswerable Gallantry and Thick-Headed Nonsense:

Rereading Box Hill.” Romantic Circles Praxis Series. University of
Pennsylvania. (1995.)
This articles primary focus is to look at the novel of Emma and acknowledge that
by rereading the book you are able to acknowledge the “critical treatments” of the novel.
The author acknowledges looking at the novel again and noticing that when you reread
the novel you are able to acknowledge Emma’s misapprehensions. The article focuses on
the different characters and tries to find understanding in Jane Austen’s reasoning for
placing the characters in the manner she does. The article focuses on the ideas displayed
on Box Hill, but more explicitly focuses on the final chapters and provides ideas of things
that are never known or explained in the text. By rereading the novel the author gives
many examples of different ways you could view the characters. Explicitly this article
focuses on the relationships between Emma and the other characters and makes the
reader rethink their first interpretations they had after reading the novel.
I feel that this source is reliable as it is from a reliable source and one that I am
familiar with. It is very similar to another source in my bibliography as they both focus
on the rereading of Emma in order to fully depict what Austen is trying to illustrate in her
writing. I think that the material within this article is objective as it is asking the reader to
acknowledge and adapt their interpretations. In this article the author wants the reader to
acknowledge what they are saying and change their own personal interpretations. The
main goal of this source is to look closely at Jane Austen’s writing and by using specific
instances show the reader what she really meant in her writing. The article takes a strong
stance at creating their own interpretation of the source and tries to make the reader have
the same ideas.
I think that this source will have a hard time fitting into my research. Although the
article had good ideas the way they were woven together created an article that was hard
to follow. This article was similar to one of the other articles I have found but I think that
this article would be less useful to my research. In shaping the moral identity of Emma,
this article gave me an inclination to focus on the rereading of Emma as that idea has
come up in my research multiple times. I think that although this article had good ideas
the only real argument that may help me at this point is the notion of rereading the story
in order to come up with the linear line of shaping Emma’s moral identity. Depending on
the other scholarly articles that I find I may try to focus on weaving the feminist
perspective into the idea of rereading Emma and finding the real meanings as to why
Emma’s moral identity is created in such a way. I think that it this article may be more
useful to me if I were to reread the article and really comb through the ideas. However, at
this point in my research I am left with the idea that this article probably will not fit
accurately into my research.

Levine, George. “Re-reading Box Hill: reading the practice of reading everyday life,
 Waitkus 3

Box Hill and the Limits of Realism.” Romantic Circles Praxis Series. (1998.)
The main argument for the article is created in order for the modern day reader to
take a closer look at the at the realism portrayed within the action that occurs at Box Hill
and acknowledge that Mr. Knightley is the man that Emma should indeed marry. The
article discusses how everything within the story of Emma means something more than
what is said either for the reader or for the character. This is interesting as it shows the
reader that Austen was creating meaning that is not easily depicted and gives the idea that
in order to really understand what is going on you have to comb through what Austen is
trying to present. Within this article the central theme of realism is brought up many
times and looks at using realism in order to see that Mr. Knightley is the man Emma
should marry. Realism had its root in the nineteenth century and ability to push the
limits, therefore the realism that is seen in Emma makes hidden meanings easier to see.
The author of this article asks the reader to look at the closely at the setting of the Box
Hill, “Although it is not the Alps, but its heights seem to crystallize the dividedness and
instability that the social norms of Highbry and Jane Austen’s prose work hard to judge
and restrain”(Levine 5). This idea makes the reader believe that they have to
acknowledge the setting and how it really plays into the idea of the characters. Here the
author also acknowledges that Emma leaves the Box Hill feeling very incomplete and yet
as the reader is able to acknowledge the realism that is implied here. The essay is trying
to examine why Mr. Knightley is in fact the better man, but more importantly looks at the
realism depicted, as you look closer at Box Hill.
This source will be useful if I chose to write my paper about this particular instant
in the novel. I think that it is interesting to look closely at this particular instance in the
novel and realize the ability it has to transform the entire novel. The information used in
this article is reliable as it does come from a reliable source. In order to use this article in
my research I could use this specific instance in the novel and acknowledge how it
contributed to shaping Emma’s moral identity, which could be a valuable example in my
research. The goal of this source is to look deeper at the character of Emma and develop
a personal opinion on why Mr. Knightley would be a good suitor for Emma. By doing
so, the author is making the reader use their own interpretations of modern day life and
imply them to the story. I found it very interesting as this article brought up major ideas
that focus on realism and gave me a predetermined idea of what I am going to think as I
read the novel. I think that it will be interesting to keep this article in mind as I go back
through the book keeping these instances that are implied in mind. The articles objection
is largely based on realism and in which case the draws on many pictorial instances in
order to get their point across.
This article could be useful in my research as I focus on shaping the moral
identity of Emma. Through this idea I could use this article and look at it through a
feminist perspective. For example, I could focus on the desire to find Emma a husband
and the over emphasis that is implied within the story to do so. The article also points out
Emma’s education stating that here education is purely into social norms. This made me
think of Evelina and therefore I could use the idea of a woman conforming to society. I
think that this article may be useful in order to give off examples but it will not be the
center of my argument. I think that has an interesting idea that aloud me to have a new
insight, but it may be difficult to use in my paper.
 Waitkus 4

Litvak, Joseph. “Reading Characters: Self, Society, and Text in Emma.” PMLA, Vol
100, No. 5. Modern Language Association. (October, 1985.) 763-773.
This article looks closely at examining the characters in Emma through self and
society. Jane Austen is quoted stating that she didn’t think anyone would much care for
the character, but herself and as the critics look at this notion they acknowledge how
through every action of the character relies self definition and hence forth, looking
closely at how Jane Austen shapes the moral identity of Emma. At one instance in this
article, the writer looks closely at examining the relationship between Sir Knightley and
Emma and concentrates on a contest being portrayed by the two individuals. The ability
for Knightley and Emma to find their true self and especially the female self in society is
seen throughout the article. The constant finding of one self and search of moral identity
is viewed through this article as the narrative takes the reader in circles rather than a
linear line and with notion the critic states that there is a failure of “unilateral ethical
scheme in which a morally superior Knightley transforms a morally inferior Emma”
(Litvak 771). The creation of Emma through a world of fiction and desire appears to
create the idea that this character will fail. This article appears to focus more so on the
inability for Austen to create a sound character through her writing and more so looks at
Emma as a heroine who has been fouled by society.
After looking at this article I believe that it will be a nice article to use
comparatively in my research. As a lot of my articles have dealt with the shaping of the
character and searching for Emma’s moral identity, this article focuses more on a
deconstructionist side. I believe that it is good to have another opinion on the matter in
order to fully structuralize your argument and this article provided that. This article is
objective as it uses multiple examples in order to show how Emma is developed into a
particular character. After reading this article you begin to change your mind about the
character that Jane Austen created and wonder how you could read through the story and
think differently. As the different critics look at the character through a deconstructional
lens they use multiple ideas from other sources to indeed get the point across. For
example, the idea looking at Emma through a feminist lens is seen at the beginning of the
article with an idea about looking at the mere character and removing yourself from the
text, this idea acknowledges not reading too far into what Jane Austen is really writing
about. The feminist perspective also views Emma as a threat to moral well-being, this
notion is interesting as throughout my research I have begun tracing Emma’s moral
identity and this notion gives you something else to think about in this process that I had
not thought about before.
This article will fit into my research trough an objective lens. I think that this
knowledge has helped me formulate more ideas and will be beneficial in my writing. I
think that I am still going to try and focus on the positive notion of shaping Emma’s
moral identity; however, it will be useful to have this information. I think that by having a
different view point on the subject I will be able to give more examples and formulate my
arguments more precisely. Seeing that it is quite different from some of the other articles
I have found I think that this particular article broadened by horizons and has given me
another outlook on the subject matter. This article will be very valuable to have when
creating my paper and useful when analyzing my research.

Shannon, Edgar F. “Emma Character and Construction.” Modern Language

 Waitkus 5

Association. PMLA, Vol. 71, No 4. (September, 1956). 637-650

This article looks critically at the character of Emma and looking into Jane
Austen’s writing as she created this character. Joseph Duffy describes Emma as a
character “awakening of a normal intelligent young woman to the possibilities of physical
love”(Shannon 637). The article focuses on an analysis of the character zoning in on
Jane Austen as a moral writer and the high demands of the readers perceptiveness. The
article follows the development of Emma highlighting on her personality traits and
evaluating exactly what Jane Austen was doing when she developed this character. The
article centers on the character and notes that the character of Emma is crucial to the
understanding of the novel. More importantly; however, the reader must read the
character right. In which case, this article focuses on giving critical ideas of the
development of Emma. Emma has been claimed Jane Austen’s masterpiece for her ability
to create the character in such a way, placing Emma in a real world with intricate human
relationships. Throughout the story Austen relates the ideas in the novel to human life,
allowing the reader to share an intimate experience with the character. Jane Austen takes
the character of Emma from self-deception and vanity to perception and humility
(Shannon 650).
This source was extremely valuable to me in formulating my argument and in fact
will be used for the base of my research. I think that it is a very useful source as it
specifically focuses on the character on Emma and Jane Austen’s writing. This article has
multiple objections that give the reader many ideas, which will be extremely valuable in
my research. I think that the goal of this article is to place importance on Emma and
emphasize the way in which she is shaped throughout the novel. By looking at Emma
from many different perspectives I will be able to develop an argument with substantial
evidence to back up my main argument. This article gave me many ideas that will be
extremely beneficial in formulating my argument. At the end of the article I was not
forced into a different opinion, but rather I was able to expand the knowledge I already
had and grown from that. In this article, like many of the others I have found looks at
looks at Emma through the feminist perspective. The article uses multiple examples of
looking at Emma’s personality traits and comparing them to a stereotypical lesbian. I
found this idea very interesting and I think that it could be interesting to look more into
this notion.
After looking at many different articles I think that this one will be most
beneficial to my research. After reading through different ideas I believe that the
evidence and ideas that are seen throughout this article will be important for me in order
to create a strong argument. Looking at Emma and comparing her to human life creates a
character that is easily related to. Many critics do not see her through this lens; however, I
think that this idea is very well displayed and is extremely interesting to acknowledge. In
comparison to my other articles this one was able to take on a critical viewpoint and
expand on it in multiple ways. Even though I got a lot of information from this article I
believe that if I were to go through it a second time I would be able to dig more examples
out of it. With this in mind I believe that this article will benefit my research in multiple
ways.