Clara Brereton bares a striking resemblance to Jane Fairfax from Emma. This similarity is exhibited through their mutual reserve as well as their current situations. Both Clara and Jane are dependent on family members and may become governesses if they are not married. Additionally, they also have similar love stories in that both their love interests publicly show affection for the other prominent female character in the novel despite their own clandestine relationship.

This is the first remarried woman in Austen's writing. While it was discussed in Persuasion, it was in much more generic terms, and mostly regarding men. This is an interesting dynamic.

It seems that the very energetic and youthful characters in Jane Austen novels also end up being slightly insensitive. In Emma, for instance, Mr Woodhouse is upset at the way that Frank Churchill leaves the doors open despite the cold weather, showing his disregard for others

This is around the same age as some of Austen's male love interests. Mr. Darcy was 28. Many of the male targets of Austen's marriage plots were older than their female counterparts.

Austen reiterates the idea of gossip that is mistaken and misconstrued, and it is both relatively innocuous and sometimes effective to the plot by introducing conflict. For example, in Pride and Prejudice with the gossip over Mr. Bingley and who would join his party, the story of Mr. Darcy's treatment of Mr. Wickham, and then the suggested engagement between Darcy and Lizzy Bennett.

The Miss Beauforts seem similar to Miss Crawford in Mansfield Park and Miss Isabella Thorpe in Northanger Abbey who were preoccupied with making an advantageous marriage by "capturing" or "captivating" a wealthy man.

This phrase is often used in Austen's works, referring to the particular society or selected families a person interacts with, and which usually indicates a level of social class. In Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Gardener says she "moved in different circles" from the Darcys, and in Emma, Mrs. Elton hopes to install Miss Fairfax as a governess in a better circle than she might be able to procure on her own.

Highlights the slight strife between "old" and "new" money. Lady Denham's words seem reminiscent of Sir Walter Elliot's disdain for those who made their fortune instead of inheriting it in Persuasion.

Here, Charlotte displays similarities to Catherine of Northanger Abbey, who views the world through the lens of the novels she's read.

Reminiscent of Henry Crawford's desire to make Fanny Price fall in love with him in Mansfield Park.

Here, we are presented another form of a "fan" in Jane Austen's literature -- the crazy fanboy. Sir Edward is somewhat similar to Catherine in Northanger Abbey, but a whole lot creepier.

Sir Edward's passionate praise of the Romantic novel is reminiscent of Marianne's dramatic speeches in Sense and Sensibility. This is slightly ironic considering that Edward's earlier rejection of the novel in favor of works that can be used to better oneself falls more under Sense than Sensibility.

Diana's seems to be a bit exaggerated in her account which reminds me of Mary's letters of her "illness" to Anne in Persuasion and hypochondriac Mr. Woodhouse in Emma.

It is strange that Charlotte is accompanying the Parkers when her own parents only just met them. This plot point is similar to the moment that Catherine Morland stays with the Tilneys, even though her family doesn't know them at all.

A common theme across Austen novels is that women tend to be more meticulous about writing letters than men. In Mansfield Park, for instance, Mary Crawford laments the fact that her brother Henry writes very short letters, if at all. Similarly, in Sense and Sensibility there is frequent correspondence between Marianne, Eleanor, and their mother. It is relevant that Austen herself frequently wrote letters to her sister Cassandra. Here is a sample of their correspondence: http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item126754.html

  This chapter establishes familiar character dynamics that might elucidate the trajectory of the personas Austen presents in this unfinished text. The chapter begins with the introduction of Miss Esther Denham and Sir Edward Denham, a scheming sibling pair reminiscent of Mansfield Park’s The Crawfords and Northanger Abbey’s The Thorpes. Austen explicitly establishes the bald aim of the two to obtain wealth and status from advantageous matrimony, a characteristic that similarly mirrors the Crawfords and Thorpes. Sir Edward, in particular, resembles Austen’s past villainous men; throughout the Austen canon, coxcomb-esque behaviors are the cardinal sins of bachelors. Indeed, Willoughby, Wickham, Henry Crawford, Mr. Elton, Thorpe, and Mr. Elliot all receive biting characterizations by Austen, and thus, given the fates of these men in their respective novels, we can predict that Sir Edward is not the male love interest of this story. 
 Sir Edward’s dynamic with, and apparent longing for the affection of, Clara Brereton, additionally reverberate into the Austen canon in a meaningful way. Other Austen works present relationships between gentried men and pseudo-adopted young women; notably, Emma features Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill’s secret engagement and Mansfield Park depict Henry Crawford’s arguably predatory pursuit of Fanny Price. These relationship both demonstrate wealth and class incongruities as interpersonal complications. Further, these dynamics are also characterized by the ignorance of other characters to the details of the relationship. Therefore, we cannot know from this unfinished account of Charlotte’s observations if Clara Brereton is a Fanny Price or a Jane Fairfax; we cannot fully know if the behaviors and dispassion Charlotte Heywood witnesses are evidence of a painful resistance to unwanted advances or red herrings to disguise an intimacy. Since speculation is the nature of this activity, however, it is notable that in both Mansfield Park and Emma, outside perceptions of the aforementioned relationships were incorrect. Therefore, paradoxically, Charlotte’s perception of Clara’s distaste for Sir Edward might in fact evince a returned affection and eventual marriage between the two. 

I predict that this character will be relevant to the marriage plot. The idea of a young person in this kind of circumstance reminds us of the Crawfords or Catherine Moreland. Single individuals living with relatives have, in other Austen novels, been very relevant in the marriage plots.

Links to common words/themes throughout the annotations