I didn't like her (Emma) in the book or in the movie. She is stuck up and prissy and with all her words about helping others she is very stuck on herself. I think Gwynneth Paltrow played Emma exactly as I read her in the book - a self-absorbed girl who only thinks about herself.
shareI have to agree - Im a P & P and S & S fan - but the movie version of Emma leaves me cold
Austen herself said when she was writing 'Emma' that she was going to create a heroine that no one would like except herself.
I didn't like Emma at first, but she has grown on me over the years.
The people have appointed me. I am their leader. I must follow them.share
i like Emma
mainly because everyone has a little bit of Emma inside of them.
she has good intentions but they just never really work out in her favour
i can see why some people dont like her
because she does interfere even after Mr Knightly had told her not to
she is full of herself etc but really you cant really blame her because thats the way she was brought up. her father didnt discipline her, and neither did Miss Taylor, they never saw her faults
Mr Knightly is the one who does see Emmas faults and criticizes her on that which she does listen to, for example when she goes and visits Miss Bates after insulting her...
ok im starting to write an essay now so ill stop
I love Emma. Sure, she's deeply flawed, but I like flawed characters. I see people who don't like Scarlett O'Hara for more or less the same reasons, and I love her as well. I don't really have an issue with their shortcomings as long as they have redeeming qualities and I think Emma does have them (as does Scarlett). For all her faults, she does have a good heart and she feels ashamed of herself once she realises that she has done wrong, and she does try to redeem herself. Just my opinion.
shareAusten did say that Emma was a character no one but herself would much like.
But, in defense of Emma, although she acts in a childish way with her matchmaking and her superior and haughty views, she usually attempts to be kind. Remember when she goes to visit Mrs. Clark when she is ill? She's not sensible like Elinor Dashwood, but her intentions are good, even if she sometimes strays, her concience (not only Mr. Knightley) brings her around.
Emma is rather typical of most self-important 21year olds. I suspect she will turn out to be a rather fine woman though. She acknowledges her faults and attempts to correct them. At her core we find a kind and caring woman who cares for the sick and is devoted to her father. Rember at the end she tells knightly that she cannot marry him because her father will be upset to lose her. No one is ALL good and no one is ALL bad. I really enjoy her rounded three dimensional character.
shareI liked Emma both in the book and in the movie. I agree with what most of the people have said in her defense. She was only 21, and because she was the youngest of a wealthy family, used to have her own way. Once she came face to face with her faults, she did the best she could to correct them. All she truly wanted was to see other people happy. She wanted Mr. Weston and Miss Taylor to be happy as well as her friend and Mr. Elton. It seems like she would think it a "degradation" for Harriet to marry Robert Martin, but in the end she sees that her friend is truly happy and is therefore happy for her. As it's already been pointed out she cared for the sick and loved and cared for her father. She was even willing to forgo marriage to Mr. Knightly because she was afraid it would be too upsetting for her father. I think we have to do what Mr. Knightly did...."The truest friend does not doubt but hope." We must see past her faults and hope for better things as she comes to know herself better.
shareBut through the leading of Mr. Knightly she grows. The whole story is about how she completes her growing up. Can't remember if the book was the same as the film but the story opens with her governess leaving and ends with her marriage. So yes she begins as stuck up and prissy and ends as well not so stuck up and prissy. Lol...the attraction in the story is seeing how she grows.
shareI've never cared for Emma at all. She begins meddling, snobby, and self-centered. Granted the snobbery and self-centeredness could be natural for someone in her position- the baby of a wealthy family, and I could forgive her the qualities if she evolved, but I never saw much growth in her character to be honest. The way she reacts to Harriet's feelings for Mr. Knightley, serious or not, really bothers me. I would be upset as well if my friend was in love with the same person I was, but that's all Emma seems to care about- that Harriet's being in love with Mr. Knightley is inconvenient for her. Never mind that she toyed with Harriet's life up one side and down the other, she is still more concerned about herself than anyone else.
I see more growth in Emma in the book than in the movie, but she irritates me even more in the original novel. Her treatment of Miss Bates and her dislike of Jane Fairfax for no reason very much rub me the wrong way.
I love Jane Austen very much, like the book itself, and adore Mr. Knightley (my favorite Austen hero, tied with Tilney), but I can't stand Emma for the world.
I assumed that was the kind of person JA was trying to portray, all three versions I have watched present a similar kind of person. Self centered and immature. But I think we all, as Mr Knightly did, see something good in her. In many ways she is good hearted if misdirected.
my god its full of stars