How Emma drew on Twelfth Night
A documented line of influence: Jane Austen demonstrably engaged William Shakespeare’s work. The commentary below is Gröblé’s, verbatim from each work’s page.
The source
Twelfth Night
William Shakespeare · c. 1601
ShakespeareThe influenced
Emma
Jane Austen · 1815
RomanticismRelevance
4/10
On Emma’s page
- Emma's self-deceiving misreading of Elton's charade is, scholars argue, Malvolio's letter scene rewritten as comedy of manners
- Both characters spin a flattering fantasy out of an ambiguous text and walk into public humiliation for it — Box Hill is Emma's exposure
- Knowing how Shakespeare punishes Malvolio's vanity sharpens what Austen is doing to her heroine
On Twelfth Night’s page
- Austen was the "prose Shakespeare," steeply read in the plays — and scholars read Malvolio's downfall straight into Emma
- Malvolio misreads Maria's planted letter into a fantasy of being loved; Emma misreads Mr. Elton's charade exactly the same way, building a romance out of her own vanity