‘Emma hung about him affectionately’ for Jane Austen's "Emma" (1905) by Hugh Thomson (p. 421, Chapter LIII)

Emma hung about him affectionately

Hugh Thomson

1905

Photomechanical reproduction of a pen-and-ink drawing

13 by 8.5 cm (5 ¼ by 3 ⅜ inches), vignetted

Jane Austen, Emma, facing page 414.

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Passage Illustrated: Emma hung about her father affectionately

Poor man! — it was at first a considerable shock to him, and he tried earnestly to dissuade her from it. She was reminded, more than once, of having always said she would never marry, and assured that it would be a great deal better for her to remain single; and told of poor Isabella, and poor Miss Taylor. — But it would not do. Emma hung about him affectionately, and smiled, and said it must be so; and that he must not class her with Isabella and Mrs. Weston, whose marriages taking them from Hartfield, had, indeed, made a melancholy change: but she was not going from Hartfield; she should be always there; she was introducing no change in their numbers or their comforts but for the better; and she was very sure that he would be a great deal the happier for having Mr. Knightley always at hand, when he were once got used to the idea. — Did he not love Mr. Knightley very much? — He would not deny that he did, she was sure. — Whom did he ever want to consult on business but Mr. Knightley? — Who was so useful to him, who so ready to write his letters, who so glad to assist him? — Who so cheerful, so attentive, so attached to him? — Would not he like to have him always on the spot? — Yes. That was all very true. Mr. Knightley could not be there too often; he should be glad to see him every day; — but they did see him every day as it was. — Why could not they go on as they had done? [Chapter LIII, 419-421]

Commentary: Emma's adjusting not merely pillows, but her father to the marriage

After all, isn't Mr. Knightley already at Hartfield on most days anyway? The answer is, of course, that Emma's husband will come to live with her at Hartfield, relinquishing day-to-day control of his own, much larger estate some miles away, on the other side of Highbury. Nevertheless, Mr. Woodhouse hopes to put the wedding off for a year or two, and Emma here is bent on mollifying him.

C. E. Brock in 1898 offered a more sentimental rendering of this proposal scene in his full-page colour plate featuring an equally charming but somewhat abashed Emma, Poor man! — it was at first a considerable shock to him. (page 332). Here, Emma's father looks decidedly frail and emotionally disturbed, looking at her as if he cannot comprehend how she could go back on her promise not to marry as long as her widower-father is alive. She for her part toys with the ribbon on her dress and looks down, as if embarrassed to be broaching the plan with her fragile parent.

The reader might well conclude that, despite the fact that the titles come from approximately the same place in the chapter, Thomson is realising a moment just before Emma breaks the news to Mr. Woodhouse, whereas Brock has clearly chosen the moment immediately afterward. We note that the effect of the screen enclosing her father in Thomson's treatment seems to suggest he must be protected from threatening drafts, and that, as yet, he appears undisturbed as Emma, smiling, kindly adjusts his pillow for him, and prepares to sit down and confide in him.

Related Material

Bibliography

Austen, Jane. Emma. Ed. Austin Dobson. With forty pen-and-ink illustrations by Hugh Thomson. The Novels of Jane Austen. London: Macmillan, 1896, rpt. 1905.

Austen, Jane. Emma. Ed. R. Brimley Johnson. With coloured illustrations by C. E. Brock. The Novels and Letters of Jane Austen. 2 vols. New York & Philadelphia: Frank S. Holby, 1906.

Austen, Jane. Emma. Ed. George Justice. 4th edition. New York: W. W. Norton, 2011.

Austen, Jane. Emma: An Annotated Edition. Ed. Bharat Tandon. Cambridge, Mass., and London: Belknap Press of Harvard U. P., 2012.

Last modified 8 June 2026