Emma A likable Heroine
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In Jane Austen's novel, "Emma," Emma Woodhouse is a very likeable heroine who gains the reader's respect despite her faults. Jane Austen once said that Emma is a heroine "whom no-one but myself will much like." At the beginning of the novel, Emma Woodhouse is seen to be
"handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition."1
Beauty, brains, and money, Emma has it all, except that,
"The real evils indeed of Emma's situation were the powers of having rather too much her own way and disposition to think a little too well of herself; there were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments."2
Two major relationships in the novel that affects Emma's character are the ones with Mr. Knightley and Harriet Smith.
Emma thinks quite highly of herself compared to the other characters of the novel. Emma judges other characters in the novel or just thinks less of them because she is class-conscious, though she does change when she comes to realize the situations. An example would be Harriet Smith. Emma thinks of her to be, "a very pretty girl,"3 that she particularly admired...