Jane Austen's "Emma" - Character Analysis of Protagonist

In the first chapter of Emma, the main character Emma Woodhouse, plays matchmaker for her in-home caregiver. Miss Taylor, the caregiver, benefited from being at the center of Emma’s matchmaking, but at the expense of Emma. “The want of Miss Taylor would be felt every hour of every day. She recalled her past kindness—the kindness, the affection of sixteen years—how she had devoted all her powers to attach and amuse her in health—and how nursed her through the various illnesses of childhood” (Austen 362). As stated in the beginning of the chapter, Emma’s mother had passed away long ago. Jane Austen describes and establishes the impact that Miss Taylor had on Emma’s life and the love they shared. Emma’s father

we are a very quiet set of people, I believe; more disposed to stay at

Jane Austen’s novel of manners, Emma, is about a young woman named Emma who considers herself a matchmaker and believes she will never marry. Austen’s purpose is to unveil the coming-of-age maturity and self realization Emma will go through in the duration of marriages of her friends and situations between her and other people. She creates a witty, romantic atmosphere around the book with the aid of rhetorical devices, such as imagery and symbolism, and occurring themes, such as marriages, foolishness of character, and transformation of the main character. Also, there is a generation of ironic tone in order to capture the attention of readers who relate their feelings towards Emma. This novel captures the readers’ hearts through Emma’s amorous,

“Emma could not resist. Ah! Ma’am but there may be a difficulty. Pardon me- but you will be limited as to number- only three at once”; Emma insults Miss Bates, who is a dear friend, in order to quench her desire for social credit. When Mr Martin’s proposal arrives for Harriet, Emma shakes her head with disdain. Emma has the highest social status, apart from Knightley, and uses this to diminish those of lower class. Chapone asks us to “Observe her manner to servants and inferiors” and whether she treats “them always with affability”, but we know, Emma does not. Emma thinks Mr Martin is a “very inferior creature” and when Harriet asks for advice Emma says “the letter had much better be all your own” but sneaks in “You need not to be prompted to write the appearance of sorrow for his disappointment”. Harriet refuses Martin, and Emma proclaims that Harriet, if she accepted, would have been “confined to the society of the illiterate and vulgar” and “could not have visited Mrs. Robert Martin” since she deems the lower class as unsophisticated primitives. Emma would have lost her latest amusement and her chance to prove her intelligence. Emma’s subtle manipulations illustrates the absence of inner morality, and is thus, an ill-qualified mentor.

Albeit, this sense of authority Emma enjoys is quite fragile, considering the delimiting authority allowed a woman of Austen’s time. Therefore, Emma wishes to preserve and enhance her social status, while still being bound to the rules of her class, which inevitably place women in an inferior position to their male counterparts. The following paper will attempt to prove that despite marrying at the end of the novel, Emma does not seek love, but is much more interested in protecting her position in the patriarchal social hierarchy.

Emma, a novel by Jane Austen, is the story of a young woman, Emma, who is rich, stubborn, conniving, and occupies her time meddling into others' business. There are several recurring themes throughout the novel; the ideas of marriage, social class, women's confinement, and the power of imagination to blind the one from the truth, which all become delineated and reach a climax during the trip to Box Hill. The scene at Box Hill exposes many underlying emotions that have been built up throughout the novel, and sets the stage for the events that conclude it.

In Emma Jane Austen exposes the limitations of the role of women in her society. Examine Austen’s presentation of what is called in the novel, women’s usual occupations of eye, and hand, and mind. Emma – Role of Woman In Emma Jane Austen exposes the limitations of the role of women in her society.

She even dictates the answer, and here she is becoming too involved with Harriet's affairs. Even though Emma takes over the narration from Jane Austen, the reader is able to see through Emma's faults and see that Robert Martin is a very amiable man who would make a very good husband for Harriet. Emma ends up writing Harriet's refusal and this sparks off further impatience because now Harriet, who is doting on Emma's every word, is turning into a product of what Emma has told her rather than her true self. Emma also refuses to heed Mr. Knightley's warnings when he states that, 'men of sense, whatever you may chuse to say, do not want silly wives,' obviously referring to Harriet.

Emma becomes a likeable character through her marriage to Mr Knightley. Mr Knightley is someone which everyone respects and agrees with. Whenever he visits Highbury he is “always welcomed” (p41). Austen portrays Mr Knightley as a knowledgeable character who is not afraid to confront Emma; when Emma boasts about her match between the Weston’s, Mr Knightley tells her that she has done more harm than good by meddling and when she tries to match Harriet with Mr Elton Mr Knightley is furious that Emma has selfishly set Harriet up for disaster.

Jane Austen’s novel of manners, Emma, is about a young woman named Emma who considers herself a matchmaker and believes she will never marry. Austen’s purpose is to unveil the coming-of-age maturity and self realization Emma will go through in the duration of marriages of her friends and situations between her and other people. She creates a witty, romantic atmosphere around the book with the aid of rhetorical devices, such as imagery and symbolism, and occurring themes, such as consummated marriages, foolishness of character, and transformation of the main character. Also, there is a generation of ironic tone in order to capture the attention of readers who relate their feelings towards Emma. This novel captures the readers’ hearts through

In the novel Emma, the author, Jane Austen, uses many different techniques to characterize Miss Bates as a woman with no intellect, but a very kind heart. Miss Bates in a humorous character who is loved and loving.

Emma considers Harriet to be rather senseless, she uses gossip to help Harriet get to know the men's background before proceeding into matchmaking. In several occasions Harriet becomes the subject to most arguments between Emma and Mr. Knightley, due to the issues of Emma meddling in her friends business. As Spacks states: "She has become so involved to her immediate social role, in her fantasy of being perceived as powerful, witty, and attractive, that she has lost awareness of others' feelings" (408). In one scene Emma witness Churchill and Harriet acting loving towards one another, her immediate thought is to praise herself: "Could a linguist, could a grammarian, could even a mathematician have seen what she did, have witnessed their appearance together, and heard their history of it, without feeling that circumstances had been at work to make them peculiarly interesting to each other?-- How much more must an imaginist, herself, be on fire with speculation and foresight!-- especially with such a ground-work of anticipation as her mind had already made."

It brought upon social advancement for both men and women in post enlightened times due to the different degrees of importance in marriage calculations. Austen’s Emma illustrates the relationship between marriage and social class, it is used to highlight on the social limitations faced by the characters as they often had to marry advantageously, within their social level and not for love as per societal expectations. Marriage in Emma is also shown to have two sides, betrayal and beauty, Emma herself believes she is incapable of marriage at first as she has ‘none of the usual inducements of women to marry. Were I to fall in love, indeed, it would be a different thing! but I never have been in love; it is not my way, or my nature … never could I expect to be so truly beloved and important; so always first and always right in any man's eyes as I am in my father's." Emma sees marriage as a burden and her views differ on marriage than those set by the reclusive and antiquated English society She strives for independence which is largely due to her wealth as she is able to avoid marriage. This self-assurance stems from financial security, what other women need from marriage to get through life hence, this reveals the societal pressures placed on women and marriage. The biggest transformation in the novel is arguably Emma’s thoughts on marriage, from being opposed to it at first to falling in love with Mr Knightley who reveals his feelings in an epic confession “Emma. If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. You hear nothing but truth from me. I have blamed you and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it. Bear with the truths I would tell you now, dearest Emma, as well as you have borne the. But you understand

Though at first glance, Emma appears to be a generic romantic novel about virtue and ladyhood, Austen actually challenges what the meaning of “ladyhood” is to the reader. We view Emma’s follies, trials, and triumphs through the eyes of the omnipotent narrator who first describes Emma as a stereotypical, wealthy young lady who is “handsome, clever…with…a happy disposition” (1). Through the use of irony, Austen employs a series of situations in which Emma, a “lady” of high standing within her community, challenges conventional thinking of what it means to be a young woman in the early nineteenth century, particularly her ideas concerning marriage and

Austen reveals how self-transformation is necessary in maturing and establishing self-awareness. Emma Woodhouse possesses qualities that many would envy: beauty, intelligence, wealth, and youth. However, the positive aspects of Emma are equally contrasted by her personality. The novels begins with a description of the protagonist, "The real evils, indeed, of Emma 's situation were the power of having too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself: these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments."