The_Power_of_Emma_Woodhouse

The Power of Emma Woodhouse Emma has been described as a classic feminist novel. Even though Emma was written before any true women’s right movements had taken place, Emma Woodhouse takes on many masculine characteristics and has much more power than many other young women in the late 18th century. Readers see the luxuries that Emma Woodhouse has, and Emma is fully aware that she answers to no one. She is fortunate enough to not have to worry about primogeniture or an entailment because there are no close male relatives. Because Emma has a high opinion of herself, and because she does not have any socioeconomic reason to get married, she is not a stereotypical Austen heroine. Emma’s privileged attitude starts at a young age with a father that never denies her anything and a governess that is only a few years older, neither of which give good discipline if any at all. The only person who redirects her in any meaningful way is George Knightley, her brother-in-law, father figure, and eventually love interest. Emma and Mr. Knightley’s constant disagreements show that Emma can stand her ground to a socially high ranking male, and in several cases plays Devil’s Advocate. One argument in particular, after Emma discourages Harriet from accepting Mr. Martin’s proposal and Mr. Knightley encourages it, Emma “… still thought herself a better judge of such a point of female right and refinement than he could be…” (48). Even though Emma is a woman and sixteen years Knightley’s junior, she argues with him in a very masculine way, without any regret or submissiveness and believes herself to be right without a doubt. Emma defies social expectations because she has no desire, or need, to get married. Emma tells Harriet that she has never experienced love, but it would be a different story if she were to fall in love. Emma says “… few married women are half as much mistress of their husband’s house as I am of Hartfield; and never, never could I expect to be so truly beloved and important; so always first and right in any man’s eyes as I am in my father’s.” (62). Emma knows that she would be bound by a marriage, for if she married she would not have the same power and say in a potential husband’s home than she has at her father’s. Because, of course, it was a woman’s main goal in life to wed, Harriet is shocked that Emma would consider not getting married and notes that she would be an old maid like Miss Bates. Emma knows her social class is higher than that of Miss Bates and she will never be a poor old maid, she discounts that idea by saying “…a single woman, of good fortune, is always respectable…” (62). She basically means that if a woman was fortunate enough to be born into the right situation, the right class and enough money, she will be respected in her own right, not something she married into. In contrast to nearly all other women in her time period, Emma had the power to do more than simply accept or reject a marriage proposal. She does, however, marry Mr. Knightley for love, not because she needs to gain any social status or wealth. In fact, it is Mr. Knightley who actually moves to Hartfield to live with Emma, a practice unheard of in the late 18th century. By the end of the book, Emma analyzes her actions and concludes that Knightley may not have been wrong about everything, though she does not admit she was always wrong, she realizes that her actions had consequences. Throughout the novel, the readers experience Emma growing and maturing into a sensible young woman who eventually marries for love rather than for social gain. Emma was a sort of pre-feminist in the aspect that she was not submissive to Mr. Knightley and that she did not want to marry because she was independently wealthy and of high social class.   Works Cited Austen, Jane. Emma. Ed. George Justice. 4th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2012. Print.