Even if we insist that it is not true, our choices, our actions and our thoughts are rarely uninfluenced by the conditions in which we find ourselves born. Our culture and society play an important role in who we become, shaping our opinions and worldview from birth. This truth is no better illustrated than in Jane Austen's Emma. In Emma, ​​Austen uses narrative style, characterization, and plot puns to illustrate the ever-present power of hierarchical control. Emma's plot seemingly revolves around the superficial theme of strategic matchmaking. But while this is an important aspect of Emma, ​​it primarily serves as a catalyst to illustrate the much larger idea of ​​societal authority present in the novel. Puns play a huge role in Emma's plot development. “...Emma is itself a play on words, anagrammatic in theme...and plot structure” (Grey 181). Wordplay in Emma involves matching and rearranging verbal characters. This mirrors the plot of the book, where characters are paired up and rearranged into potential marriage partners. (Gray 181). In the same way that rearranging alphabet tiles changes their meaning, different pairs in Emma demonstrate different aspects of the individual's character. Emma's theme is expressed through puns by the games' requirement to follow the rules. Emma's society is based on strict adherence to the rules dictated by the "middle-class aristocracy" (Grossman 1). Likewise, word games rely on following the rules, and when the rules of the game are broken, it usually coincides with the breaking of the rules of the social game. Frank and Emma break social rules when they obviously gossip about Jane Fairfax and mock her attachment to Mr. Dixon by spelling ...... middle of paper ...... "ized" consciousness: Richardson, Austen and Stylistic Influence." Style Spring 2001: 18+. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. March 21, 2012. Byrne, Sandie. "Jane Austen's Emma." British Writers Classics 1. (2003): 65-86. Reference Library Gale Web. March 20, 2012. Ferguson, Frances. “Jane Austen, Emma and the Impact of Form.” Modern Language Quarterly 61.1 (2000): 157. Gale Student Resources In Context. , BC Southam and H. Abigail. The Jane Austen Companion New York: Macmillan, 1986. Grossman, Jonathan H. "The Work of Leisure in Emma: Class, Manners and Austen" Studies in Family Planning 30.3 (1999): 143. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. March 21, 2012. Hale, John K. "Austen's 'Emma'." The Explainer 59.3 (2001): 122. Gale Student Resources in Context. Internet. March 20. 2012.