Portrayed by: Romola Garai Book | Film: Jane Austen’s Emma and BBC Emma 2009
“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.” Jane Austen’s opening lines remain unparalleled, and as a novel, Emma will forever reign as my personal favorite. And if we’re getting specific, Romola Garai’s embodiment of Emma Woodhouse will be a standard for the finest variety in an adaptation.
I was fortunate enough to do some extensive research on the character in grad school, and some of my findings continue to cement precisely why she’s always been so complex to analyze. Emma is brilliantly written in such a way that her traits mirror many women, and the lengths they’re willing to go through to ensure that lives are better than what they can be. And yes, while a large part of Emma’s doings are to a degree selfish and out of boredom, it’s essential to take in the matter of how lonely she feels once Miss Taylor marries. It’s why she loves picking on Knightley when he comes over. It’s why she stays with her father and never wants to leave him because, from a very age, Emma Woodhouse has understood what missing someone is like.
Emma Woodhouse is a complex, multifaceted character who can be a tough pill to swallow for some, and while it may not be vital for her to be likable, the fact that Austen believed that she would not be is a detail that’s worth noting. Thus, while Emma might not be everyone’s favorite Jane Austen’s heroine, her complexity, intentions, and growth make her likable where perhaps definition is concerned.
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