¶ … shame Emma Emma Woodhouse: Jane Austen's sublime mimic and dramatist

In the famous 'Box Hill' scene of Jane Austen's novel Emma, the protagonist Emma Woodhouse shames the poor, garrulous spinster Miss Bates with a cruel jest and nearly loses the man she loves (but does not know she loves), Mr. Knightley. Emma was warned against such verbal displays earlier in the novel. "For shame, Emma! Do not mimic her [Miss Bates]. You divert me against my conscience. And, upon my word, I do not think Mr. Knightley would be much disturbed by Miss Bates. Little things do not irritate him," she is reproached by her old governess Mrs. Weston (Chapter 26). Over the course of the novel, Emma Woodhouse, "handsome, clever, and rich," as she is referred to early on, must be educated to be worthy of her genetic and financial inheritance (Chapter 1). A critical component of her education at the hands of Mr. Knightley is to learn to be a better mimic of truly the 'better sort' of people and ultimately find her true self. She begins the novel an imitator of the heroines of romantic novels that she reads and dashing, irresponsible aristocrats like Frank Churchill. She ends the novel a sadder, wiser woman more in touch with reality and no longer simply obsessed with the drama created in her own mind. At Box Hill, Emma finally abandons her role as a mimic of a character in a great drama, or a witty social dilettante, and accepts the reality of the world around her.

Emma's talent for mimicry...

Knightley remarks upon how Emma is forever drawing up lists of books to improve herself, which she never gets around to reading. Emma's efforts at drawing and playing music, later in the novel, also highlight her lack of application: she can draw a convincing likeness of her friend Harriet Smith or play a pleasing tune, but her efforts are always superficial. Emma, always dwelling on surface appearances, sees herself as a matchmaker. She brags that it was she who created the match between her old governess Miss Taylor and the widowed Miss Weston. Emma's perceived talent is part of how she styles herself to the world: as someone who is clever at manipulating people. However, Emma's actual perception of reality and reality itself are often not commensurate. The fact that she has often assumed the role of mistress in her father's house has given her a sense of self-importance beyond her education. This can be seen in the language her elderly father uses to describe his daughter at one point: "I leave an excellent substitute in my daughter" (Chapter 8, italics mine). Emma has been called upon at an early age to play the role of a great lady, before she has had the moral education that Mr. Knightley will provide. She is only a substitute, not the 'real thing.'
This is particularly evident in Emma's 'adoption' of Harriet Smith, a lower-class girl whom Emma hopes to groom for a great romance with Mr. Elton, a man far above her in social status. Emma once again takes on…