In the Book Emma By Jane Austen, Emma finds herself being the cupid within her friend group. "Your time has been properly and delicately spent if you have been endeavoring for the last four years to bring about this marriage. A worthy employment for a young lady's mind!"(33). Emma finds herself, in a situation she never thought she would be in. In Emma by Jane Austen, Emma communicates the idea that love makes us act foolish and that we shouldn’t have to marry to be happy. She portrays this idea by using foreshadowing, situational irony, and characterization throughout the book.
Jane Austen implements situational irony in Emma. She does this by having Emma discuss the idea that she does not see herself ever being married. Being so, Emma always tends to be the matchmaker between her friends. Emma would always push others to search for a spouse or someone relationship worthy. In Emma’s searching, she began to enjoy Mr. Elton’s company. Even though she got on so well with him, she persuaded Harriet to develop a relationship with him instead. Being that Harriet rejected Robert’s first proposal, knowing that he was who she had strong devoted feelings for Harriet went through with Emma’s plan. Ending with her back in square one with Robert, deciding to marry him after a second proposal resulting in one of the best examples of situational irony, "It was foolish, it was wrong, to take so active a part in bringing two people together" (134).
While Emma was not looking to be with someone being that she always puts her friends before herself. She found Mr. Kightley which was more of a coincidence along the path. Emma was smart, deciding she did not need to be married. She focused on herself, friends, and family. She knew that she should not try so hard for someone, Why would she marry? To be unhappy with someone after two years of marriage and get a divorce? She knew she was not ready, she did not even want to be ready. Being said, it lead to find happiness with someone other than herself, someone who was deserving and wanted to truly be with her throughout the ups and downs. "one of the few people who could see faults in Emma Woodhouse, and the only one who ever told her of them" (p. 32), Mr. Knightly saw Emma for who she was and was still found of her even with her faults. Emma resisted the idea of marriage just for personal reasons, but it stops her infatuation with matchmaking, seeming ironic as how she did not see herself with anyone. Mr. Knightley waited patiently for Emma to find herself, and go through her trial and errors "My interference was quite as likely to do harm as to do good. It was very natural for you to say, 'What right has he to lecture me?' and I am afraid very natural for you to feel that it was done in a disagreeable manner. I do not believe I did you any good. The good was all to myself, by making you an object of the tenderest affection to me. I could not think about you so much without doting on you, faults and all, and by dint of fancying so many errors, have been in love with you ever since you were thirteen at least." (394)”.
Jane Austen had a hint of what we now call feminism in the underlining of Emma. “…waiting for something to do, pouncing on the first male she’s not closely related to and begging him to marry her.”, Emma is not someone who is going to settle for mediocrity, she’s a strong headed woman. Even with men swooning after her, or even when became infatuated with someone, she wasn't going to beg them to stay with her. She found she was her best companion. "She is poor; she has sunk from the comforts she was born to, and if she live to old age, must probably sink more" (324), a lot of women were dependent on a man for money. If they were alone they usually had financial burdens and were very judged for it, “A single woman with a very narrow income must be a ridiculous, disagreeable, old maid! the proper sport of boys and girls; but a single woman of good fortune is always respectable, and may be as sensible and pleasant as anybody else.” (93) though Emma did not have this problem due to her family, others did and were mistreated. Which was the main reason for women wanting to get married young for the wrong reasons, instead of waiting for someone to truly love. "….question of dependence or independence!" (31), being that Harriet was not financially well on her own Emma herself questioned Harriet's reasoning behind marriage, Emma did not judge Harriet’s choices, but she only wanted the best for her as we all do for our friends “Emma had no doubt of Harriet's happiness with any good-tempered man; but with him, and in the home he offered, there would be the hope of more–of security, stability, and improvement. She would be placed in the midst of those who loved her and who had better sense than herself; retired enough for safety and occupied enough for cheerfulness. She would be never led into temptation nor left for it to find her out. She would be respectable and happy.” (410).
Emma’s character plays a key role in the distention of not needing a significant other in her life. Emma’s character finds herself living freely, and doing as she pleases. Until she met Mr. Churchill, she never had such an odd vibe as she did towards him. Mr. Churchill too had this burden feeling, leading him to act rude towards her, and be nothing but arrogant, “…fears and resents the power that love gives her over him, and that is why he treats her so cruelly.” (1996). Love makes us do things we shouldn’t and under the influence of it, we tend to make a fool of ourselves and not see the obvious. “Emma sometimes even speaks against her own beliefs…”, we tend to contradict ourselves, and be the hypocrite everyone hates. Emma’s character is a prime example of this, she always provides the best advice for relationships, though she is unable to use that same advice towards herself.
In Emma, Emma took it upon herself to make Harriet what Emma wasn’t. “she would improve her; she would detach her from her bad acquaintance…”, Emma saw Harriet as what she could have been. She influenced her to do as she wishes she had done, and hold a relationship she could not withstand.This made Harriet a puppet controlled by Emma, though she had good intentions it made her foolish. She was doing it out of desire, to have love herself. Love made Emma worry. She didn’t want to put herself throughout trial and error and have her feelings crushed, it was easier for her to have someone else do it. She match-makes Harriet, as a social experiment for herself. Emma didn’t seem scared to love or be in a relationship, more just fearful of wasting her time. “It darted through her with the speed of an arrow that Mr. Knightley must marry no one but herself!” (, Emma found herself objecting to this discovery from Harriet. When it came to Mr. Knightly she felt oddly different, the feeling of love seemed to make her jealous when Harriet presented that she may have a liking for Mr. Knighley. Throughout reading Emma, we’d foreshadow Emma ending with Harriet happily marrying with someone other than Robert, and for Emma to not be marrying. Jane Austen through us curveball within in this story.
“Seldom, very seldom does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised, or a little mistaken; but where, as in this case, though the conduct is mistaken, the feelings are not, it may not be very material.” (369), as humans, we will never say what is truly on our minds, in fear of rejection or just having self-control. When we tend to fall for someone, we try and be as nonchalant with them as possible. Though Emma was so headstrong, she let her emotions towards Frank get the best of her when Miss. Jane was introduced, because of her liking towards him. “Emma’s eyes were instantly withdrawn; and she sat silently meditating, in a fixed attitude, for a few minutes. A few minutes were sufficient for making her acquainted with her own heart. A mind like hers, once opening to suspicion, made rapid progress; she touched, she admitted, she acknowledged the whole truth.” (341), she did this when Harriet confessed her feelings towards Mr. Knightly too, yet she condensed it all before acting upon it.