Emma
Jane Austen (1815)
“A novel about a woman who is wrong about everything — and the masterpiece is that you agree with her the whole time.”
Character Analysis
Handsome, clever, rich — and, for the first two-thirds of the novel, comprehensively wrong. Emma's errors are not failures of intelligence but failures of application: she applies her considerable mind to confirming her prior conclusions rather than examining them. Her genuine virtues — filial devotion, quick wit, real warmth for those she loves — make her errors more interesting than a merely foolish character's would be. The novel asks: what does it take to make a smart person see clearly? Answer: Box Hill.
Elevated diction, complete syntactic control, no hesitations or false starts. Uses the word 'inferior' with casual ease about those below her. Commands rooms by speaking last.