Emma Woodhouse

The titular protagonist is famously described by the narrator in the novel’s first sentence as a twenty-year-old woman who is “handsome, clever and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition.” This automatically positions Emma as living a contented life. Owing to her mother’s early passing and sister’s marriage, she has an advantage in being the Lady of Hartfield and does not need to rely on marriage further her social status. She focuses on attending to her father and moving the chess pieces (the single ladies) in Highbury via matchmaking. An inherent irony surrounds Emma’s predicament as she is intent on not marrying but takes pleasure in acting as a matchmaker for others. To top it all off, she is unskilled at detecting the true feelings of those around her. As such, Austen plants the seeds for Emma’s journey from the manipulation of “the power of having rather too much her own way” towards worldly insight.