MovieChat Forums > Emma (2010) Discussion > Was the chair recovering in the book or ...

Was the chair recovering in the book or just in the miniseries?

posted 13 years ago by jennyallworthy
4 replies | jump to latest

I was just on a blog (http://janitesonthejames.blogspot.com/) where they were wondering why there were chairs on the gorgeous cover of the new Clothbound Penguin Classics Emma book. I of course chimed in that it was from the scene where Emma decides to recover Mr. Knightley's chair which she hasn't noticed the shabbiness of because he always sits in it (when he has gone to London to forget her). I can't find this in the book however. I know there are Jane Austen experts who visit this site and might know the answer to my question off the top of their head.

So...was it Jane Austen's scene or was it Sandy Welch's scene?

By the way, all of the new cloth hardcover Penguin Classics books are gorgeous and they all have different graphics on the covers. Great Christmas gifts!

And for what it's worth, this is my favourite version of Emma!

http://janeaustenfilmclub.blogspot.com

I dearly love a laugh.

[–] Ilario1 13 years ago

That is a very nice blog. Sorry I don't know the answer to your question.

But rest assured there are plenty of Austen experts who post here that can tell you.

"What happens to a dream deferred?"

[–] Flippitygibbit 13 years ago

I have the Penguin Classics editions of P+P, S+S and Emma - and yes, they were Christmas gifts!

In answer to your question, I don't think Emma's comment about Mr Knightley's chair comes from the novel, which I've read a few times - although, Sandy Welch is brilliant at picking up stray lines and descriptions in Austen's text and elaborating on them for the screen! But in my opinion, the chairs on the cover of the hardback edition represent the house, or home life, as Emma is a very domestic novel centred around Hartfield.

"Tony, if you talk that rubbish, I shall be forced to punch your head" - Lord Tony's Wife, Orczy

[–] Purple_Converse 13 years ago

Yea I don't think the chair line was in the novel either. I think it was put in there to convey how empty their house (and lives) felt without Knightley and how used to having him around they were!

I hope your apple pie is freakin' WORTH IT!!!

[–] Jes' Sayin' (6543) a month ago

The chair wasn't recovering in the book; it was recovering on the floor where it belonged.