Emma’s Late-Fulfilled Resolve for Change

Judah Norman

Catherine Emanuel

Rise of the Woman Writer

28 October 2020

Emma’s Late-Fulfilled Resolve for Change

In Jane Austen’s Emma, Emma’s main character flaw seems to be that she takes too much pride in attempting to arrange or “perfect” the social and romantic lives of her counterparts in the story, primarily those of Harriet, Frank Churchill, Mr. Elton, and others. Throughout the novel, she is able to recognize the fact that she makes massive blunders when meddling in the affairs of the other characters and that it even causes great emotional damage to them, but despite her intent to change, she repeatedly falls back into the same habits. I do believe, however, that Emma finally changes at the end of the novel because she decides to give up matchmaking, works out her differences with Jane and Frank, and learns to healthily move past her guilt over previous mistakes.

The first way in which Emma changes is that she discontinues her involvement in the romantic business of others. For example, Emma endeavored so deeply to create the perfect match between Harriet and Mr. Elton so much so that Emma does not heed Mr. Knightley’s warnings about what she could be getting herself and Harriet into. As a result, Mr. Elton grows bitter toward the two women and rejects Harriet, leaving her heartbroken and doubting that she will ever marry. Moreover, Emma dissuades Harriet from wedding Mr. Martin, the man for which Harriet had genuine affections, because he is of a lower social class. Contrarily, at the end of the novel after Emma and Mr. Knightley receive word of Harriet’s engagement to Mr. Martin, Emma is happy that Harriet finally finds a union out of her own volition with the man she truly loves, especially upon gaining the knowledge that he and Harriet are in the same social class. Reflecting back on the blunders she had committed against Harriet, Emma even admits, “...for at that time I was a fool” (Austen 444). She decides that it is best that she can cause her or anyone else no more harm.

Another way in which Emma changes is her genuine reconciliations, primarily with Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill. Emma is initially jealous of Jane and has a temporary crush on Frank; whenever Emma and Frank are able to converse, Emma speaks negatively of Jane in “...her own former conversations with [Frank] about miss Fairfax...” (Austen 371) Upon discovering that Frank and Jane had been in a secret engagement with each other, Emma takes a moment to critique how she handled herself with the two. As she reconciles with Jane, Emma discovers that Jane felt a sense of guilt that Emma felt so bitterly of her, and after Emma admits that the blame is solely hers, she insists they must “...forgive each other at once...” (Austen 430). Moreover, when she settles things with Frank, they joke about the events that commenced in the past months and agree that “It is not now worth a regret...” (Austen 446). Emma is a character that does not usually think of herself to ever be in the wrong, but these are vulnerable and humble moments when she takes the initiative of not just clearing her conscience but making things right.

On the topic of clearing, one's conscience versus making things right, one final way in which Emma changes is that she is able to move past her guilt over previous mistakes. In the early parts of the novel, Emma seems to simply save face when things do not go as planned. For example, when Elton rejects Harriet and Harriet becomes woefully heartbroken, Emma “...shewed her the most unvarying kindness, striving to occupy and amuse her...to drive Mr. Elton from her thoughts” (Austen 134). Additionally, when she realizes the negative behavior she portrayed against Ms. Bates, Emma decides to “...call upon her the very next morning...” (Austen 353) to apologize and make her feel better, hoping that “...it should be the beginning...of a regular, equal, kindly intercourse” (Austen 353). Emma’s humility at the end of the novel between her admiration for Harriet’s engagement to Mr. Martin, and her rapprochement with Jane and Frank frees her from any hard feelings or grudges, thus, she can dismiss her former errors as silly incidents over which she can look back and jokingly laugh.

Of course, there are some parts of her character that do not change - such as the fact that she still looks down on lower classes and believes, therefore, that her friendship with Harriet must evolve. Nonetheless, she gains a sense of modesty and forgiveness that she does not have at the beginning of the story. While it did take a love proclamation from Mr. Knightley for all of the character shifts to happen, it is a change that helps her to go about the rest of her life in a new and brighter light.

Works Cited

• Austen, Jane. Emma. Penguin Classics, 1996. Print.