Emma: Character Sketch Essay

Emma is a sweet girl who has everything that she could want and therefore has been spoiled for most of her life. She is a woman who has lived in the world with very little to distress or vex her. She lives at her home in Highbury with her father. Their house, Heartfield, is the second largest only to Donwell Abbey, this shows their position in the community. Because of her position, Emma feels like she should set the towns standards and manage peoples lives and the social calendar. When she is determined to "raise" her friend Harriet into good society, Emma demonstrates confidence in her ability to re-write the books of Highbury etiquette. She makes plenty of mistakes along the way. In the end, Highbury hasnt changed Emma has.

In the novel, Emmas intentions are not bad in wanting to find love for others, but she ends up ruining peoples lives. Since she is blind to love and cant seem to find it, she is determined to see that at least others are happy. Making decisions without thinking is one of her main characteristics. Or at least she thinks, but not about the consequences that her actions might cause. Mr. Knightly is like her brother and looks out for her and corrects her actions, without him, it is possible that Emma could have made many more mistakes in life. We could think of Mr. Knightley as Emmas reality check. Theyve known each other for years and years, which means that Mr. Knightley can say things to Emma that no one else can. In some ways, he is the person that changes her. She realizes her actions through him and desires to change her self. The main story underlying the novel follows the journey of a young woman as she matures as a result of the consequences of her mistakes. Emma begins as a naive young woman whose vanity, over bearing confidence and arrogance blind her from the truth; Better be without sense, than misapply it as you [Emma] do. However, through her errors, misjudgments and inability to judge others Emma learns to recognize these faults and reforms her character accordingly. She gains insight from her faults and ultimately, with the aid of Mr. Knightley, she increases her awareness to others and learns the importance of insight and compassion. Emmas arrogance and snobbery are established within the opening paragraphs of the novel; lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress of vex her, and with the statement; the real evils indeed of Emmas situation were the power of having rather too much her own way and a disposition to think a little too well of herself. Emmas growth and transition in character lies mainly in the transformation of her attitude towards others and towards herself. The change in Emmas attitude is seen most clearly through her treatment and judgment of the Bates. Because of Emmas situation within Highbury she was expected to visit the less fortunate members of society, and although Emma did visit the Bates, her attitude towards them suggested that her visits were an obligation; none were equal to counteract the persuasion of its being very disagreeable- a waste of time, tiresome women- and all the horror of being in danger of falling in with the second rate and third rate of Highbury. With this comment, Emma shows her lack of compassion and snobbery towards these people who were so much less fortunate than she was; She is poor; she has sunk from the comforts she was born to; and if she live to old age, must probably sink more? It is the incident at Box Hill which catalysts Emmas transformation in attitude and character. By reflecting upon her errors she gains insight from her past errors; acknowledging her past errors and misjudgments and finally recognizing the flaws in her character.

The main element of Emmas character that is focused on is maturity. In the end of the novel, Emma has changed in some respects, all due to Mr. Knightly. He makes her a better person, but we see that she still has some growing to do in the area of maturity. The reader gets the happy ending when we see that Mr. Knightly and Emma get married, as he will be able to keep her in check.