How Does Emma Change Throughout The Novel

Jane Austen is one of the most renowned novelist of the 19th century, and her novel Emma helped establish her literary fame after her untimely death. Austen captivated readers to her novel by depicting the main character, Emma, as a flawed, unpredictable heroin. The novel focuses on her life—specifically her love life—in a society where a woman is expected to secure her marriage to a wealthy man. It is the first passage at the beginning of the novel that indicates Emma is not satisfied with herself, which becomes her lesson throughout the rest of the novel. And even though she has a hard time finding herself, we witness Emma’s transformation from young and naïve to mature and confident. Nevertheless, it is the era in which she grew up in,

Woodhouse. Throughout the novel we notice that all he cares about is his health, making him oblivious to anything other than this—marriage being at the forefront. Which begs us to take a further look into his interactions. Mr. Woodhouse’s fear of marriage is apparent when he says “poor Miss Taylor” after Miss Taylor, their governess, marries a wealthy man. However, it’s not so much marriage he is afraid of, but change, because chances are they will forget about him. As the patriarch of Hartfield, Mr. Woodhouse’s resistance to change is partly to blame for for Emma’s immaturity, “While her dear father lived, any change of condition must be impossible for her…” (E 367). Since Emma spends most of her time with her father, his resistance to change impedes her to acknowledge her adult

“The real evils” Emma faces “were the power of having her own way” and thinking “too well of herself” (E 5). Emma, however, remains blinded from these dangers: “so unperceived, that they did not by any means rank as misfortunes with her” (E 5). All she craves is power, even if it means getting involved in a series of ridiculous errors after playing match-maker with people in the village. She, however, takes a special interest in Harriet’s love life. She believes that Harriet cares for Frank Churchill, but the readers soon learn that that is not the case. Frank Churchill starts to court Emma, or so we thought, but then it is revealed that he is married. Could this be Emma’s immature mindset at work? Well, though she constantly fails at her job as a match-maker, Emma keeps trying to set Harriet with men from Highbury. She mentions that she believes Mr. Knightley has affections for Harriet, however, by the end of the novel, the readers learn that it is not Harriet he is in love with, but her! These miscalculations, her inexperience with match-making, and her egotism reveal how Emma always thwarts her chances for a lasting relationship; “these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments” (E