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Add YoursBecause “Emma” focuses so much on social interaction and society, conduct plays an extremely important role. Austen uses it as a way to measure worth in her characters, as well as establish which characters have behaved inappropriately. Although Emma is oblivious about her own faults for much of the novel, she is always very aware of appropriate conduct and manners in herself. She is also quick to recognize bad conduct in those around her, such as Mr. Elton, Mrs. Elton, Frank Churchill, and her own brother-in-law. Significantly, it is Emma’s realization of her bad conduct in insulting Miss Bates at the picnic at Box Hill that serves as a catalyst to her self-improvement toward the end of the novel. As a result of Frank Churchill’s influence, Emma had abandoned proper social conduct and symbolically lowered her status. She is forced to make amends to Miss Bates directly and, even then, is overcome with guilt. By the end of the novel, however, Emma is able to regain her sense of appropriate conduct and marries the only other character with equal awareness of manners and breeding: Mr. Knightley.
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