Ah, the seduction of the nuclear family! What parallels are there between Fanny in MP and Harriet I wonder? Additionally, Emma and Harriet are perhaps more similar than Emma realizes as both women choose marital partners with the concern of familial acquisition or preservation in the end.

Like a shiny kettle! I'm more and more curious about the way Emma- however consciously- objectifies Harriet throughout the novel through the lens of both class and internalized misogyny. What Emma most valued in Harriet (at least initially) is her beauty and her mailability. Freud would probably have something to say about penis envy here honestly as the way Emma superimposes herself into Harriet's life as her keeper echoes the way Mr. Knightley administers unsolicited guidance to Emma on the basis of age and- more significantly- gender.

The poor do not deserve to observe beauty? Maybe not that, but there's the social elevation of a pretty face again. Emma's inner thoughts about Harriet reveal a lot about how she esteems female value within her societal constraints.

What a magpie! Jokes aside, this is very interesting as one thing Austen explores throughout her novels (most explicitly in P&P perhaps) is the currency of beauty- and more specifically- to what degree female beauty can offer social mobility.

Is the fact that Frank Churchill, the product of Mr. Weston's first marriage, is the effective villain a critique of imprudent marriage? Or more specifically a union that disrupts an existing family structure? By them marrying, the late Miss Churchill and Mr. Weston created a rift with her family and their son Frank Churchill will later reveal himself in this novel to be duplicitous and inattentive to familial responsibility and honor. Lends a sort of "live by the sword, die by the sword" note to a potential cause for Frank's behavior. He is also the foil to the stable patriarch Mr. Knightley presents in that sense. In some ways, Emma chooses family above all else by marrying Mr. Knightley. Especially as it is also understood that- realistically- her sole friend will be largely unavailable to her at the end of the novel when neither of them are single women any longer- and due to class separation now that Emma has admitted Harriet is not a secret lady of nobility. What also does it mean that Emma so struggles with what could be equitable relationships- moreso with Jane Fairfax who she envies- but is more comfortable in the patriarchal oversight of Knightley?

Is there an added element of an overriding imbalance of class (even over age) here that also contributes to Miss Taylor's lack of authority with Emma?

It is interesting that one of Emma's first intimate friends- outside of her sister- is employed by the family and Miss Taylor would on some level have to comply to Emma's whims as the daughter of her employer. I wonder how this influences the dynamics of Emma's relationship with Harriet later in the novel.