Emma also says to Harriet that Harriet’s acquaintance, the farmer named Robert Martin, are inappropriate for Harriet. She says that the Martins are too
common for her. But they must be coarse and unpolished and very unfit to be the intimates of
a girl who wanted only a little more knowledge and elegance to be quite perfect Austen, 1988:20.
However Emma’s attempts in improving Harriet would not do well for her. Even though she has a good intentions towards Harriet, but this drives her to
become meddlesome. Emma is wrong in thinking that Mr. Elton is interested in Harriet, but actually in Emma herself. This is also the same as her own thinking
that there is an affair between Frank Churchill and Harriet Smith.
5. Arrogant
Emma is a kind of person who has some sense of arrogance. She is snobbish for the people lower than her social position. She tells Harriet that she never
wishes to be married because she has not yet found someone superior to herself. She says that the status of Mr. Elton is lower than her.
But he must know that in fortune and consequence she was greatly his superior. He must know that the Woodhouses had been settled for several
generations at Hartfield, the younger branch of a very ancient family, and that the Eltons were nobody Austen, 1988: 110.
The quotation shows Emma’s sense of arrogance. She rejects Mr. Elton’s proposal then she insults that a person as low as Mr. Elton would not fit her
because he does not come from a respectable family.
She also reminds Harriet that even she is not married, she would never be like Miss Bates, a poor old maid woman who lacks of money. She would be a
single woman with a fortune. Another character of Emma that shows her arrogance is that she does not
like to be equaled with anyone else. Therefore, the presence of Jane Fairfax in Highbury makes her jealous. She dislikes Jane Fairfax because she equals
Emma in the beauty, education, and talent. Emma also dislikes Augusta Hawkins, the wife of Mr. Elton. For the first time Emma saw Augusta Hawkins
at church, she really dislikes her. Emma dislikes Augusta Hawkins because she presumes herself to be higher in society than she actually is. The author says
She did not really like her. She would not be in a hurry to find fault, but she suspected that there was no elegance; ease but not elegance. She must
almost sure that for a young man , a stranger, a bride, there was too much ease. Her person was rather good; her face not unpretty; but neither feature
nor air nor voice nor manner were elegant. Emma thought, at least, it would turn out so Austen, 1988: 213.
Emma’s sense of arrogance also can be seen in the way she treats the lower class people rudely. It shows when she treats Miss bates. She make fun of Miss
Bates when they are at Box Hill. When Miss Bates begins to chatter on incessantly, Emma puts her down harshly by telling her that she is limited to
only three dull things and that is hurts Miss Bates’ feeling. Miss Bates, deceived by the mock ceremony of her manner, did not
immediately catch her meaning; but when it burst on her, it could not anger, though a slight blush showed that it could pain her Austen, 1988: 294.
7. Insensitive
Emma is also a type of person who has less sensitivity towards her own feeling. From the beginning, when Emma tries to meddle between Mr. Elton’s
and Harriet Smith’s love affair, she is not aware that actually Mr. Elton has fallen in love with Emma herself, not with Harriet.
She does not know until Mr. Elton professes his love to Emma. In fact, Mr. Elton gives some hints showing his romantic attachment to Emma; when Emma
decides to draw a portrait of Harriet Smith for Mr. Elton, he seems more interested in Emma, rather than Harriet. Emma is also unaware of her feeling
towards Mr. Knightley that she actually loves, and she never really cares for Frank Churchill.
She saw that there never had been a time when she did not consider Mr. Knightley as infinitely the superior or when his regard for her had not been
infinitely the most dear. She saw that in persuading herself, in fancying, in acting to the contrary, she had been entirely under delusion, totally ignorant
for her own heart, and, in short, that she had never really cared for Frank Churchill at all Austen, 1988: 327-328.
B. The Description of the Minor Characters
In this part, the writer tries to give a description about the minor characters in the novel. They are Mr. Woodhouse, Mr. Knightley, Frank
Churchill, and Harriet Smith. It is necessary to understand the minor characters to see their effect toward the development of Emma.
