Emma

Emma, the lead character, is introduced to us as a young girl who leads a charmed life; she is beautiful, clever and rich. She is loved by an indulgent father and lenient governess. The narrator has begun by taking a look at Emma from the outside, the line ‘seemed' in the first sentence of the novel tells us that this description is actually Emma's image, she is seen as being a perfect specimen when compared to her peers. Except, the description does not stop here, Jane Austen's purpose of describing the individual in relation to society would not be served if it did. The narrator digs a little deeper and shows us that Emma has had her own way for most of her life, describing this situation as an ‘evil'. We can now see that Emma is more than just this caricature of female perfection. This is proven in Volume 1 when Emma chooses Harriet as her protégé. She is lonely after Miss Taylor marries and is looking for something to occupy her time. She is also flushed with victory over her success in ‘making a match' between Miss Taylor and Mr Weston. We do not see what she has done to do this, but in her argument with Knightley, Emma insists that she encouraged it. Emma states her intention to continue matchmaking during this argument and focuses on Mr Elton as her next project. It is no coincidence that she fixates on Harriet soon after deciding this. Emma has Harriet in mind as a match for Mr Elton even though it is no secret that Harriet is illegitimate and therefore of dubious social standing. In fact, Harriet, humble and accepting of her status, is quite the opposite of Emma. Emma believes that this will not be a problem; despite arguments from Knightley to the contrary she insists that her patronage is powerful enough to elevate Harriet's status. Despite this arrogant assumption, it is still contradictory that Emma would associate with Harriet when her snobbery and arrogance is being established at the same time. Emma's self-image is tied in with her social status; and her arrogance stems from the knowledge that she is above all her peers according to societal values. Thus, she refuses to associate with those she thinks are below her, see for example this line about Mr Martin (Emma to Harriet) ‘…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'.

Therefore, choosing Harriet to be her companion would have been out of character for Emma. She seems to convince herself that she is going to help Harriet by assisting her to become a more accomplished young woman. At first, we take this as face value, Emma may be arrogant but it is clear she has a good heart and intends to help others. However, as volume 1 continues we see that Emma is also interested in validating herself under the guise of assisting and matchmaking. We have seen this through her conversations with Knightley, who challenges her and calls her out on her faults (discussed above) and when she thinks about Jane with unfounded animosity. Her feelings towards Jane is quite telling, although Emma never really engages with them enough to understand their root, the lack of reason for her dislike tells us that she is envious because Jane is more accomplished and is highly esteemed in higher social circles, despite her lack of wealth. Emma, who is invested in her image of being the alpha female in Highbury feels threatened and insecure when Jane is mentioned or is around. Now Emma's actions make more sense to us, she chose Harriet because she could do what she wished with her and because Harriet would validate her image through flattery and subservience. In fact, Harriet is sickeningly subservient and dotingly grateful to Emma, while Emma, instead of keeping her best interests in mind, tries to make her fit into her master plan. From this we see that Harriet is like a puppet in a game that Emma is playing to amuse herself. We can see how the narrative claim that Emma being Mistress of her own house from a young age was ‘an evil' has come into play. She does not see the people she involves in her schemes as people; they are just caricatures to fill the roles she has set out for them. We see now that Emma's matchmaking and patronage of Harriet is also motivated by her need to uphold her authority and her own will. This theory is proven when Harriet speaks of the Martins, Emma is impatient to drive them out of Harriet's life; they do not serve her purpose of making a good match for Harriet with Mr Elton. She convinces Harriet that their friendship is not in her best interest and is careless of both Harriet's feelings for her friends as well as their feelings for her. It is amusing here that Emma believes she knows what is best for others, there is an intentional parallel earlier in the novel when the narrative informs us that one of Mr Woodhouse' qualities is believing that his point of view is the