Harriet influences the reader’s opinion of Emma, as we dislike how Emma handles her all the way through the book. An example of this is when Harriet is emotionally blackmailed by Emma into refusing Mr Martin, when the reader can visibly see that Harriet had not made up her mind. Emma’s apparent requirement for someone she can call her own is evident in the way she treats Harriet, sometimes as a little sister, sometimes as a servant, but on the whole as a pretty doll which she intends to manipulate how she pleases. Harriet submits to Emma’s bossiness with a pathetic readiness, which seems to make Emma all the more unpleasant to the reader. The domineering treatment Harriet receives is a clever method of Austen’s to affect the reader’s opinion of Emma, as it turns us against her because we realise she should be helping Harriet, not preventing her from doing well as she is such an influence on her.
Mr Knightley is also a character who has an effect on how the reader sees Emma; mainly because he is the only character who points out her faults and mistakes, both to her and to the reader. As the other characters in the book all believe (or at least pretend to believe) that Emma can do no wrong, Mr Knightley is a valuable method to illustrate to us when she is wrong. An example of this is when Emma tells him that Harriet has declined Robert Martin. Mr Knightley says “Emma, your infatuation about that girl blinds you,” after she has informed him why she believes she was right. This quote shows how the reader is made to realise what he has done. In the same speech, Mr Knightley is also there to inform the reader why Emma was wrong to convince Harriet to refuse Robert Martin, for example:
“What are Harriet Smith’s claims, either of birth, nature, or education, to any connection higher than Robert Martin?”
As previously, we have only seen things from Emma’s point of view, it is a surprise when we are told by Mr Knightley just how mistaken Emma has been on this matter. It then infuriates the reader more when Emma tries to defend herself and prove she is right; when Mr Knightley has just proved his point so conclusively that there is no argument that can be considered substantial enough to counteract it. There are many points like this throughout the book, when Mr Knightley is the only other view the reader is able to see apart from Emma, as other characters in the book merely agree with her. This is why he is such an essential character in how we observe Emma, as we then are able to see how wrong she was or is, and consequently how her stubbornness has a clearly negative impact on other people’s lives.
The Highbury community in general is another main influence on how Emma is presented to the reader. The Woodhouse family is one of the most respected families in the village; they are very rich and have one of the largest estates around. This means that Emma and her father are above everyone in class, with the exception of Mr Knightley. The way that the other villagers respond to Emma is again showing her superiority over them. Mrs and Miss Bates are good examples of this; whenever Emma visits them during the course of the book they are immensely gratified to her, sensing that a visit from Emma can enhance their status. An example of this is when Miss Bates exclaims “My dear Miss Woodhouse, I am just run across to entreat the favour of you to come and sit down with us a little while.” The manner in which she says “the favour” implies that it is fortunate if Emma calls upon them, and that she does not visit them out of preference. Again, this presents Emma as acting very superior and patronising to her neighbours.
Status and wealth were both very important to people in the 19th century; most villages had a type of “hierarchy” reaching from the very wealthy to the poor. Your status determined everything: where you lived, who you married, who your friends were etc, and we see how important status is in “Emma”. Many of the plotlines in the book all stem from status, which just shows how significant it was when Austen wrote the book. Highbury is a very excellent example of how your wealth and status matter in life – and we can see this especially during the Harriet/Robert Martin dispute. Status is linked directly to marriage, which was also one of the most important (and complicated) parts of life in the 19th century owing to this. In that time, you could not marry just for love – if the other person was below/above your class, the marriage would never go ahead. This is why marriage is one of the main subjects that run throughout the book, as it was such a difficult thing tp find someone suitable to marry in those days.
Readers today would respond differently from 19th century readers because of the importance of class then; nowadays most people would not be able to relate to this situation. In the period when the book was written, sections of it would have been seen as much more serious, as readers then would have recognized what the situation felt like. Readers in the present are able to find more of the humour and comedy in situations – as it simply does not mean as much to them and they cannot relate as easily with the characters. Also, as they cannot usually relate, they sometimes feel superior to Emma, which is why sometimes present-day readers can see the ironic humour. Modern readers immediately see the differences in rituals and manner etc and so are able to laugh at things that they are not used to.
Although in the initial part of the book, Emma is presented in a way that makes the reader dislike her as a person, other characters are present or introduced who slowly change this opinion of her during the course of the book. The character that achieves this most is Emma’s father, Mr Woodhouse, who first appears after we are told about the impact of the loss of Miss Taylor on Emma. We are told “Her father composed himself to sleep after dinner, as usual, and she had then only to sit and think of what she had lost.”
This portrayal of Mr Woodhouse is typical of his role in the book; he is a fastidious, stubborn and anti-social man who hates change. Even though Emma has lost her beloved governess and is clearly upset, he ignores her needs and yet thinks only of himself. This quote is a particularly good example of this, as it sums up (very discreetly) what Mr Woodhouse usually does. The “as usual” is the part that makes the reader realise that Emma will have to become used to having little company around her house, and the company that she has will not be very lively. The reader learns to see that Mr Woodhouse is as needy as a small child, and pities Emma for having to care for him. We sympathise with her for having no company, and perhaps see the depiction of the faultless existence we presented with at the beginning of the book was deceptive in that parts of Emma’s life could be seen as not perfect.
Another very successful method of presenting Emma in the book which could be seen as altering our opinion of her is by contrasting her with Jane Fairfax. As they are of similar ages, and are both regarded as quite accomplished, comparisons between the two are often made. Both Emma and the reader dislike Jane; the reader because she is simply a boring character, and ( we are made to believe) Emma because apparently she is dull and serious. However, the reader is given hints of the real reason Emma does not like Jane. The main glimpse of this is when we are told in narration that Mr Knightley tells Emma that Jane is “what she wanted to be thought as herself”, i.e. that Emma is jealous. This feeling of Emma’s becomes more apparent in the later parts of the book. It is sometimes quite comic as she has so much more than Jane – for example money – yet is jealous because she can play the piano better than herself. It is comic because to the reader it seems extremely petty, as Emma is superior to the majority of the other characters in every respect, and has everything she could wish for. The fact she seems to care so much about this one talent almost leads us to believe that perhaps Emma does not appreciate just how well-off she is compared to a lot of other people around her, and again this can lead the reader to dislike her as a person.
Whenever Emma and Jane are around each other in the book, the reader is able to sense this jealousy coming from Emma. It is one of the few moments in the book when Emma is obviously inferior to another character; as Jane has been properly educated. Although we are sometimes shown a bad side of Emma during occasions with Jane, the reader is mostly made to feel sorry for her. The fact that Emma is sometimes inferior to Jane helps the reader sympathise with her, and relate to her. She instantly becomes more likeable; both as a character (more dimensional) and as a person. An example of this is when we are told about the comparison between their piano playing:
“Emma would then resign her place to Miss Fairfax, whose performance, she could never attempt to conceal from herself, was infinitely superior to her own”.
This quote gives the reader a clear impression that Emma feels inadequate to Jane, which again invites sympathy. The particular use of the word “resign” reminds us of the phrase “resigned herself to defeat”. This again makes the reader able to relate to Emma much more, as if it is seen that she is not perfect readers will like her (as a character and a person) more. Sympathy is a very effective technique that Austen uses to try and change our opinion of Emma; it is mainly effective because we have seen Emma as very detached from most things. Therefore, when it becomes apparent she feels quite strongly about something, the view of Emma changes as it feels as if she is more like a real person in that aspect. In this part of the book, she is also very honest with herself which always endears characters to readers as they become much more likeable. She admits to herself she is inferior, and this shows readers that she has a softer side and is perhaps more vulnerable than she sometimes reveals.
Later on, we also are told that Jane Fairfax has been engaged to Frank Churchill for the whole time she has been in Highbury, and this also makes us feel sorry for Emma, as Frank Churchill has led her on. Although this is not specifically Jane’s fault, we still resent her as she is simply not as lively as Emma is – which makes Emma seem more fun, and also a lot wittier compared to Jane as she is so serious. Having a more serious character in the book also helps the reader to feel more endeared to Emma as she comes across as more entertaining and a better character to read about.
Romance and marriage is a large influence on how we see Emma, mostly because it becomes more apparent to the reader that we want it to work out successfully for her. We are made to believe by Austen that Emma will marry Frank Churchill, and when it is revealed that he is engaged to Jane Fairfax, it again makes us feel compassion towards Emma. She cannot see herself ever getting married as she will have to look after her father, another source of sympathy towards her.
At the start of the book, marriage is one of the main subjects that cause us to dislike Emma, because she interferes with Harriet. However, as the book progresses the reader can somewhat see that she perhaps focuses on other people’s marriages because she feels that she will never be able to get married herself (this is primarily because of Mr Woodhouse). Emma says “If I were to marry, I must expect to repent it.” On the exterior, this comment from Emma seems to appear detached and unfeeling, but the reader has the slim impression that she may just be saying this to try and convince herself this is what she feels. She would do this if she knew that she would never be able to marry because of her father. Again, this makes us pity Emma, and makes the reader feel sad for her. This is another technique to change our opinion of her from the beginning.
One of the main techniques used by Austen to present Emma to the reader is by adapting the third person narrative of the book to indirectly contain Emma’s thoughts and viewpoints. This enables the reader to see what she really thinks, as people in the 19th century were generally very reserved, and did not often speak their mind. An example of using the narrative to show Emma’s thoughts is when Harriet is being described as “a very pretty girl, and her beauty happened to be of a sort which Emma particularly admired.”
The language used here is not directly written in first person, but the feelings of Emma are adequately communicated. The reader is told that Emma “particularly admired” Harriet’s sort of prettiness. This narrative technique can also be used to subtly show characteristics that Emma has during the book. Using the same quote, the reader is able to deduce that Emma feels superior to Harriet, and the words “particularly admired” come across as very condescending as it seems as if it is a trifling thing and not important at all.
Using Emma’s thoughts in the narration can also make us feel superior to her, as sometimes the reader is made aware of things that Emma does not know. For example, throughout the time when she is trying to match make for Harriet, the reader is fully aware that it is not Harriet Mr Elton’s attentions are directed towards. We see this when Mrs Weston is criticising Emma’s drawing of Harriet; stating that she has made the eyelashes too long. Mr Elton replies:
“It appears to me a most perfect resemblance in every feature”.
As a result of this answer, Emma believes it is a compliment towards Harriet, yet the reader is aware that Mr Elton is actually trying to compliment Emma on her drawing abilities. When we do feel superior to Emma it is ironic, as throughout the book she consistently attempts to feel, or is superior to the other characters in the book. Making the reader feel superior is a subtle method to change how we perceive Emma, and to change our negative opinion of her character instilled from the start of the book. This is effective as we begin to realise that Emma is not as knowledgeable as we are made to believe at first, it becomes easier for the reader to see the comical and witty side of what she says and thinks. In this way, we are made to like Emma more as a character and as a person.
The fact that we are able to see Emma’s thought trains and opinions also transform the way we view her; many of her thought processes create humour for the reader. As Emma is superior to many of the other characters in the book, often her thoughts are negative or derogatory about another character. Some of the points she makes to herself appear as funny; occasionally because we recognize they are not true, and sometimes because we realise she is entirely wrong about something. However, there are times when the humour is simply straightforward, which helps to change the reader’s opinion of Emma.
An example of the humour in Emma's thoughts is when she is analysing Mr Elton’s poem with Harriet. She is looking at the line “Thy ready wit the word will soon supply”, and Emma thinks to herself:
“Humph – Harriet’s ready wit! All the better. A man must be very much in love indeed to describe her so”.
This comment from Emma is humorous because it is clear to the reader that she realises Harriet is not very clever at all, and the fact she seems to know this after trying to deny it to so many other characters is comic. It is also quite comic because she is trying to relay every single word in the poem to Mr Elton being in love with Harriet; she is so desperate in her quest to match them up she is trying to convince herself, as well as Harriet. Giving us these thought trains from Emma make the reader more fond of her, as she is much more witty to herself than she is in open conversation. Again, this is because people and especially women in the 19th Century would have been more courteous and polite about their feelings – so we would not have heard this comment from Emma if it had not been for her opinion in the narration.
The main consequence of having Emma’s opinions in the narration is that we begin to feel closer to Emma; since the reader is able to observe some of her thoughts. If a character has negative and possibly insolent thoughts towards or about another character, it instantly makes them become more realistic. It also gives the reader more of an insight into their personality – it enables us to relate to the character more. This is a clever technique of making the reader identify with Emma more, as we feel stronger concerning her and towards her as a result of her personality showing through via the narration. It is also a clever technique as Jane Fairfax is very proper, and we prefer looking down on Emma and her faults than looking up to Jane and her virtues.
When Jane Austen was developing “Emma” she wrote: “I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.” Yet, despite her evident faults, most readers will agree in liking Emma Woodhouse much more than they would first have expected. She is more intricate, realistic and fully rounded than a standard leading character, and she rules the book just as she believes she rules Highbury. The way the reader’s perception of Emma changes throughout the book is understated, but as we near the end of the book it dawns upon us just how much we wish it all to work out happy and positively for her. This is why Emma is appreciated by countless numbers of readers – the techniques used to present and portray her show her alteration in character so effectively that we cannot help but admire the way we have been subconsciously taught to like her by Austen throughout the book.
