"He Does Not Read?" Emma's Robert Martin

Of course, Robert Martin does read as Harriet hesitantly points out. If he has not (yet) read The Romance of the Forest or The Children of the Abbey, he does read the Agricultural Reports, the Elegant Extracts, and The Vicar of Wakefield. What is in these books, and how does Jane Austen use Robert Martin’s reading to help us understand his character and his role in Emma?

Susan Allen Ford has been Editor of Persuasions and Persuasions On-Line since 2006. She is Professor of English Emerita at Delta State University and has published essays on Jane Austen and her contemporaries, the gothic, detective fiction, and Shakespeare. Her 2024 book, What Jane Austen’s Characters Read (and Why), explores the works mentioned in Austen’s novels to examine the intersections among a variety of readers: Austen’s characters, her contemporary readers, and readers today. Susan is a frequent cohost for Jane Austen & Co.…