Elizabeth Bennet And Emma Woodhouse example essay topic

... ever occur between Mr. Darcy or Mr. Bingley and one of the Benet daughters. Caroline is constantly trying to impress and flatter Darcy. In some of the funniest parts of the novel, Caroline attempts to embarrass and deflate Elizabeth in front of Darcy, especially while Elizabeth is temporarily staying at Netherfield to attend to Jane, but Miss Bingley underestimates her rival and is usually embarrassed when her plans backfire and make Elizabeth seem more desirable to Darcy. Caroline Bingley is proud, manipulative, vindictive, phony, and actually unworthy of the status that her family name grants her.

The last woman with whom Elizabeth Benet should be compared is Charlotte Lucas. Charlotte finds herself with little to recommend her and even fewer options on the marriage front. When her friend, Elizabeth, rejects Mr. Collins, Charlotte (and her mother) sees an opportunity. Even Jane sees the wisdom in the marriage: Remember that [Charlotte] is one of a large family; that as to fortune, it is a most eligible match; and be ready to believe, for everybody's sake, that she may feel something like regard and esteem for our cousin. (Austen 241) Charlotte is one of those women mentioned at the beginning of this paper that marries out of practicality, not love.

Her husband has a house and a benefactress. She is rising to a respectable level in society and she will want for nothing that is essential for her or her future children's survival. It does seem a little underhanded both to the Benet and to the reader that Charlotte is engaged to Mr. Collins less than a week after Elizabeth rejects his marriage proposal, but such was life at the time. Charlotte does pay a price for her prudent choice. She moves away from her family and becomes her husband's servant and Lady Catherine de Bourgh's stoop and clawing post. In the end, Charlotte Lucas Collins becomes a reflection of her pompous, yet cowering, husband -- the worst fate possible.

Elizabeth stands out against these three examined women. She is more discerning as to the character of Miss Bingley and Mrs. Lucas than Jane. Yet, she is very supportive when she is proved to be correct: 'The united efforts of [Bingley's] two unfeeling sisters and of his overpowering friend, assisted by the attractions of Miss Darcy and the amusements of London might be too much, she feared'; of a disadvantage for his feelings for Jane to overcome Lynn 9 (Austen 239). While Jane quietly bides her pain at the loss of Bingley, Elizabeth displays her emotions openly and proudly, sometimes to her own detriment. In regard to Caroline Bingley, Elizabeth is proven to be more beautiful, witty, and deserving of Darcy's attentions than this underhanded vixen.

Miss Bingley is acting partly out of concern for her brother, but her jealousy and obsessive desire for Darcy overwhelm any good that she might be trying to achieve in the lives of the men closest to her. Miss Bingley will end up like her sister: married to a cold, stupid, brash, yet rich man with whom she does not desire to share the same room. Liddell says, 'Elizabeth's intelligence and independence seemed all the more admirable, her pertness more forgivable in contrast with Miss Bingley's vapid flattery'; (51). Elizabeth, in comparison, will marry a man whom she respects, trusts, and loves.

Elizabeth Benet looks like an excellent woman and possible wife when compared with Caroline Bingley. Although Charlotte Lucas cannot be blamed for her choice of marriage, she proves Elizabeth to be correct in the rejection of Mr. Collins. Mrs. Benet is furious that Elizabeth rejects Mr. Benet's arrogant heir because society recommends that all women accept the marriage proposals they receive. She reminds her daughter that there is no guarantee that another proposal will ever follow. Ironically, another proposal shortly follows, and Elizabeth rejects that one also. Elizabeth already knows what Charlotte and her mother and the rest of society cannot see.

Yes, if she married Mr. Collins she would be provided for, but she would be miserable. She would be unable to breathe or function as herself. Elizabeth sees that a loss of her personality in the name of security is worse than starvation or penny scrimping. Even when faced with rejection by Catherine de Bourgh, Elizabeth stands her ground. Austen moves the reader through Elizabeth's change of perception concerning Mr. Darcy. She claims that she did not even know she had feelings other than mild interest til after she has rejected his proposal, but Austen has masterfully 'prepare [d] [the reader] for Elizabeth's revised estimate of Darcy, for her recognition that Darcy regards her differently, and for her consequent 'change of sentiment' toward him'; (Brower 71).

She is confident enough in herself to know that happiness will come to her and that she should not sell out to anyone. Thus, she ends up with Darcy. One of Austen's last novels features a heroine who is 'superficial, ill-conceived, and snobbish'; (Waldron 146). Emma Woodhouse 'knows exactly where she stands in her society and what it can offer her'; (Bayley 12). Austen has been quoted as saying that she did not think anyone but herself would like Emma as a person. Emma's main problem throughout the novel is 'her fundamental lack of self-understanding,' ; which leads her to make incorrect, and sometimes disastrous, assumptions about others, especially in relation to matters of the heart (Litz 427).

Austen's desire in creating Emma was to show the movement from 'delusion to self-recognition, from illusion to reality'; (Litz 427). Crack states that the action of the novel illustrates Emma's 'gradual enlightenment'; as she moves toward a state of 'moral and emotional maturity'; (436,449). In a novel where the heroine seems to be of dubious character, it might initially seem hard to show her in a good light, even in a comparison with other members of her fictional society, but Austen purposefully includes two women with whom Emma can be compared. The first is Harriet Smith. Schorer describes Harriet as 'a silly, but harmless girl educated by Emma into exactly the same sort of miscalculations'; (106). Harriet becomes Emma's pet project because she represents a mystery of sorts.

No one knows exactly what kind of family Harriet comes from, and this gives Harriet a degree of freedom in the class-conscious Highbury society of the late eighteenth century. Unfortunately, Harriet is not especially bright, witty, beautiful, wealthy or anything else that could recommend her to a marriage partnership with a gentleman. Knightley is correct in his assessment that Harriet's best-case scenario lies with Robert Martin, a man who loves her and can provide for her. Harriet does not even think enough of her relationship with him that she defends it to Emma. At the drop of Emma's hat, Harriet is off to the races, with Mr. Elton as the intended rabbit to capture. Harriet is not discerning enough to realize that Emma's guidance of her has much more to do with Emma's own desires and needs rather than any attention to Harriet's feelings.

When Mr. Elton is no longer available, so to speak, Harriet falls for a man significantly out of her range -- Mr. Knightley. As he warns Emma when she persuades Harriet to refuse Robert Martin, 'Vanity working on a weak head produces every sort of mischief'; (Austen 615). Harriet's lack of self-knowledge reflects Emma's own. Harriet serves the reader best as a simple mirror of Emma. No, she cannot be considered Emma's equal, but she does show in great detail the failings of her teacher. Regardless of her lack of intelligence and birth, her snobbishness, her cruelty toward Mr. Martin, and her willingness to abandon all rational thought in the face of fancy all echo her mentor's thoughts and actions.

Sadly, in the end, Emma's only real use for her is that 'Harriet effects for Emma the service that Frank Churchill effects for Mr. Knightley -- the revelation of their true sentiment through jealousy'; (Liddell 98). The second woman Austen uses to further characterize Emma is a young lady who does not have a single line of dialogue in the entire novel, Jane Fairfax. Austen tells her readers that Jane and Emma 'are alike in many ways: age, station, accomplishments,' ; and yet it is their differences that so clearly portray to the reader what reality is, versus what Emma thinks it to be (Schorer 107). Though Austen never describes Jane Fairfax to the reader beyond Emma's perceptions, it is obvious that Jane is passionate, spirited, elegant, beautiful, intelligent, and well aware of her unfortunate plight in life. Jane has not wasted time in attaching to a young man of fortune, Frank Churchill. Unfortunately, neither of them has decided how to announce their engagement, so they both allow Highbury, and even Emma, herself, to believe that Frank's affections like with Ms. Woodhouse.

So, Jane also has a great deal of self-control. She allows Emma and her fianc'e to make total fools of themselves while she is receiving attention from Mr. Knightley. Jane's vitality and appreciation of the simple joys of life make her attractive to Mr. Knightley and every other red-blooded man in the area. Emma is not joyful, vital, exuberant, exotic, or any other thing out of the ordinary. As a matter of fact, Schorer feels that Emma is cold and emotionally aloof from everyone. Jane's flirtations with Knightley are markedly different from Emma's sparring sessions with the man she sees as a brother.

Jane is everything that Emma is not just as Harriet is everything that Emma actually represents. Emma must strive toward a balance between the heated emotionality of Jane Fairfax and the snobbish aloofness and cruelty (especially toward Miss Bates) Emma has exemplified up until the point that she realizes that her heart has been lost. Craig writes, 'At the moment of her most intense self-knowledge, Emma herself imputes feelings to a suddenly recognized form of conduct, feelings that she did not know she was expressing - and her imputations do not disclose truth so much as they continue a characterization'; of Miss Woodhouse (422). The reader finally understands that his / her guide through the world of Highbury 'is deceived as to the outside world... and deceived as to her own emotions,' ; thus invalidating any previously-held expertise regarding her world (Litz 429). Her marriage to her moral guide and guardian, Mr. Knightley, illustrates her renewed desire to know her heart, her lover-friend, and her world better, thus journeying toward ultimate self-knowledge -- a true understanding of one's place in the world. Jane Austen is considered 'a keen observer of human nature and a creator of vital and convincing characters'; (Morrison 338).

She realized that characters could only truly be discern able to the reader if they were placed within a context and given positive and negative foils. Kettle states that to have written with such intricacy, Austen obviously was 'fascinated by the complexity of personal relationships'; (913). While ' [h] er novels unquestionably reflect her justified frustration with women's economic dependence, the neglect of their education, and the unfair inheritance laws of her day,' ; Austen's women are not that different from the women of today (Hudson 101). They win, they lose, they fail, they triumph, they win the heart of the man they love only to lose it and win it again, and while all of that is going on, they try to figure out who they are, who their friends are, what they believe, and what is really important in life. After resolving all of these opposing conflicts, Austen's women deserve to ride off into the sunset with their prince charming. Morrison says, 'Austen can so confidently predict her heroines' happiness at the end of her novels because their happiness depends on so much more than the character, disposition, or continued affection of their husbands'; (344).

Many critics still view Austen's writing as 'romantic love stor [is] in which social and economic realities of [late eighteenth] century women's lives are exposed but undermined by comedy, irony, and most tellingly, marriage'; (Newman 693). While this may be true, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, Elizabeth Bennet, and Emma Woodhouse each represent the rebirth of a woman within the context in which each exists. Only within the context of a subtle comparison with other women is the reader able to see each Austen heroine for who she really is, whether or not she is able to see that yet. Elinor and Marianne learn from each other that a real woman must possess a balance of both sense and sensibility.

Elizabeth Benet sees that both her pride and her prejudice have prevented her from loving her only equal. Emma greatly embarrasses herself and others until she realizes that she is wrong about almost all of her life's focus (matchmaking and remaining single). When she realizes that she loves Knightley, she finds a place to start an internal reformation. Whether or not Austen was trying to be an early writer for women's rights is really unimportant. Austen's works are about women discovering who they are and that discovery must take place for a woman to truly live and love, regardless of her social position or the century in which she was born.