with Harriet, despite Mr. Knightley’s warning that Mr. Elton’s affections are instead directed toward Emma. Emma continually insists that Elton and I are very good friends, and “‘Mr. nothing more’” (115). Inside Emma’s mind, Mr. Elton is, in fact, in love with Harriet so his every act of kindness is misconstrued to correspond with Emma’s illusion. Emma’s inability to read characters such as Mr. Martin and Mr. Elton is closely related to her inability to recognize and understand her own flaws. Ironically, by creating alternate forms of others to deal with their flaws, she is also avoiding acknowledgment of her own faults. It is in order to deal with the loss of Mrs. Weston that Emma initiates her ploy to become However, so as to soothe any guilt caused by her self-serving actions, Emma “matchmaker.” creates an illusion using an alternative motivation. According to critic Shinobu Minma, Emma’s actual incentive of her matchmaking project is to satisfy absence of intellectual stimulus “the after Miss Taylor’s marriage, a desire to display her own cleverness, a love of managing and arranging, and so on” (51). Emma convinces herself that her true reason for Harriet to “helping” find a husband is merely to act as a helpful, worthy friend. Mr. Woodhouse says of Emma, never thinks of herself, if she can do good to others’” (10). Emma successfully “‘Emma persuades herself to consider this project a completely selfless act constructed to improve the welfare of her dear friend. The belief that she has based her actions entirely on generosity towards her friend allows Emma to overlook the self-serving undertones of her actions. In addition to her delusional motivation, Emma paints an illusion for herself pertaining to her skills as a While Emma does nothing to encourage the successful matches “matchmaker.” made throughout the novel, Emma takes great pride in claiming the triumphs of the couples as her own spark of genius. Emma’s first self-gratifying match is made between Emma’s best friend, Miss Taylor, and Mr. Weston. It is this match that serves as Emma’s premiere into the
with Harriet, despite Mr. Knightley’s warning that Mr. Elton’s affections are instead directed toward Emma. Emma continually insists that “‘Mr. Elton and I are very good friends, and nothing more’” (115). Inside Emma’s mind, Mr. Elton is, in fact, in love with Harriet so his every act of kindness is misconstrued to correspond with Emma’s illusion. Emma’s inability to read characters such as Mr. Martin and Mr. Elton is closely related to her inability to recognize and understand her own flaws. Ironically, by creating alternate forms of others to deal with their flaws, she is also avoiding acknowledgment of her own faults. It is in order to deal with the loss of Mrs. Weston that Emma initiates her ploy to become “matchmaker.” However, so as to soothe any guilt caused by her self-serving actions, Emma creates an illusion using an alternative motivation. According to critic Shinobu Minma, Emma’s actual incentive of her matchmaking project is to satisfy “the absence of intellectual stimulus after Miss Taylor’s marriage, a desire to display her own cleverness, a love of managing and arranging, and so on” (51). Emma convinces herself that her true reason for “helping” Harriet to find a husband is merely to act as a helpful, worthy friend. Mr. Woodhouse says of Emma, “‘Emma never thinks of herself, if she can do good to others’” (10). Emma successfully persuades herself to consider this project a completely selfless act constructed to improve the welfare of her dear friend. The belief that she has based her actions entirely on generosity towards her friend allows Emma to overlook the self-serving undertones of her actions. In addition to her delusional motivation, Emma paints an illusion for herself pertaining to her skills as a “matchmaker.” While Emma does nothing to encourage the successful matches made throughout the novel, Emma takes great pride in claiming the triumphs of the couples as her own spark of genius. Emma’s first self-gratifying match is made between Emma’s best friend, Miss Taylor, and Mr. Weston. It is this match that serves as Emma’s premiere into the
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