“The real evils of Emma’s situation were the power of having rather too much of her own way and a disposition to think a little too well of herself…”
Austen also draws attention to Emma’s age by saying that Emma had “lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to stress or vex her.” Implying that at the outset of the novel she had not yet reached the age of maturity (she is under twenty-one) and is clever but not insightful.
Although Mr. Woodhouse is generally preoccupied with his own thoughts and worries he is very fond of Emma and thinks the world of her. Sometimes however his views on Emma are poles apart from the reality of her characteristics:
“Emma never thinks of herself if she can do good to others,”
Which, as the novel later proves, is not true at all. Emma comes across as a social climber never doing anything unless it benefits her in some way. For example, further into the novel, Emma befriends the young, illegitimate, adopted girl Harriet Smith. Emma would not normally befriend someone so much further down the social scale than herself, but Emma sees Harriet as a project. Harriet idolizes Emma, and compliments her on everything she does, making Emma feel superior to her. Although Harriet is also a very pretty young lady, Emma knows that she is more attractive and does not feel threatened by her newfound friend. These factors, together, help to increase her feeling of superiority.
Austen uses a lot of irony, in situations with Harriet, to show how naïve and unintelligent Emma can be at times. For example, Emma believes Mr. Elton to be infatuated with Harriet, when in fact he is in love with her. She never picks up on this, and any signs that Mr. Elton throws her way (for instance, telling her how beautiful her painting of Harriet is) she takes as a sign that he loves Harriet.
An additional state of affairs with Harriet that uses irony to show how unintelligent Emma can be is when Harriet says to Emma “You understand everything. You and Mr. Elton are one as clever as the other.” This is ironic because at this point in the novel, Emma and Mr. Elton are really being quite stupid. Emma cannot see that Mr. Elton is in love with her and not with Harriet, but Mr. Elton cannot see that Emma is not the least bit interested in him. So, Austen reveals the truth through the eyes of Harriet, by using irony once again.
When Emma first meets Harriet, she thinks about how Harriet is “so artlessly impressed by the appearance of everything in so superior a style to what she had been used to,” she thinks this means that “she must have good sense and deserve encouragement.” This is ironic, because Emma does not allow Harriet to exercise her good sense. Later in the novel this is shown greatly by the situation with Robert Martin and Mr. Elton. Mr. Elton is manipulative and a social climber and while Robert Martin is simple-minded he is very honest. Harriet sees these qualities in him, but does what Emma says because she looks up to her so much. This part of the novel reveals some weaknesses to Emma’s character; her snobbery is perhaps the most obvious. Emma cannot overlook the fact that Robert Martin is a farmer and therefore has a lower social standing than her. Emma seems to think so highly of herself that she believes Harriet to be of a higher social status, than Robert Martin because she is with her. What she is forgetting however is that Harriet is illegitimate and is probably seen as having a lower social status than Robert Martin himself. At this point in the novel Austen shows how superior Emma thinks herself to be, by comparing her to Harriet, who does not think a lot of herself at all. She also proves this once again by describing Harriet as having “a sweet, docile, grateful disposition…totally free from conceit; and only desiring to be guided by anyone she looked up to.” This is a complete contrast to Emma’s character. Furthermore, Harriet does not care about social positions, and would quite happily marry for love.
When Mr. Knightly, who is seen as “one of the few people who could see faults in Emma Woodhouse,” hears of Emma manipulating the situation with Harriet and Robert Martin, he is appalled. He is much more levelheaded than Emma, who only sees what she wants to see in people. He sees the real person for who they are.
Mr. Knightly is almost like Emma’s moral guide. He tells her the faults that she has and makes things more obvious to her. Though Emma rarely listens to him, and tries to set herself straight by telling herself that she is right. Once again Austen points out Emma’s weaknesses by contrasting her to Mr. Knightly. Mr. Knightly is more mature than Emma, at thirty-seven/thirty-eight, his thoughts continuously make sense and his intentions are always honorable.
By using such extreme contrasts like this, Austen outlines Emma’s strengths and weaknesses throughout the whole of the first volume. She uses some characters, like Mr. Elton, to compare Emma to, as they are very similar; they are both social climbers and completely oblivious to situations around them. At the very outset of the novel where Austen presents Emma as “handsome, clever and rich” she is seen as perfect. Though after further reading of the novel it is discovered that there are more weaknesses to Emma’s character than strengths. Whether Austen intended to do this or not is another matter altogether, but her portrayal of Emma’s character through situations with others is highly amusing and thoroughly entertaining.
