Siriwardena 1

Double Standards of Dependency : Reading Jane Austens Emma

A young woman, if she fall into bad hands, may be teazed, and kept at a distance
from those she wants to be with; but one cannot comprehend a young man's being
under such restraint, as not to be able to spend a week with his father, if he likes it
(Austen, 95)
observes Emma to Mrs. Weston, airing her views about Frank Churchills continual delay in
arriving at Highbury to pay his respects to his new stepmother. Emmas comment, though
casually spoken, carries profound meaning because it illuminates the double standards on the
two genders that was very much a part of Austens contemporary society. As Emma declares,
while a mans desires being put under constant restraint is incomprehensible, the social codes
of the time sought to keep the woman in a dependent position by sanctioning the exertion of
control over a womans desires, wishes and conduct.
In nowhere is this sad plight of the woman more apparent than in the character of Jane
Fairfax; a woman Austen shows as being in an extremely vulnerable position because of her
dependent status. Hardly appearing to have a word to say for herself, (for which Emma holds
her in scornful contempt) Jane is literally silenced for much of the narrative. In fact, being a
dependent, Jane had always been at the mercy of the whims and fancies of others throughout
her life the kind Campbells, the officious Mrs. Elton and more ominously, her fianc Frank
Churchill who during their engagement treats her with, such horrible indelicacy (Austen,
301). Indeed, in Franks hands, Jane actually becomes a version of the, teazed young
woman fallen into bad hands that Emma speaks of.
In almost grotesque contrast to the plight of Jane Fairfax, Austen presents the life of
Frank Churchill. Although Frank himself is dependent on a capricious aunt, Austen is at pains
to show that his state of dependency differs very much to that of Jane. In startling dichotomy
against Janes voicelessness in the narrative, is Franks vociferousness as he carefully weaves

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and imposes his story on the good people of Highbury. In fact despite Franks dependency his
ability of exerting his agency is such that Mr. Knightley, the voice of truth in the novel, says
of Frank, He cannot want money, he cannot want leisure. We know on the contrary that he
has much of both, that he is glad to get rid of them at the idlest haunts in the kingdom
(Austen, 112). Indeed, from going to London to get a haircut to inducing Jane to, place
herself, for his sake, in a situation of extreme difficulty and uneasiness (Austen 337) and
deceiving everyone in Highbury as to his real intentions, Frank indulges his will in almost
any way he pleases. In fact, even to the so called obstacle of his aunts opposition to his
wishes, Mr. Knightley believes that had Frank been in the habit of, following his duty
instead of consulting expediency (Austen, 114) and spoken out like a man of sense (italics
mine), their little minds would bend to his (Austen, 113).
However, because of the social norms governing the feminine gendered position, not
even the possibility of such luxury of speaking out and being heard is available to Jane.
Indeed, had she spoken out against being so shoddily teazed by Frank during their
engagement, she would have compromised her reputation and risked offending Frank, who
offered her (entirely in his terms) the only chance of being saved from the evil fate of
becoming a governess. Entrapped by her state of dependency, restricted from acting out her
wishes, Jane shrouds herself in a mantle of icy reserve. The contrast Austen is at pains to
draw between these two dependents is grossly obvious: whereas Janes dependency is
presented as, so calculated to affect one (Austen, 213) Franks dependency does not appear
to weigh on him heavily as does that of Janes. In fact, despite his dependent status, as Mr.
Knightleys declares Frank comes across as the happiest of mortalsthe favorite of fortune
(Austen, 324).

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Thus, underlying Jane Austens Emma the so called happiest of love storiesthe
matchless repository of English wit1, there is a strong sense of the fact that there is a
markedly grotesque discrepancy between the social codes and standards that apply to the
conduct of men and women in Austens contemporary England. As in the case of Frank and
Jane, these double standards are shown to favor the male rather than the female. However,
she presents these standards as so naturalized, as everyone so unquestioningly accepting
them, which draws attention to how male power was sanctioned and enshrined in the
Victorian society. Austen was no rebel who overtly criticized the strictures of patriarchy and
vocalized a desire for a gender equal society. She writes very much within the patriarchal
framework. Her feminism lies in her astute recognition of the limitations imposed on women
and her incisive vision that, in spite of writing within a patriarchal framework, did not miss
the manner in which women were subjugated in a male-dominated, male favoring world.

Works Cited.
Austen, Jane. Emma. England: Penguin, 1994.

1 Roland Blythes comment on Emma as published in the back cover of the Penguin edition
of the novel.