In 1816, when Jane Austen wrote Emma, there were no movies or television; literature was a great source of entertainment so everyone. In a lot of ways, Emma seems like a major predecessor to a lot of today's modern romantic comedies: there's a boy and a girl, they disagree about everything, they're polar opposites, they fall for each other but neither wants to admit it, and then there's that moment towards the end where they realize that they can't live without one another. The quote above is that moment in Emma.
I decided to make a little art quote with this quote because I thought that is was really interesting, romantic, and true to Emma as a character. Emma spends almost the entirety of the novel misinterpreting her own emotions about love. She thinks that she will never be in love or get married, but she doesn't realize that she's been in love with Mr. Knightley. Emma only arrives at this realization out of jealousy; she finds out that Harriet has feelings for Mr. Knightley and fears the prospect of losing him. While it seems kind of shallow that Emma only realizes she loves Knightley because she's jealous, it's true of Emma's character. She makes decisions based on flighty reasoning, like matching Elton and Harriet or flirting with Frank Churchill. But in this quote is also this sense of self-awareness; Emma is finally free of misdirection, no longer focusing on making matches for Harriet. She has to focus on herself and when she does, she understands the way that she feels: she loves Mr. Knightley. This is a big step for Emma in the right direction and she is changing for the better; she know has to focus on understanding herself rather than trying to meddle in other people's relationships.
I decided to make a little art quote with this quote because I thought that is was really interesting, romantic, and true to Emma as a character. Emma spends almost the entirety of the novel misinterpreting her own emotions about love. She thinks that she will never be in love or get married, but she doesn't realize that she's been in love with Mr. Knightley. Emma only arrives at this realization out of jealousy; she finds out that Harriet has feelings for Mr. Knightley and fears the prospect of losing him. While it seems kind of shallow that Emma only realizes she loves Knightley because she's jealous, it's true of Emma's character. She makes decisions based on flighty reasoning, like matching Elton and Harriet or flirting with Frank Churchill. But in this quote is also this sense of self-awareness; Emma is finally free of misdirection, no longer focusing on making matches for Harriet. She has to focus on herself and when she does, she understands the way that she feels: she loves Mr. Knightley. This is a big step for Emma in the right direction and she is changing for the better; she know has to focus on understanding herself rather than trying to meddle in other people's relationships.