I have been saving your last posts until I have sufficient, uninterrupted time to read them, because I enjoy them so much. This was a wonderful and masterly use of Adam Smith, and I really appreciated the ideas and the way Austen used them, particularly in the context of the current lack of sympathy, integrity, and justice in current US politics.
Thank you so much, Louisa! That is lovely to hear. You're right, I think it's an excellent time to revisit the work of Smith in light of today's politics. So glad you found it meaningful. 💮
You have such a harmony in language and wit with that of Austen herself, Jane. So happy I saved this to read properly to follow all the delightful twists and turns. And here I am now, sitting up, wondering if I am…useful??
Thanks for adding Mr Knightley to the list of 'Austen besties who like to hike'. And the deep look into the conversation about walking rather than taking the carriage, which I missed in my discussion about Jane Austen and Country Walks... (Confession: I've seen 2 Emma films since I last re-read Emma, 3 if you count Clueless). Emma's outrageous claim that she can tell from Knightley's way of holding himself in the drawing room whether he arrived properly in his carriage... it's about social conventions, a proper gentleman arrives in his carriage. And of course about keeping up appearances, a theme of your essay here. But also shows Knightley, although a generation older than Emma, being ahead of the game in picking up the Wordsworthian taste for recreational walks.
I love the category of "Austen besties who like to hike" and I love your essay on Jane Austen and Country Walks which I plan to re-read today with a cuppa, as a wind-down from writing this giant post.
You always remind me how much I miss walking in the UK. Inhabiting Austen's novels from here in the Midwest helps with that. (Yes we can hike in the Midwest/US - with ticks, poisonous snakes, poisonous spiders, black bears, mountain lions, and stray dogs with potential for rabies - things I got used to being free of when walking/hiking in the UK! I say this as optimistically as possible. I still have favorite Midwestern hikes.)
And! You are connecting Austen with the Romantics and the approach to nature - I love this, and feel it all might be connected to Wollstonecraft's travel writings in Scandinavia (which William Godwin described as writing designed to seduce you) - are you familiar with Wollstonecraft's writings/wanderings? I want to explore the Austen connection to it all! 😊
The Theory of Moral Sentiments is regarded by many (how's that for squishy?) as Smith's best work, albeit not best known. It is a bit of a slog. How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness – by Russ Roberts (Author) is most excellent, IMO.
Forgive my poor English please! I am better at reading and I am fond of Austen's novels.
There is an interesting symmetry between Mr Knightley and Mr Frank Chirchill. Frank Chirchill goes to London not for cutting his hair but to arrange a very pleasant surprise for Jane Fairfaks. Mr Knighteley arrives to the ball in his carriage not for decorum but to bring Miss Bates and Jane Fairfaks to the ball instead of their walking on foot.
I don't know how it corresponds with Adam Smith. Perhaps it is about Austen's dramatic skill. I like it so much!
Yes, thank you for pointing that out! Glad you are enjoying Jane Austen and this discussion. And yes, you are so right - there is a double-thing going on with everything that appears to be going on, in Emma! I'm right with you, Love it too. Thanks again!
What a great piece on a fascinating new series to kick off with! I'm always so impressed with the ways in which you manage to blend ideas and make them Austen-related :)
Mr. Knightley, as I simply Must refer to him, is my favorite Jane Austen hero for so many reasons, as discussed in this wonderful essay. However, I have to make one point absolving Frank Churchill of going to London only to have his hair cut. He went there to order a pianoforte for Jane Fairfax, and the hair cut was merely a pretext. Giving Miss Fairfax a pianoforte may have been the act of a very young man, but it could not be called trifling or silly, though many would think it was unwise. Now I have to read Theory of Moral Sentiments, which I have intended to do for a long while. Thank you.
Yes, awesome points - we don't want to be presumptuous or like Mrs. Elton in anything, so it's MISTER Knightley 😊 And yes you are making a great point - it's part of the mystery of the novel that I didn't mention. I felt the text was still doing the Smithian work even though we learn later the OTHER (spoiler) reason Frank is in London, but maybe I should add a reference in this essay just so it's not distracting us all who know this. (Or maybe your mentioning it here is enough!) Thank you for pointing it out.
Glad you are inspired to read the 'Theory' - it's a surprisingly helpful and compelling read! Let us know how you find it.
Thank you. I did not want to be a distraction in making my point. Mr. Knightley has Frank Churchill pegged pretty well. I wish J.A. had written a sequel whee we would have gotten more detail on what happens to the characters later, but the author accomplished her goals fully, I believe.
Oh yes, your comment is helpful, not a distraction at all! I actually added a quick summary of the novel at the top of this essay mentioning the Box Hill picnic - because ignoring it in the essay is what could be distracting! And yes Mr. Knightley is almost sort of omniscient in this novel - Austen really seems to be speaking through him. Thanks for the insights!
Thanks so much, great to hear! And yes I"m right there with you, Adam Smith unlocks a lot of what's going on in Austen for me. Thank you for engaging with it 🌷
Enjoyed that essay very much. Was thinking you were going to also refer to the picnic scene when Emma was so cruel to (can’t think of her name) the poor spinster who talks incessantly. And Knightley scolding her afterwards because she had used her power and position to humiliate someone less privileged than herself. Was that not also example of an Adam Smith’s social
So glad you enjoyed the conversation - and yes, this is such a great example. Knightley makes such a big deal of Emma's rudeness to Miss Bates - and looking at it through the lens of Adam Smith's philosophy really explains Knightley's reaction. It's about our interconnectedness, and how we rely on each other.
Thank you for bringing it up - you'll see that Box Hill conflagration in some of our other posts in the links, but you're reminding me that I should include at least a brief reference to it here too, so I probably will! Thanks again!
Also - this post "Emma is about power" - has more about the incident you mention at Box Hill, I thought I'd removed the paywall earlier but it's open now.
I have been saving your last posts until I have sufficient, uninterrupted time to read them, because I enjoy them so much. This was a wonderful and masterly use of Adam Smith, and I really appreciated the ideas and the way Austen used them, particularly in the context of the current lack of sympathy, integrity, and justice in current US politics.
Thank you so much, Louisa! That is lovely to hear. You're right, I think it's an excellent time to revisit the work of Smith in light of today's politics. So glad you found it meaningful. 💮
I can get down with the 2025 book club 🙌
You have such a harmony in language and wit with that of Austen herself, Jane. So happy I saved this to read properly to follow all the delightful twists and turns. And here I am now, sitting up, wondering if I am…useful??
Great, so glad!
And yes, what a great question to ask ourselves every day: How can I be useful?!
I have a feeling you are very useful, Kate ❣️
Thanks for adding Mr Knightley to the list of 'Austen besties who like to hike'. And the deep look into the conversation about walking rather than taking the carriage, which I missed in my discussion about Jane Austen and Country Walks... (Confession: I've seen 2 Emma films since I last re-read Emma, 3 if you count Clueless). Emma's outrageous claim that she can tell from Knightley's way of holding himself in the drawing room whether he arrived properly in his carriage... it's about social conventions, a proper gentleman arrives in his carriage. And of course about keeping up appearances, a theme of your essay here. But also shows Knightley, although a generation older than Emma, being ahead of the game in picking up the Wordsworthian taste for recreational walks.
I love the category of "Austen besties who like to hike" and I love your essay on Jane Austen and Country Walks which I plan to re-read today with a cuppa, as a wind-down from writing this giant post.
You always remind me how much I miss walking in the UK. Inhabiting Austen's novels from here in the Midwest helps with that. (Yes we can hike in the Midwest/US - with ticks, poisonous snakes, poisonous spiders, black bears, mountain lions, and stray dogs with potential for rabies - things I got used to being free of when walking/hiking in the UK! I say this as optimistically as possible. I still have favorite Midwestern hikes.)
And! You are connecting Austen with the Romantics and the approach to nature - I love this, and feel it all might be connected to Wollstonecraft's travel writings in Scandinavia (which William Godwin described as writing designed to seduce you) - are you familiar with Wollstonecraft's writings/wanderings? I want to explore the Austen connection to it all! 😊
The Theory of Moral Sentiments is regarded by many (how's that for squishy?) as Smith's best work, albeit not best known. It is a bit of a slog. How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness – by Russ Roberts (Author) is most excellent, IMO.
That sounds fantastic - thank you for this recommendation, I'll check it out! 🙏😊
As a first time Austen reader and big fan of your essays, I am IN for book club!!
Oh my goodness - great to know! 🎉🎉🎉
This means we have to consider a food component.
A recipe (or two) to go with each read? I like the sound of that!
Yes!
Forgive my poor English please! I am better at reading and I am fond of Austen's novels.
There is an interesting symmetry between Mr Knightley and Mr Frank Chirchill. Frank Chirchill goes to London not for cutting his hair but to arrange a very pleasant surprise for Jane Fairfaks. Mr Knighteley arrives to the ball in his carriage not for decorum but to bring Miss Bates and Jane Fairfaks to the ball instead of their walking on foot.
I don't know how it corresponds with Adam Smith. Perhaps it is about Austen's dramatic skill. I like it so much!
Yes, thank you for pointing that out! Glad you are enjoying Jane Austen and this discussion. And yes, you are so right - there is a double-thing going on with everything that appears to be going on, in Emma! I'm right with you, Love it too. Thanks again!
What a great piece on a fascinating new series to kick off with! I'm always so impressed with the ways in which you manage to blend ideas and make them Austen-related :)
Thank you, Kate, so glad that you enjoyed this! Making EVERYTHING about Austen is my specialty - just ask my daughters lol. 😊
Mr. Knightley, as I simply Must refer to him, is my favorite Jane Austen hero for so many reasons, as discussed in this wonderful essay. However, I have to make one point absolving Frank Churchill of going to London only to have his hair cut. He went there to order a pianoforte for Jane Fairfax, and the hair cut was merely a pretext. Giving Miss Fairfax a pianoforte may have been the act of a very young man, but it could not be called trifling or silly, though many would think it was unwise. Now I have to read Theory of Moral Sentiments, which I have intended to do for a long while. Thank you.
Yes, awesome points - we don't want to be presumptuous or like Mrs. Elton in anything, so it's MISTER Knightley 😊 And yes you are making a great point - it's part of the mystery of the novel that I didn't mention. I felt the text was still doing the Smithian work even though we learn later the OTHER (spoiler) reason Frank is in London, but maybe I should add a reference in this essay just so it's not distracting us all who know this. (Or maybe your mentioning it here is enough!) Thank you for pointing it out.
Glad you are inspired to read the 'Theory' - it's a surprisingly helpful and compelling read! Let us know how you find it.
Thank you. I did not want to be a distraction in making my point. Mr. Knightley has Frank Churchill pegged pretty well. I wish J.A. had written a sequel whee we would have gotten more detail on what happens to the characters later, but the author accomplished her goals fully, I believe.
Oh yes, your comment is helpful, not a distraction at all! I actually added a quick summary of the novel at the top of this essay mentioning the Box Hill picnic - because ignoring it in the essay is what could be distracting! And yes Mr. Knightley is almost sort of omniscient in this novel - Austen really seems to be speaking through him. Thanks for the insights!
Loved this essay! It has really helped me understand the depth of Emma as a novel in which Austen breathes life into her moral philosophy. Thank you 😊
Thanks so much, great to hear! And yes I"m right there with you, Adam Smith unlocks a lot of what's going on in Austen for me. Thank you for engaging with it 🌷
I’d love to be part of the read-along!
Fantastic! Thanks!
Enjoyed that essay very much. Was thinking you were going to also refer to the picnic scene when Emma was so cruel to (can’t think of her name) the poor spinster who talks incessantly. And Knightley scolding her afterwards because she had used her power and position to humiliate someone less privileged than herself. Was that not also example of an Adam Smith’s social
Oops - posted before I finished - anyway, was it not also an example of a societal transgression in Adam Smith’s view?
So glad you enjoyed the conversation - and yes, this is such a great example. Knightley makes such a big deal of Emma's rudeness to Miss Bates - and looking at it through the lens of Adam Smith's philosophy really explains Knightley's reaction. It's about our interconnectedness, and how we rely on each other.
Thank you for bringing it up - you'll see that Box Hill conflagration in some of our other posts in the links, but you're reminding me that I should include at least a brief reference to it here too, so I probably will! Thanks again!
Also - this post "Emma is about power" - has more about the incident you mention at Box Hill, I thought I'd removed the paywall earlier but it's open now.
Enjoy, and thanks again for reading!
https://austenconnection.substack.com/p/emma-is-about-power
I’m definitely interested in a read-along. I live between Steventon and Chawton and next year will be a big deal in “Jane Austen country.”
Fantastic - thanks, Helen! You will be at the hub of Austen celebrations, so exciting. 🎉