Review: Emma…How Not to be a Friend (Spoilers)

Back in October, I did a review of the 90’s movie Clueless staring Alicia Silverstone and as it turns out, that movie was based on Jane Austen’s comedy Emma. At the time, I had never read Emma and had only seen the movie version with Gwyneth Paltrow, a movie which, while accurate to the book, I did not care for (probably because I don’t like Gwyneth Paltrow that much). However, because it was required reading this year for my British Literature course and I finished it on Friday, it’s time to give my review of this awesome book.

From the outset, it’s important to note that when writing Emma, Jane Austen was aiming to make her completely unlikeable. In fact, she actually said, “I am going to make a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.” Did she accomplish this? Yes. Throughout Volumes 1 into half of 3, Emma Woodhouse totally reminded me of a Regency Era version of Regina George from Mean Girls. She is super pretty, fawned over by everyone, has no one to hold her back, puts whoever she deems a threat or inconvenience down to increase her own ego regardless of their feelings, and hurts people unwittingly for her own amusement.

It’s also in Emma’s introduction that we see something that’s not often seen a lot today that makes Jane Austen such an awesome writer: she didn’t waste time in telling us how awful Emma is and why that is. We are told she is pretty, and that’s as far as physical descriptions go for now. Instead, we are given this description in the opening sentence of the book: “Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.”  

This first line, alongside setting up the main conflict of this chapter which kickstarts the story (Emma successfully matched her governess with someone and is now bored so she must find another match for someone), also gives us an idea of not only what people think about Emma, but also of what she thinks of herself, allowing us to consider how these factors might to cause her to act the way she does. Everywhere she goes, people say she’s pretty. On top of that, she’s rich and both her and her peers believe her to be more clever than she is, partially because they’re pushovers or want to be in her good graces. Because of this, her already large ego grows to gargantuan proportions. Add that she has “very little to destress or vex her” due to her fortunate upbringing, and you have a young woman whose second nature it is to turn crumbs into cupcakes and believe that she is the cleverest person around for solving that minute problem. 

We get even more details about Emma’s upbringing from paragraphs 2-4, which give us an idea of how willful she is. Since she is the youngest daughter, had an overly indulgent father, and her mother died when Emma was very young, there was no one to – in Jane Austen’s words – “restrain her.” The only matronly figure Emma had in her life was a Miss Taylor, who was too softhearted to do much in the way of guiding Emma, instead acting as a pushover, agreeing to Emma’s every whim, feeding her ego and making young Emma the main authority of her life. This, with the factors mentioned above, further spoiled Emma, making her essentially believe that she was the center of the universe, capable of no evil. Jane Austen puts it this way in paragraph three: “The real evils indeed of Emma’s situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself; these were disadvantages which threatened to alloy ger many enjoyments. The danger, however, was at present so unperceived, that they did not by any means ranks as misfortunes with her.” 

This type of upbringing not only made her egotistical, but also made her a master at manipulation, which we see in many of her interactions with her father, later with Harriet, and a little bit with Miss Taylor. She can easily spot manipulation in others as well, giving her even more influence over others. However, there is one person in the book who isn’t swayed by her manipulative tendencies and that’s Mr. Knightly, whose relationship to Emma is rather like that of an older brother to a younger sister. They enjoy each other’s company, and he finds her to be pretty and agreeable, but he (unlike everyone else in Emma’s life) isn’t afraid to tell her that what she’s doing is wrong. We see this in chapter three when he warns Emma that she shouldn’t pursue matchmaking (which she promptly ignores), and later in chapter eight when he tells her that what she’s doing in trying to “improve” Harriet is setting up Harriet for failure. He isn’t afraid to bluntly tell Emma the truth, though she often ignores it to continue with her own whims. 

Chapter three is when we’re introduced to Harriet and from there onwards, we get to observe how little Emma respects Harriet. She sees as her vanity project, something to keep her temporarily entertained, a chess game with legs in a sense. Though she calls Harriet her friend and enjoys her company, she only addresses her by her first name instead of addressing her with her title first (it was considered polite to call friends and acquaintances by Miss/Mrs./Mr. before calling them by their first or last name in Regency England.) We also see how flippantly she dismisses Harriet’s other friends and her love interest, Robert Martin, and manipulates Harriet to reject his proposal. Basically, Emma sees Harriet as a pet to keep under her thumb.

Unfortunately, the situation becomes worse from there for Harriet for several reasons. First, Harriet is of a considerably lower rank than Emma. She was born out of wedlock and has no connections other than her teacher at the school she attends. She also is not as clever as Emma, being quite naive. All of these traits are things that Emma takes advantage of as she pretends to condescend to Harriet’s level to bring her into higher society. Harriet does not perceive this even when it takes more blatant forms, such as when Emma, instead of apologizing to Harriet for trying to set her up in a doomed relationship with Mr. Elton, flips the attention to herself, accusing Harriet of hurting her by being rightfully upset by the situation, something that quiets Harriet very quickly. Due to Emma’s manipulation and Harriet’s naiveté, Harriet believes Emma to have her best intentions at heart and practically worships her even more than everyone else already does.

This type of manipulation tells us something that’s critical to Emma’s eventual character arc: she has no remorse. Whenever she feels anything like remorse for what she’s doing, it’s quickly forgotten and she continues doing whatever she wants, regardless of the consquences.

The other thing that we should keep in mind is how Emma manipulates her surroundings so she can be the center of attention. When the character Jane Fairfax is introduced in Volume II, Emma’s quite peeved. We learn that Jane, despite her lower social status, is the same age as Emma, more accomplished, and many people find her to be more attractive. Because Emma desires to be the center of attention at all times, she can’t stand any competition, and thus is quick to form and spread judgements about Jane, taking any opportunity, she can to belittle her either in public or private. An example of this is how at the ball, she is quick to agree with Frank Churchill that Jane is not pretty, pushes her to sing at the piano with them even though her voice is going out, and secretly enjoys watching Jane sin as she accepts romantic gifts from a married friend. Putting Jane and others more talented than Emma is her way of validating herself and getting others to validate her.

This changes, however, in the second half of Volume 3 in one of the best (though fairly rushed) character arcs that I’ve read. After realizing that Harriet is in love with Mr. Knightley who Emma also loves, she begins to change as she’s realized what pain she’s caused and how rude she’s been to others. Her newfound attempt to change her ways continues with more fervor after Mr. Knightley proposes to her. This causes a chain of events where Harriet, realizing that she can’t have Mr. Knightley, accepts her original love-interest’s (Mr. Martin) proposal, Emma makes her peace with Jane Fairfax, and promises to be humbler, realizing the error of her ways, leading to a happily ever after to end the book.

Until next time,

M.J.