Her confidence in herself that she is doing the right thing concerning matchmaking can annoy you greatly. After all, it is none of her business. I think most readers would feel the same way and find it hard to comprehend how Jane Austen can even like Emma’s less fine points. Emma thinks Harriet is very suitable because she is malleable and deferential. No one knows who Harriet’s father is, but Emma fantasises about him being a lord or nobleman. Emma thinks, “ Harriet Smith was the natural daughter of somebody. Somebody had placed her, several years back, at Mrs. Goddard’s school, and somebody had lately raised her from the condition of scholar to that of parlour-boarder.”
Her motives for Harriet at this stage are altruistic; “ She would notice her; she would improve her; she would detach her from her bad acquaintance, and introduce her into good society; she would form her opinions and her manners.” Emma does, herself, believe she is acting in Harriet’s best interests, but one reading this could think her to be interfering in something she knows nothing about and should leave well alone. This does not improve one’s view on Emma. I think Austen considers Emma; overall to be a good, kind hearted person, who just happens to make some mistakes.
When Mr. Martin proposes to Harriet, Emma pretends to be ‘uninvolved’ but she is actually putting pressure on Harriet not to marry him, by refusing to visit them if she did; “ I would not influence; but it would have been the loss of a friend to me. I could not have visited Mrs. Robert Martin, of Abbey Mill Farm. Now I am secure of you forever.” When reading this, you could find it particularly irksome, as she is being so selfish and standing in the way of Harriet’s happiness. Mr. Martin is a good man who is suitable for Harriet, but Emma downgrades him as she introduces Mr. Elton, whom she felt was a better choice. Emma is just interfering; “Mr. Elton was the very person fixed on by Emma for driving the young farmer out of Harriet’s head.” The reader may find Emma very irritating by this point, and wishing her to just leave Harriet alone. Austen however, does make Emma learn from her mistakes, which is very pleasing to read. She might find Emma’s irritating points purely amusing.
Emma then tries to set them up together, which to her, seems to be working, but it is easy to see it won’t work out well in the end. Many people would find Emma’s constant interfering intrusive (“ Emma felt the glory of having schemed successfully.”) When Mr. Elton proposes to Emma, she does realise her errors, as she thinks “She might never have thought of him but for me; and certainly never would have thought of him with hope.”
It was wrong, to take so active a part in bringing any two people together. She was quite concerned and ashamed, and resolved to do such things no more.” Here, one might begin to realise Emma does have some good attributes. One might even start to feel sympathetic to her predicament. This is a turning point in the book as Emma starts to review her past behaviour. Jane Austen gives the reader a good reason to like Emma a little, so I cannot imagine that she is the only person who likes the heroine she has created. However, it doesn’t last too long, as she still believes she has done something right; “ Oh! That I had been satisfied with persuading her not to accept young Martin. There I was quite right. That was well done of me.” Her self-deception is quite amazing. Even after saying to herself that she would match-make never again, she just can’t help herself, and decides suddenly that Frank Churchill would make a better match for Harriet instead;
“For Harriet, it would be advantageous and delightful indeed.” Again, Emma is interfering, making the reader abandon all hopes of any improvement in her. But if you read on, it is quite enjoyable to see Emma get her comeuppance, as she finds out she has been encouraging Harriet’s feelings for Mr. Knightley instead of Frank Churchill.Austen does realise the audience needs some form of justice! Emma finds this intolerable, as then she realises that she is in love with Mr. Knightley, as she says, “It darted through her, with the speed of an arrow, that Mr. Knightley must marry no-one but herself.” One feels glad that Emma has realised her true feelings but on the other hand, it is quite amusing, even annoying, as it has taken her so long. But it is hard not to warm to Emma a little when we see how guilty she feels and thinks, “How improper had she been acting by Harriet! How inconsiderate, how indelicate, how irrational, how unfeeling had been her conduct!” She really does start to repent what she has done and we, as readers, appreciate this! Jane Austen has made Emma human! ;
“ With insufferable vanity had she believed herself in the secret of everybody’s feelings; with unpardonable arrogance proposed to arrange everybody’s destiny.” When Emma realises what she has been doing, she tortures herself enough about it, but she also remembers that she has been terribly manipulated by Frank Churchill who was almost playing her at her own game. When all the time he had been flirting with her, it was only to disguise his feelings for Jane Fairfax. When one looks back, they do feel sorry for Emma in this situation, as she feels she is in control, but she is actually being mocked, when Frank Churchill asks her for a wife by saying “ I shall come to you for my wife remember.” Some would say that was exactly what she deserved!
Emma is, whether the reader likes it or not, quite a snob, her attitude, to Mr. Martin in particular shows this the most. He is a farmer, which Emma does not like. She believes “The yeomanry are precisely the order of people with whom I can have nothing to do.” She is too aware of her social status, and therefore always believing herself better than other people; “ But a farmer can need none of my help, and is therefore in one sense as much above my notice as in every other he is below it.” It is obvious that personalities are not taken into account and the reader may take a dislike to Emma’s snobbishness towards Mr. Martin, as she does not know him, as Harriet and Mr. Knightley do, it seems that even her friends cannot alter how well she thinks of herself.
Emma knows too well that she and her father are the highest of social status in the village, so, when the Coles’ arrive, she does feel slightly threatened. However she soon learns that they are no match as their money is not ‘inherited’ (they are nouveaux riche), but when they start having dinner parties and everyone but Emma is invited she feels put out and decides that even if she were invited, she would not go- just to snub them, thinking that they “ought to be taught that it was not for them to arrange the terms on which the superior families would visit them.” This could really annoy you, as we know she has no right to such things having never actually met them.
Again, we see that when Emma visits the Bateses, it is more out of duty than pleasure and this gives the reader a chance to think that Emma is not even that considerate. At the end of the book, Emma’s snobbishness practically disappears as she accepts Mr Martin for who he is and even acknowledges his good points and why Harriet must have loved him so much;
“Emma became acquainted with Robert Martin, who was now introduced at Hartfield, she fully acknowledged in him all the appearance of sense and worth which could bid fairest for her little friend.” The reader realises that Emma really has ‘grown up’, morally and that she has learnt her lesson and it is pleasing to read as you start to think better of her.
Another big part of Emma’s character is her over active imagination, for example, she believes Harriet’s father is some Lord or Nobleman (“ There can be no doubt of your being a gentleman’s daughter.”) No one knows who her father actually is, so she makes this up entirely by herself. This can be quite amusing in some parts of the story, but it can also make some difficult situations, hurt people’s feelings and even prove her to be quite selfish; “The stain of illegitimacy, unbleached by nobility or wealth, would have been a stain indeed.” She starts believing Mr. Elton is in love with Harriet and encourages Harriet greatly, but Harriet is upset when she finds out he was in love with Emma the whole time. Emma misunderstands the situation that she has created from her imagination and does not deal with the whole situation as calmly or as well as perhaps she could have done, by telling Harriet quite bluntly and not reacting well to Mr. Elton’s proposal. You would think she would know better. Her self-deception in the fact that she feels she doesn’t need to marry is quite ironic in the fact that she ends up married and is very happy and contented. She thinks she has no need to marry, as she is of good fortune, but the reader can guess that she really means she would only have to marry for love. And we forget, she has never been in love. She believes she is in love with Frank Churchill and tries to convince herself that “ she must be a little in love with him.” She does not imagine the attentions he has been giving her, but readers can realise she is not totally aware of her own feelings and things happening around her. She then convinces herself that Harriet and Frank Churchill would make an excellent match after he rescued her from ‘the gypsies’; “ How much more must an imaginist, like herself, be on fire with speculation and foresight! – especially with such a ground-work of anticipation as her mind had already made.” Again, she dreams this up and is actually quite pleased with herself. One may have grown used to Emma’s imagination by this point and find this scenario quite amusing, which I believe is what Jane Austen intended. The reader knows that such a match could never work (for various reasons-only some known to Emma). When Emma starts thinking about the possibility of Jane Fairfax marrying Mr. Knightley, her only reason why they shouldn’t is that Henry would not inherit Donwell Abbey, after coming to the conclusion that “Mr. Knightley must not marry! -You would not have little Henry cut out from Donwell? -Oh! No, no,..” She actually believes that is the real reason, but we know it isn’t. It is good to know that at the end of the story, she realises it was actually because she loved Mr. Knightley and it had nothing to do with Henry; “…found amusement in detecting the real cause of that violent dislike of Mr. Knightley’s marrying Jane Fairfax.” Readers may find it difficult to comprehend how little she understands her own feelings, yet has no trouble and spends hours imagining what others’ could be.
Jane Austen only offers information and the readers have to form their own judgements without her comments or opinions to persuade them whether or not to like Emma in this case. I cannot say I completely liked Emma, but towards the end of the book, I did start to warm to her a little. I think Jane Austen is right in the fact that not many people but herself will much like Emma, but then she has created her, so she is bound to like her. One would expect a writer to make a heroine someone whom she admired. I did not consider Emma to be a bad person, but I did find her rather annoying and selfish. However, she seemed to mature well in the book so I did end up liking her, which I suspect, was exactly what I was meant to do!