Emma's Character In Volume 1 Of The Novel

How does Austen portray Emma's character in Volume One of the novel?

Jane Austen, the author of Emma uses volume one to present to the reader the main character of the novel, Emma. To achieve this, she uses a full range of techniques to convey her physical and mental description of Emma to the reader. She therefore presents Emma in a very pejorative way, except in a few rare conditions. She is portrayed as selfish and having an extremely high opinion of herself but also as being manipulative and dominant over most of the characters in her entourage. She presents these different facets of Emma's character through a very specific choice of language. To see these different aspects of Emma's character, we will first study how Emma presents herself to the reader through her behaviour toward the society around her, her actions, but also what she says and the way in which he does it. We will then depict Emma's character through the other character of volume one, how the achieve to create an image of the main character through their actions and their speech. Finally we will discover the character of Emma through Austen's personal investment in the novel, how she talks directly to the reader and how she manipulates the art irony extremely well.

The first way in which the reader can discover the character of Emma is through her own behaviour toward the society around her, her thoughts, her actions and what she says. For example, in chapter 1, it is said to the reader, through third narration, than can almost be compared with free indirect speech from Emma, that she is "handsome, clever, and rich" but is also described using the word "witty". The use of the words to describe Emma, especially "clever" and "witty" show us, in a very implicit way, some of Emma's faults. We can see, in chapter two, how her thoughts also present herself to the reader. When she talks about Harriet Smith, she wishes to "improve her" and "detach her from her bad acquaintance and introduce her into good society". The use of the words, that imply that Harriet Smith is not yet good enough, and the fact and it is Emma that is going to improve her show the reader the extremely high opinion that Emma has of herself. These words also show how very judging and very snobbish she is. In the same chapter, we also see Emma's domination over other character, especially her father, she "allowed him to talk". The use of the word "allowed" show the reader that she gives him the right to talk, that without her permission he would not be "allowed to talk". She is also showed as dominant in the relationship he has with Harriet Smith, Emma being the active one and Harriet the passive one, only agreeing with what "Miss Woodhouse" says. Harriet Smith allows yet another opportunity to show Emma's real character to the reader, through the proposal of Mr Robert Martin. Although he is saying to Harriet that never would she try to influence her answer to Mr Martin's proposal, she does the entire contrary, even writing Harriet's answer. Emma is presented all throughout volume in very different ways, mainly pejorative. But we are still faced with the paradox that though Emma is clever, she is almost always mistaken. The use of the words, in the first chapter of the novel allows Austen to create, right from the beginning of the novel, a very clear image of the character of Emma.

We can also discover the character of Emma through the analysis of the other main characters in volume one, the main characters being Mr Knightley, Harriet Smith and Mrs Weston. Mr Knightley is always described as being the voice of reason, the most sensible and the novel's model of good sense. Mr. Knightley serves as the novel's model of good sense. From his very first conversation with Emma and her father in Chapter 1, his purpose, to correct the excesses and missteps of those around him, is clear. He is unfailingly honest but tempers his honesty with tact and kind-heartedness. Almost always, we can depend upon him to provide the correct evaluation of the other characters' behaviour and personal worth. His character allows the reader to discover in more depths the character of Emma, as he is "one of the few people who could see faults in Emma Woodhouse". This allows us to see, all throughout the first volume that whenever he speaks, he is the voice reason in the whole of the novel. We can see this very clearly when, in chapter 8, Mr Knightley and Emma have an argument, we can see his negative judgment over her actions, knowing immediately that Emma organised Harriet's refusal of Mr Martin, saying that she is the one that "persuaded her to refuse him". Through this argument we discover the importance of the character of Mr Knightley for the understanding of Emma's own character. Mrs Weston, formally Miss Anne Taylor and Emma's beloved governess and companion at Hartfield, is also important in the novel as she is able to create a balance with all the pejorative sides to Emma's character, showing the positive facets of it. When she is talking with Mr Knightley, in chapter 5, she says that Emma "is an excellent creature" and "will make no