--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is always incomprehensible to a man…" description: "\"“It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage. A man always imagines a woman to be ready for any body wh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/918/jane-austen-39_emma_it-is-always-incomprehensible-to-a-man-t_1649418.jpg" --- # It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should… ![“It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage. A man always imagines a woman to be ready for any body who asks her.” quote by Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/918/jane-austen-39_emma_it-is-always-incomprehensible-to-a-man-t_1649418.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/918/jane-austen-39_emma_it-is-always-incomprehensible-to-a-man-t_1649418.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/918/jane-austen-39_emma_it-is-always-incomprehensible-to-a-man-t_1649418.jpg) > ““It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage. A man always imagines a woman to be ready for any body who asks her.”” [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Women are often expected to accept marriage proposals without agency, reflecting patriarchal assumptions about female availability. **In simple terms:** Women are assumed to always say yes to marriage proposals. Key Takeaway Recognize and respect women's autonomy in relationships. Themes gender roles marriage expectations patriarchy Mood frustration critical Type social commentary feminist When to use this quote - courtship - dating - family pressure - career decisions Key Concepts social norms agency consent Questions to Reflect On - How do cultural expectations shape women's choices? - What alternatives exist to marriage as a life goal? A Different Perspective Assumes all women desire marriage, ignoring diverse life choices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emma/) [Incomprehensible Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incomprehensible-man-637686/) [Man Woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-woman/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Marriage Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage-man/) [Offer Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/offer-marriage-637685/) [Woman Refuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woman-refuse-637687/) ## Related quotes > [It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-is-always-incomprehensible-to-a-man-that-a-woman-should-ever/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Oh! to be sure," cried Emma, "it is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/oh-to-be-sure-cried-emma-it-is-always-incomprehensible-to-a-man-that/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [The most incomprehensible thing in the world to a man, is a woman who rejects his offer of marriage!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-most-incomprehensible-thing-in-the-world-to-a-man-is-a-woman-who/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [If God is incomprehensible to man, it would seem rational never to think of Him at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-meslier/if-god-is-incomprehensible-to-man-it-would-seem-rational-never-to/) [Jean Meslier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-meslier/) > [I believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-mcconnell/i-believe-that-marriage-should-be-between-one-man-and-one-woman/) [Mitch McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-mcconnell/) > [My thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-thoughts-are-that-marriage-is-between-a-man-and-a-woman/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I think that gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-schwarzenegger/i-think-that-gay-marriage-is-something-that-should-be-between-a-man/) [Arnold Schwarzenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-schwarzenegger/) > [I think that gay marriage should be between a man and a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-schwarzenegger/i-think-that-gay-marriage-should-be-between-a-man-and-a-woman/) [Arnold Schwarzenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-schwarzenegger/) > [I believe a marriage is between a man and a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-believe-a-marriage-is-between-a-man-and-a-woman/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [I think gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-schwarzenegger/i-think-gay-marriage-is-something-that-should-be-between-a-man-and-a/) [Arnold Schwarzenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-schwarzenegger/) > [I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-believe-marriage-is-between-a-man-and-a-woman-i-am-not-in-favor-of/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [I think a marriage is as a marriage has always been, between a man and a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-think-a-marriage-is-as-a-marriage-has-always-been-between-a-man-and/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Well, you know, I just - I believe marriage should between a man and a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-osteen/well-you-know-i-just-i-believe-marriage-should-between-a-man-and-a/) [Victoria Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-osteen/) > [I've made it abundantly clear that I think that marriage is between a man and a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-handel/i-ve-made-it-abundantly-clear-that-i-think-that-marriage-is-between-a/) [Karen Handel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-handel/) > [You know, I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carly-fiorina/you-know-i-believe-that-marriage-is-between-a-man-and-a-woman/) [Carly Fiorina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carly-fiorina/) ## More by Jane Austen > [Let us have the luxury of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/let-us-have-the-luxury-of-silence/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“How earnestly did she then wish that her former opinions had been more reasonable, more moderate!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/how-earnestly-did-she-then-wish-that-her-former-opinions-had-been/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“it is very well worth-while to be tormented for two or three years of one's life, for the sake of being able to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-is-very-well-worth-while-to-be-tormented-for-two-or-three-years-of/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [ “Everybody is taken in at some period or another. \[...\] In marriage especially. \[...\] There is not one in a hundred of either sex,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/everybody-is-taken-in-at-some-period-or-another-in-marriage/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [She knew that what Marianne and her mother conjectured one moment, they believed the next: that with them, to wish was to hope, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/she-knew-that-what-marianne-and-her-mother-conjectured-one-moment/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“…for I look upon the Frasers to be about as unhappy as most other married people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/for-i-look-upon-the-frasers-to-be-about-as-unhappy-as-most-other/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“It raises my spleen more than any thing, to have the pretence of being asked, of being given a choice, and at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-raises-my-spleen-more-than-any-thing-to-have-the-pretence-of-being/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [her spirits wanted the solitude and silence which only numbers could give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/her-spirits-wanted-the-solitude-and-silence-which-only-numbers-could/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“But in such cases as these a good memory is unpardonable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/but-in-such-cases-as-these-a-good-memory-is-unpardonable/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“...the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-pleasantness-of-an-employment-does-not-always-evince-its-propriety/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity are not worth a regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/such-squeamish-youths-as-cannot-bear-to-be-connected-with-a-little/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“I must tell you what you will not ask, though I may wish it unsaid the next moment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-must-tell-you-what-you-will-not-ask-though-i-may-wish-it-unsaid-the/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Lady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer; and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/lady-catherine-seemed-quite-astonished-at-not-receiving-a-direct/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“He had suffered, and he had learnt to think, two advantages that he had never known before…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/he-had-suffered-and-he-had-learnt-to-think-two-advantages-that-he-had/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Eliot's character; vanity of person and of situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/vanity-was-the-beginning-and-the-end-of-sir-walter-eliot-s-character/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) [Explore all 2,013 Jane Austen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## More Emma quotes > [And you can't complain about kissing Emma Watson. Isn't that what everyone in the world wants to do? I've known Emma for a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-redmayne/and-you-can-t-complain-about-kissing-emma-watson-isn-t-that-what/) [Eddie Redmayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-redmayne/) > [Emma was a shocking driver, simultaneously sloppy and petrified, and for the first fifty miles had been absent-mindedly driving with her spectacles on top…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/emma-was-a-shocking-driver-simultaneously-sloppy-and-petrified-and/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [For a moment he could have sworn he smelled violets, which was very peculiar, since he had no idea what violets smelled like, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/for-a-moment-he-could-have-sworn-he-smelled-violets-which-was-very/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [I really want to work with Emma Stone; she is adorable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-fuhrman/i-really-want-to-work-with-emma-stone-she-is-adorable/) [Isabelle Fuhrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-fuhrman/) > [“But one thing I do know, you don't screw with crazy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandy-nacole/but-one-thing-i-do-know-you-don-t-screw-with-crazy/) [Brandy Nacole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandy-nacole/) > [Gustave Flaubert said, "Emma Bovary, c'est moi." It is not possible to write something you are not, but to have a new form, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lore-segal/gustave-flaubert-said-emma-bovary-c-est-moi-it-is-not-possible-to/) [Lore Segal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lore-segal/) > [“Yours if you want it." - Julian to Emma.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-duran/yours-if-you-want-it-julian-to-emma/) [Meredith Duran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-duran/) > [“Whenever you are transplanted, like me, you will understand how very delightful it is to meet with anything at all like what one has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/whenever-you-are-transplanted-like-me-you-will-understand-how-very/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Emma was no asleep, she was pretending to be asleep; and, while he was dozing off at her side, she lay awake, dreaming other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/emma-was-no-asleep-she-was-pretending-to-be-asleep-and-while-he-was/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“The heart is a strange thing," Evelyn said, staring off into space. "It can be broken easily and takes a long time to mend,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-holman/the-heart-is-a-strange-thing-evelyn-said-staring-off-into-space-it/) [Sarah Holman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-holman/) > [Emma Rothschild's magnificently researched and lucidly written book reveals the many connections and layers of empire without in any way undermining the less edifying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudrangshu-mukherjee/emma-rothschild-s-magnificently-researched-and-lucidly-written-book/) [Rudrangshu Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudrangshu-mukherjee/) > [Emma, I'm sorry, I can't help you. This is a disaster. You're completely vulnerable. It's like going into battle in a nightie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-kinsella/emma-i-m-sorry-i-can-t-help-you-this-is-a-disaster-you-re-completely/) [Sophie Kinsella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-kinsella/) > [Do you miss her?' 'Who? Emma? Of course. Every day. She was my best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/do-you-miss-her-who-emma-of-course-every-day-she-was-my-best-friend/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [“I don't approve of surprises. The pleasure is never enhanced and the inconvenience is considerable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-knightley/i-don-t-approve-of-surprises-the-pleasure-is-never-enhanced-and-the/) [George Knightley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-knightley/) > [“I need to go get ready to leave. Will you be okay?" I start making my way to the stairs, but Briston practically cries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandy-nacole/i-need-to-go-get-ready-to-leave-will-you-be-okay-i-start-making-my/) [Brandy Nacole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandy-nacole/) [Browse all 192 Emma quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emma/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage. 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