Emma

SCENE 1 -HIGHBURY

NARRATOR:

In a time when one's town was one's town was one's world...and the actions

at a dance excited greater interest than the movement of armies, there

lived a young woman, who knew how this world should be runned.

EMMA:

The most beautiful thing in the world is a match well made, and a happy

marriage to you both.

MRS WESTON:

Oh, thank you Emma. Your painting grows more accomplished every day.

EMMA:

You are very kind, but it would be all the better if I had practiced my

drawing more, as you urged me.

MRS WESTON:

It's very beautiful.

MR ELTON:

I should never take sides against you, Miss Woodhouse, but your friend is

right. It is indeed a job well done.

EMMA:

The job well done, Mr Elton was yours in performing the ceremony.

MR WOODHOUSE:

Must the church be so drafty, Mr Elton? It is very difficult to surrender

the soul when one is worried about one's throat.

MR ELTON:

Perhaps some tea and cake would revive you, Mr Woodhouse.

MR WOODHOUSE:

Miss Taylor! Surely you are not serving cake at your wedding! Far too rich!

You put us all at peril. And I am not alone in feeling so. Where is Mr

Penning, the apothecary, he will support me.

MRS WESTON:

He's over there, Mr Woodhouse, having some cake.

MR WOODHOUSE:

What?!

EMMA:

I have to take father home, but dear Miss Taylor-Oh, no! You are dear Miss

Taylor no more! You are dear Mrs Weston now! And how happy this must make

you. Such happiness this brings to all of us.

MRS WESTON:

My dear Emma!

SCENE 2-HARTFIELD

MR WOODHOUSE:

Poor Miss Taylor! She was so happy here. Why should she give up being your

governess, only to be married?

EMMA:

I am grown now. She cannot put up with my ill humors forever. She must wish

for children of her own.

MR WOODHOUSE:

You have no ill humors. Your own mother, God rest her, could be no more

real than Miss Taylor. Can she truly wish to give life to a mewling infant

who will import disease each time it enters the house? No, I say poor Miss

Taylor, and poor indeed she is.

MR KNIGHTLEY:

As an old friend of the family, I had to ask as soon as I got back: Who

cried the most at the wedding?

(later)

EMMA:

And how is my sister? Is your brother giving her the respect we Woodhouse

ladies deserve?

MR WOODHOUSE:

Poor Isabella. She was the first to leave me. No doubt that is where Miss

Taylor got the notion to go.

MR KNIGHTLEY:

Don't be too hard on Miss Taylor. It must be easier for her to have only

one to please than two.

EMMA:

Especially when one of us is such a troublesome creature.

MR WOODHOUSE:

Yes, I am. Most troublesome.

EMMA:

Dear papa, I could never mean you! Mr Knightley loves to find fault with

me, that's all. It's his idea of a joke.

MR KNIGHTLEY:

I am practically a brother to you Emma. It is not a brother's job to find

fault with his sister?

MR WOODHOUSE:

But where is the fault with you? Emma bears it well, but she is most sorry

to lose Miss Taylor.

MR KNIGHTLEY:

We would not like Emma so well if she did not miss her friend.

MR WOODHOUSE:

Thank you.

EMMA:

I shall miss her so. I do not know what I shall do without her.

MR KNIGHTLEY:

She's not far.

MR WOODHOUSE:

Almost half a mile.

EMMA:

Her obligations are there now. She cannot sit and talk with me in the old

way, or walk with me, or urge me to better myself.

MR KNIGHTLEY:

Well, that should not matter, as you always did just as you pleased.

EMMA:

Yes, but I shall miss her urging me. She was a selfless a friend as I have

ever had, and I hope to say someday that I have done half so much for

someone as Mrs Weston did for me.

MR KNIGHTLEY:

You must be happy that she settled so well.

EMMA:

Indeed! One matter of joy in this is that I made the match myself. People

said Mr Weston would never marry again, and what a triumph!

MR KNIGHTLEY:

Triumph! You made a lucky guess!

EMMA:

Have you never known a triumph from a lucky guess? Had I not promoted Mr

Weston's visits, and given encouragement where encouragement was needed, we

might not have had a wedding today.

MR WOODHOUSE:

Then please, my dear, encourage nowhere else. Marriage is so disrupting to

one's social circle.

EMMA:

Only one more, papa. When Mr Elton joined their hands today, he looked very

much like he would like the same kind of office performed for him.

MR KNIGHTLEY:

*sigh*

MR WOODHOUSE:

Invite him for dinner. That is kindness enough.

MR KNIGHTLEY:

Mr Elton is a man of twenty-six. He knows how to take care of himself.

EMMA:

One does not like to generalize about so many people all at once, Mr

Knightley, but you may be sure that men know nothing of their hearts,

whether they be six and twenty, or six and eighty. Except you, of course,

father. No, Mr Elton will be the next person to benefit from my help.

MR KNIGHTLEY:

Poor Miss Taylor indeed! 'Tis Mr Elton which deserves our pity.

SCENE 3-PARTY AT HARTFIELD

EMMA:

Mr Elton! Welcome to our party!

MR ELTON:

Yes, Miss Woodhouse, thank you indeed for including me. A party is a party,

but a party on a summers eve...

EMMA:

It relieves my mind very much that you are here, for there is someone new

in our group. Her name is Harriet Smith, and she is a former pupil of Mrs

Goddard. I had never met Miss Smith before this evening, and am already

struck by her charm. I wonder if I might ask you to make certain she is at

ease throughout the evening.

MR ELTON:

If helping Miss Smith would help Miss Woodhouse, then I am happy to be of

service.

EMMA:

Come, I shall make the introduction.

MISS BATES:

Miss Woodhouse! We've come quite overpowered!

EMMA:

Oh, Mrs Bates, Miss Bates, so happy you could co-

MISS BATES:

No, we are the happy ones- well, ho do you do Mr Elton? We are the happy

ones. Not only to be here tonight, but also for the beautiful hindquarter

of pork you sent us. It has been heaven itself. What a happy porker it must

have come from! {laugh} We are so obliged for you sending it to us. (To Mrs

Bates) PORK!. (To Emma and Mr Elton) And we're so obliged for you having us

tonight, very much indeed. I was just saying to mother, 'we should be

invited' and indeed we are. Oh, doesn't your hair look pretty? Just like an

angel. (To Mrs Bates) ANGEL, mother. (to Emma and Mr Elton) Oh, speaking of

angels, Mr Elton, your sermon on Daniel in the Lion's Den was so inspiring,

so powerful in all it's particulars, it left us speechless. Quite

speechless, I tell you, and we have not stopped talking of it since. Oh,

isn't this a lovely party? Lovely, lovely, lovely!

(another part of the party)

MR KNIGHTLEY:

Where will you live, now that you have completed your education?

HARRIET:

Mrs Goddard is being kind enough to let me stay on with her.

MRS GODDARD:

She's a great help to me. If you'll excuse me.

EMMA:

Mr Knightley!

MR KNIGHTLEY:

Ah, Emma. I wondered where you were. Now I see you've been hard at work.

-Making Mr Elton comfortable.

EMMA:

Yes, Mr Knightley but I have been remiss in doing the one thing that should

give him the greatest of entitlement. Mr Elton! May I present Miss Smith.

MR ELTON:

Any friend of Miss Woodhouse's...

(later)

EMMA:

Mr Weston, have you had any news of your son?

MR WESTON:

Oh, indeed! Miss Smith. I was married many years ago to a woman whose life

was lost to illness just three years after the birth of our son, Frank. As

I could not see to my buisness and care for the infant, I allowed him to be

brought up by my wife's brother, and his wife, the Churchills. He lives in

London, now a young man, and has never been here. His aunt is not well, and

she does not care to be without him.

MRS WESTON:

His coming would be the final blessing for our marriage.

HARRIET:

How lucky to have been twice blessed in marriage! It has been my belief

that one loves only once. I am happy to be wrong.

MR WESTON:

Not so happy as I, Miss Smith.

MRS WESTON:

I had the most pleasing letter from him on the occasion of our marriage. I

have it here if anyone would care to see it.

(later, as the letter filters through the party members)

MISS BATES:

A most charming and kindly letter. Don't you think so, mother? (to Mr

Knightley) Have you ever read such a letter, Mr Knightley? Do you know,

this reminds me of Jane's style, somewhat more delicate style. Which is

more usual in a woman, but a good sign in a man, I think.

MR WOODHOUSE:

Nicely expressed. But it sounds as though he eats a worrisome amount of

custard!

MRS GODDARD:

It's not merely the feeling in it. The penmanship is so confident.

(later)

EMMA:

Isn't Miss Smith delightful? I watched her throughout the evening with

continuous pleasure. She is uncertain of her surroundings, yet I though

perhaps I could be of service to her and undertake her introduction into

Highbury society. I could never presume to guide her as you did me, but

perhaps I might share a little of what I know.

MRS WESTON:

She could ask for nothing better. Come, Mr Weston, I must write to your

son. Good night, Mr Woodhouse!

MR WESTON:

Good night, Mr Woodhouse! Good night, Emma! Thank you for a wonderful

dinner!

MR WOODHOUSE:

Good night Miss Taylor!

EMMA:

Good night, Mrs Weston! Mr Weston!

MR WESTON:

Good night!

MR WOODHOUSE:

Poor Miss Taylor. She so obviously wanted to stay.

SCENE 4-HIGHBURY

EMMA:

How interesting, Miss Smith. And what kind of people are your parents.

HARRIET:

I do not know. Mrs Goddard has said that I cannot know them, and so I have

left it at that. Because of her attentions over the years, Mrs Goddard has

been my true guardian.

EMMA:

Hurry along, dear. It's Miss Bates coming. As it is Tuesday, she will have

a letter from her niece Jane Fairfax, and she will want to read us every

word about her.

HARRIET:

Oh, I do not know Miss Fairfax!

EMMA:

There's not much to be said for her. When pressed, I say she is elegant.

SCENE 5-HIGHBURY

HARRIET:

Besides you, and Mrs Goddard, hmm...The only other people I know here are

the Martins, at Abbymill Farm. Mrs Martin had TWO parlors, an oven maid,

and EIGHT cows! Mr Martin used to cut fresh flowers every day.

EMMA:

How lucky for Mrs Martin to have such an agreeable husband!

HARRIET:

Oh, Miss Woodhouse, Mr Martin is not her husband, he is her son!

EMMA:

Ah! I see. Then he is...unmarried.

HARRIET:

Mmm, but I cannot understand why. He seems perfect in every particular. He

brought me walnuts once, and went three miles to get them just because he

heard me say I liked them. Wasn't that kind? OH!

(later)

EMMA:

Tell me more about Mr Martin. Is he a man of information?

HARRIET:

Oh, yes! He reads the agricultural reports, and I recommended he read The

Romance of the Forest, and he said he would.

EMMA:

And what sort of looking man is he?

HARRIET:

I thought him very plain at first, but I do not think so now. Have you

never seen him when he is in town?

EMMA:

Only the Martins are the sort of people with whom I have nothing to do

with. A degree or two lower, and I might be useful to their families. But a

farmer needs none of my help, and is therefore as much above my notice as

he is below it. In fact, whenever-

HARRIET:

Miss Woodhouse! There he is now! How do I look?

EMMA:

Fine, dear. Good enough I'm sure for Mr Martin.

MR MARTIN:

Good day! Well, this is a bit of a chance, isn't it?

HARRIET:

Good day, Mr Martin. Miss Woodhouse, may I present Mr Martin? This is Miss

Woodhouse.

MR MARTIN:

Good day-How do you do?

HARRIET:

Were you able to find The Romance of the Forest?

MR MARTIN:

Oh, blast! I forgot, but I'll go again tomorrow, and I will make every

effort to get that thought into my head.

HARRIET:

How is your mother?

EMMA (thinking)

Really, Harriet, you can do better than this.

SCENE 6-SEWING AT HARTFIELD

EMMA:

If you pull this way, dear, you'll find it makes a neater stitch.

HARRIET:

Oh, of course! May I ask what you thought of my friend, Robert Martin?

EMMA:

Well, dear, I imagined him a degree nearer gentility.

HARRIET:

True, he's not so genteel as Mr Knightley, but-

EMMA:

No, there are not one in a hundred men with 'gentleman' written so plainly

across him as Mr Knightley. But let us judge him next to another man, oh,

say...Mr Elton! Mr Elton is a fine man, thoughtful in ways Mr Martin can

never be.

HARRIET:

Miss Woodhouse, whatever his faults, Mr Martin is thoughtful.

EMMA:

I see. Did he take your advice, and get the book you asked him to read?

HARRIET:

Well, no.

EMMA:

Yes.

HARRIET:

Yes. I wonder that he did not remember it.

EMMA:

Oh, well. Mr Elton said something very kind about you the other day.

HARRIET:

Can you not tell me what it was?

EMMA:

Oh! It's not my place to intrude upon personal matters. But as your friend,

I could make an exception, if you wish. I heard him....

SCENE 7-HIGHBURY CHAPEL

MR ELTON:

Miss Smith was always a beautiful creature, but the attractions you have

added are far superior.

EMMA:

Oh, I have done very little.

MR ELTON:

Were it permissible to contradict a lady.

EMMA:

I cannot take credit for her beauty, nor her sweetness, or-

MR ELTON:

An idea has just dropped into my head, surely from heaven itself. What if

you were to exercise your artistic talents and draw a portrait of Miss

Smith? Oh, I would love to watch you draw her.

EMMA:

Mr Elton, my skills are slender indeed, and we must not forget how shy Miss

Smith is.

MR ELTON:

Do you think it would help if I asked her to pose?

SCENE 8-HIGHBURY

MR ELTON:

Oh, Miss Woodhouse, may I look, please? I cannot wait another second.

Incredible! You have expressed her completely!

EMMA:

Mr Elton, really! You exaggerate!

MR ELTON:

Indeed, I do not! Nor cannot!

EMMA:

The reason that I have not done a portrait in so long is the spouse of the

subject always complains. As there are no husbands or wives here, I trust I

may proceed safely.

MR ELTON:

No husbands or wives at present, Miss Woodhouse.

MR KNIGHTLEY:

You've made her too tall.

MR ELTON:

It may not be Miss Smith's height in terms of measurement, but it's surely

the height of her character.

(later)

MR WOODHOUSE:

My dear, I would paint a shawl on her, as one can't help feeling that she

will catch cold! Otherwise, it is quite splendid. It only wants a suitable

frame. We will have to get it to London.

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