Emma
Mrs. Elton
The boastful new bride
Mr. Elton's wealthy, pretentious wife, who arrives in Highbury sure that she knows best. She is Emma's chief annoyance.
Augusta Elton, formerly Miss Hawkins of Bristol, arrives in Highbury as a bride with tens of thousands of pounds and a great opinion of herself. She is boastful and condescending, and she never stops mentioning her brother Mr. Suckling's grand house at Maple Grove.
She means to rule local society. She calls Mr. Knightley by his surname without ceremony, and she announces that she will take Jane Fairfax under her wing. Emma finds her insufferable, and Mrs. Elton does not notice.
“My brother Mr. Suckling's seat at Maple Grove is quite magnificent, you know.”
In the story
Contains spoilers.
Mrs. Elton arrives and compares Surrey to Maple Grove. Emma tells Mr. Knightley she is insufferable, and he gently asks her to be patient with newcomers. She appears at the strawberry party at Donwell Abbey and at Box Hill, where she is part of the party that falls into awkward silence.
She remains a trial for Emma and Jane, but she is a comic figure more than a danger. In the end, her patronage does not hold up against the real affection of Highbury's friends.
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