Jane Austen Emma Character Analysis

Emma, by Jane Austen, is about a young stubborn girl that is brought up in a wealthy household. It is revealed to the reader by the narrator that Emma’s mother died when Emma was young which made her the woman of the household. From this, Emma learned prejudices that stuck with her in her young adult years. This leads to several conflicts with those around her in the community such as Playing with Harriet’s love life, thinking she is in love with Frank Churchill, and not acknowledging her feelings for Mr. Knightly until later on in the midst of chaos. Through the chaos that Emma creates, Emma learns from her mistakes in her private reflections. Mr. Knightley is also responsible for Emma’s growth throughout the novel. He

This meant that Emma had to mature more than others at a young age since she was the lady of the house. As the head lady, Emma took care of her father who loved her dearly and never wanted to lose her. Emma made the peace with never marrying, which was not hard since she had no desire in the first place when the book started. However, this does not keep Emma from playing match maker for others. She adopts a friend, Harriet, who is the child of an upper class man that refuses to recognize their relation. Since Harriet is of high class blood, Emma takes her in and is determined to match her with someone that she finds fitting for Harriet. The problem is that Harriet has fallen in love with Robert Martin. Mr. Martin was the caretaker of Mr. Knightley’s property and is not of the upper social class. Emma obviously disapproves of their feelings for one another. She thinks that Martin is nothing compared to their social status and that Harriet needs a husband that is high up in the social ladder. Here it is obvious that Emma does have prejudices against those that are “below” her. Her disapproval and dislike for Mr. Martin is to the point where she does not believe his education when he writes Harriet a letter of proposal. She refuses to see what is real since it does not fit in with her beliefs. She convinces Harriet to deny and promises someone better, which to Emma was Mr. Knightly. Everyone

She soon learned that her stubbornness to get her way and prejudices were not getting her far along. There are several incidents and characters that help Emma come to her realization, but the one character that is important is Mr. Knightly. He is the only character in the whole book that does not hold back to confront Emma. He holds nothing back and is the main reason for Emma’s private reflections. Mr. Knightly is Emma’s love interest in the book. Calling her out was one way that Mr. Knightly showed his love for Emma. He was not going to hold her back but help her grow as a person. Emma probably realizes this when she finally confesses her love to Mr. Knightly and he does the same in return. Not only that but he admits to loving her since she was thirteen. Several characters in Emma do nothing of her but be a pawn in her games and hold back. Mr. Knightly is the only one that does no such