Emma as Heroine of the novel

Austen did not expect readers to like the protagonist of Emma. About her, Austen famously said, “I'm going

to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.” “Handsome, clever and rich,” Emma is

undoubtedly one of Austen's most beloved characters.

Events soon prove her to be domineering, willful, snobbish, and at times unfeeling. Until the end of the

incident at Box Hill, which is the emotional climax of the book and the beginning of her regeneration, she

has been guilty of much that is reprehensible in both thought and deed. She has induced Harriet Smith to

refuse Martin’s proposal of marriage because of his low social status as a farmer, and has directed Harriet’s

aspiration towards Mr. Elton, the vicar. She has allowed Harriet only for fourteen minutes for a visit to

Martin’s mother and sister whom Harriet had visited for six weeks in the preceding summer. Emma has been

absolutely patronizing towards the Coles. In her opinion of Miss Bates, Emma has been brutally

uncharitable. And though she has received many hints from Mr. Knightley, and also from her own heart as

to her negligence in seldom calling on Miss Bates and her mother, these hints have not borne much fruit.

She has imagined Frank Churchill to be in love with her, has flirted with him and has led even Mr.

Knightley to believe that she is in love with Frank. She has taken a dislike to Jane Fairfax whom she should

have befriended and, believing Jane 1 to be the object of a married men’s attention, has repeated to Frank

the slander she has concocted.

Our Initial Reaction, one of the disappointment and even dislike: There is no doubt, then, of Emma’s

many fault in her attitude towards people and her judgments of persons and situations. Our immediate

reaction to her as we go through the opening chapters of the novel, is bound to be one of disappointment

with this women who has been described in the very first sentence as, “handsome, clever and rich, with a

comfortable home and happy disposition.” In the opening chapter itself, we are informed of the evils of

Emma’s situation: these evils are the power of having too much her own way, and a disposition of think a

little too well off herself. In other words, Emma has been exercising too much authority in her father’s house

hold and, what is worse, she has too high an opinion of her ability and her judgement. Herself complacency

also clearly appears in the very first chapter. After having claimed the credit for having brought about the

match between Miss Taylor and Mr. Weston, she says, with the greatest possible self-confidence, that she

still has to make one more match and that she must look about for a wife for the vicar, Mr. Elton. Soon we
learn that she has an unduly high opinion about the character of Mr. Elton. Even when Mr Knightley

expresses to her his view that Mr. Elton is a worldly wise man who will not marry a girl without a dowry

and with a doubtful parentage, Emma differs with him and clings to her own plan of bringing about a match

between Mr. Elton and Harriet. Indeed, Emma is at this time obsessed with the thought of this match which

she has planned and to which she directs all her energies and endeavors. She is so blinded by this obsession

that she cannot perceive that Mr Elton is in love, not with Harriet but with herself. Here she seems to be so

self-centered in her plans that she doesnot care for her brother-in-law’s opinion that Mr Elton is interested in

her. Mr. Knightley clearly mentions that in her judgements of men and women she is being guided by fancy

and whim, and not by reason. While talking to Mr Weston, he says that Emma allows her fancy to have the

better of her understanding. Later in the novel, the author herself describes Emma as an “imaginist”. But

meets with bad usage when Mr Elton proposes her. This was a big blow to Emma’s self-complacency. This

was the moment of mental enlightenment for her, a moment of self-analysis that she has committed a serious

blunder.

Her Resolve After the failure of her plan about Harriet:

While we feel repelled by Emma because of her persistence in her erroneous attitude, she also wins our

sympathy when the author tells us about Emma’s realizations of her blunder. Emma feels quite “concerned

and ashamed”, and she is resolved to do such things no more. This resolution on her part gives rise to a

feeling of hope in our minds about Emma’s future conduct.

Her Blunders About Frank Churchill: However this hope proves to be illusory. Emma soon forgets her

resolve and goes on to commit more blunders. She now enters into a debate with Mr Knightley regarding the

character of Frank Churchill. She has already formed a high opinion about Churchill without having met

him. Her fancy promptly comes into play when she begins to think of Frank as a possible husband for

herself. Soon , however, she recovers her balance of mind and dismisses that possibility from her mind. But

she begins to nurse another illusion, and contemplates the possibility of a marriage between Frank and her

portegee, Harriet. The episode of the rescue of Harriet by Frank from the gypsies stimulates Emma’s fancy

and lends certainity to her hope of a marriage between those two. Once again her hopes dashed to the ground

when she receives a shock that Frank has been engaged to Jane Fairfax. Frank’s attention to herself had been
merely a mask to cover his secret engagement to Jane. Thus Frank’s conduct proved to be abominable to

her.

Her Full Realization of Her Faults, Follies and Errors: There is another shock in store for Emma while

she had been under the impression that Harriet was in love with Frank especially after the episode of

gypsies, Harriet reveals that she has been in love with Mr Knightley ever since the evening he had asked her

to dance with him. What an ironic twist in the life of Emma. This is an occasion for a close and searching

self-examination by Emma. She suddenly discovers that she herself has been unconsciously in love with Mr.

Knightley. She now realizes her own prolonged blindness to the realities. With insufferable vanity she had

believed herself in the secret of every body’s feelings, with unpardonable arrogance she had tried to arrange

every body’s destiny. But she had proved to be sadly mistaken in her all plan and efforts. In the process she

has done much mischief without knowing it. She has brought evil on Harriet, on herself and on Mr.

Knightley. She now wishes she had never met Harriet. This realization marks a great advance in the process

of her self-realization. She asks herself now “How to understand the deceptions she had been thus practicing

on herself, and living under! The blunders, the blindness of her own head and heart!” one thing has become

absolutely clear to her and that is her deep love for Mr. Knightley. At this stage Emma wins a lot of our

sympathy because of her predicament in which she has landed herself and because of her full and complete

realization of her errors and misjudgments.

The Improvement of Her Character and Outlook: Our initial dislike for Emma is thus gradually

modified by the improvements which take place in her outlook and her way of thinking. But it all turned into

a liking and even a feeling of admiration. Emma shows her capacity to learn from experience. She has been

unjust to Mr. Martin, Miss Bates and Jane Fairfax. But in the case of each, she corrects herself and a

readiness to reform. As for Miss Bates, Emma makes sufficient amends for her rudeness to that poor, good-

hearted woman, and she sincerely repents of the brutal manner in which she had treated her. In the case of

Jane Fairfax also, Emma experiences a genuine repentance, and adopts a truly friendly attitude towards her.

As for Mr. Elton, she now feels most happy that Harriet has agreed to marry him.

Her Family Affections and her Charitable Disposition:

There are other redeeming qualities in Emma which enhance her attractiveness in our eyes. She is very

devoted to her father and always strives to make him happy. She would not even like to marry if marriage
means forsaking her father. Indeed her affection for her father is one of the most striking traits of her

character. Her affection for her ex-governess is another redeeming quality in her. and the over-flowing love

which the ex-governess feels for Emma is a proof that there is something subtly attractive in Emma’s

character. In addition to these sentiments of affection, Emma shows her benevolent nature by performing

practical deeds of charity. She is by no means a callous woman. On the contrary, she is always ready to

relieve the distress of the poor and the needy by giving them financial help.

The Inherent Nobility of Emma’s Character:

The most convincing proof of the inherent nobility of Emma’s character is provided by the fact that Mr

Knightley has always been in love with her. Mr Knightley is a man of a discriminating judgment governed

more by reason than by passion. His continuing love for Emma, therefore, clearly shows that there is nothing

fundamentally wrong with Emma. Towards the end, when Mr Knightley declares his love to Emma, Emma

has become a greatly reformed person, purged of many faults, and therefore fit to be the life-companion of a

man like Mr Knightley. This does not , of course mean that Emma has even now become a perfect woman.

She is, by no means, a paragon even at the end. Mr Knightley will still have many disagreements with

Emma in the course of their married life. But the character of Emma has greatly developed since we met her

in the first chapter of the novel.

The Secret of her Charm:

The secret of Emma charm for us lies in the capacity for self-examination and self-analysis, her capacity for

reform and improvement, and her basic nobility. She is not a superficial woman at all. She is capable of deep

thinking and of diving into the very depths of her hearts. Her frank confession to herself of her lack of

tenderness is one of the most convincing proofs of her capacity for self-criticism. Here, then is a woman

who does not shrink from facts. She does not resort to any sophistry. She does not try to defend herself

against herself. This candor is really an admirable quality. Add to all these characteristics the fact that she is

handsome, clever and rich, and we have a heroine whom not only the author liked but we like also and more

than the author did.