The lifestyle of Emma Woodhouse consists of several social gatherings. She divides her time between dinners, social meetings and parties with friends and acquaintances. Nowadays, she could be the perfect influencer with a large number of followers. Indeed, she fulfils the role of a mentor efficiently since she never refrains from providing advice and guidance; mostly to young women such as Harriet Smith.
The character of Emma Woodhouse
Emma Woodhouse has a polyhedric personality. Undeniably, at the same time, she is a sophisticated and charming young lady. Sometimes Emma shows an immature and naive nature. Indeed, sometimes Emma misjudges her acquaintances, and her glamorous lifestyle includes the time she spends with her father and Mr Knightley, her closest friend.
Busy and cheerful as Miss Woodhouse is, she has an engaged life. This beautiful, brilliant, and smart girl (besides being very wealthy) is determined not to get married. She takes care of her father, Mr Woodhouse, who prefers an indoor and reserved life. Emma is a blend between a matchmaker and a life coach, following her excellent intuitive sense, which sometimes fails.
Emma is influenced by a society where marriage and economical-social status are essentials. Indeed, she thinks it is essential to classify people because of their financial and social situation. Most of the novel, Emma Woodhouse has a narrow-minded point of view of society. Only, in the end, she realises that she was wrong in her social evaluations.
A modern heroine
I find Emma character and this novel very modern. Nowadays, society did not change so much in the evaluation of persons. The glamorous lifestyle of Emma Woodhouse is not related to her historical period. Undoubtedly, she is a modern heroine because she could be the perfect influencer with a million followers, a well-known matchmaker, and a life coach as well.
She is an independent woman, and she always keeps herself busy without taking care so much about the other’s opinion. This young lady is relentless and doesn’t need a man in her life. Emma has all that she needs. Indeed, she is wealthy, and she doesn’t need a profession. Nevertheless, Miss Woodhouse spends her time helping friends and neighbours find their soulmates and giving them the right advice to live a better life.
Emma is a winner even when she is wrong in some matchmakings and misjudgments of some friends. She controls her emotions, elegantly, and charmingly. She also has style when she falls into her mistakes and is an unconventional and modern heroine. Occasionally Emma can contradict herself and be naive.
She never gives up, and she keeps going even without any moral support nor aid. When Mr Knightley tries to correct occasionally her behaviour, she explains her reasons kindly and firmly. She grew up without her mother, with the assistance of her governess and her father. Emma is used to be in solitude, although she is very social.
We recognise a woman of our time in all her aspects; indeed, Emma is not strictly related to her Regency period. Miss Woodhouse is feminine but never submissive because she knows her price, and she is proud of herself. Even if Emma Woodhouse is very young, she is conscious that she doesn’t need any man to improve her life and status. Her independence is impressive for a woman who lives during the Regency era.
The boundless imagination of Emma
Emma lives in two parallel worlds. She interacts with the real world, and she lives in an inner world, which is in her mind. Her imagination is endless and boundless, and it gives her a pulse to defends her ideas and points of view because, in the end, there is a balance between her inner world and reality. Her strong temper meets a naivety, which is due to her young age.
Sometimes Emma’s imagination collides against the harsh reality. In other occasions, she employs her creativity in her matchmaking, and, in this way, Emma tries to improve the society surrounding her. In that period, it was essential for a woman to marry. Mostly when the lady in question wasn’t so rich, it was more respectful for her and her family to find a husband.
I’ve just finished reading the novel, Emma by Jane Austen, and I’ve found that it is a fantastic book, which everyone should read. I identified myself with this heroine, who uses her imagination to escape in another reality and comfort herself from pains until she finds her love.
