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Essay about Emma in Jane Austen's Emma

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Emma in Jane Austen's Emma

For the greater part of the book, Emma is allowed a much greater level of social and moral freedom than any other character in the book. As the opening chapter has it, 'the real evils of Emma's situation were having rather too much her own way.' For Austen, the use of the word evil is not as a throwaway term, it is meant to give a very strong impression of how the heroine is trapped by her freedom into becoming arrogant and interfering.

Emma indulges herself considerably, her response to learning of how disastrous her attempt at making a match between Harriet and Mr Elton is immediately to think of a match between Harriet and William Cox and although she 'stopped to …show more content…

It could be argued that Austen is simply to fond of her 'Handsome, clever and rich' creation. It may also be that the annoying traits of the other characters serve to highlight the fact that Emma's weaknesses are considerably deeper than those many of her companions display.

Emma is the victim of pride, and proof of this is the extent to which this rubs of on Harriet. In Emma's own thoughts 'If Harriet, from being humble, had grown vain, it was her own fault.' According to the Christian moral values held by Jane Austen, Pride and Vanity were the sources of all the other deadly sins. It was through pride, after all that Lucifer fell. Emma too can be seen as an angel being condemned for her arrogance. Just after her hurtful remark at Box Hill, she is described by Knightly as 'guiding the opinion' of many of those present. She has a certain power and prestige that she abuses, in ding so reveals herself, at least in the eyes of Austen to be beyond mockery and instead deserving of 'remonstrance' and Knightly describes his lecture.

The apparent indulgence with which Emma is treated by Austen does serve one very important purpose in the novel. It allows her to make a fool of herself at regular intervals and through doing so to improve, if rather slowly, her character. Austen provides a powerful insight into the process of self-improvement. Emma does not experience

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