Society can be a well-oiled machine, or a burden that is heavy on individuals. In Jane Austen’s novel “Emma”, society is presented as almost an idyllic portrait of the way people should be. It encompasses and endorses manners, social class, and harmony between people. It can be assumed that Austen believed an individual to be complete only when integrated in society, not alone. In other words, people make and have the power to make a society a good one. Social class is a huge part of a good society in the book. All throughout the story the classes of the individual characters are understood and accepted as a part of society. Some class mobility is possible, but is not accepted by everyone. Social class is still a factor in our society today.…show more content… People are civil and well behaved when they exude politeness and manners. Society in “Emma” very much commends manners. Without manners, a person is rude and is almost shunned in social situations. A good example of manners in the book is when Mr. Elton and Mr. Knightley were attending Mrs. Weston’s drawing room party (pg. 118). In order for everyone to enjoy themselves, Mr. Elton had to tame his elated feelings of Emma and Mr. Knightley had make it seem as if he wanted to be present, though he hated being there. Manners are closely tied with feelings and contribute to how people act. In this case, Mr. Elton and Mr. Knightley had to change their outward manners to match those of their fellow party guests even though their inward feelings were completely different. Unfortunately, manners are not as important in today’s society. People are not as interested in how others are feeling and therefore do not care to have manners. In order to have a good and functioning society, I think manners are an important piece to the puzzle. If we are all content in acting the way that most benefits ourselves or makes ourselves feel better, then we revert to barbarians and no longer deserve the title of “human being”. Manners create harmony between people and promote the development as individuals and as a whole