Emma Discussion Continued

Throughout Jane Austen's novel Emma, the main protagonist Emma remains steadfast about her decisions and remains very stubborn. Yet, I believe that Harriet is Emma's other half, and provides and contrast to each other. Emma is very well educated and comes from a very well regarded upper class family, whereas Harriet is not very wise in comparison to Emma and her origins are unknown to all. Since, Harriet's origins are unknown many can assume that she is most likely not from an upper class family. Another stark contrast between Emma and the young Harriet is that one wants to fall in love, while another wants to avoid that and stay single. Harriet is infatuated with finding love and falling in love; she became infatuated with Mr. Martin and later Mr. Elton. On the other hand, Emma tries her best to avoid love and wants to avoid getting married. Even when she thinks that she likes Frank Churchill, Emma day dreams that she will reject his offerings of love. Furthermore, Harriet was disgusted with the thought of Emma becoming an old maid. Emma on the other hand relishes the thought of becoming a well respected and well-off old maid. Harriet is a very forgiving person and is a very tolerant person, unlike Emma. Harriet easily forgave Emma after she ruined her chance at marriage with Mr. Martin, even Emma was surprised at how kind-hearted she is. Emma is a very unforgiving person and not near as kind hearted as Harriet. She cruelly rejected Mr. Elton's proposal without thinking twice of breaking the rejection to him delicately. Furthermore, Emma is a very stubborn person and tries her best not to change her views, unlike Harriet who changed her views about the kind farmer Mr. Martin and the greedy Mr. Elton. Emma decided not to change her opinion of Mr. Martin, just because of his social class and stubbornly maintains that Harriet deserves someone of a better upbringing, even though Harriet's origins are unknown. Furthermore, even after Mr. Elton did not want to marry Harriet, due to her wealth and origins, Emma still stubbornly believed that Mr. Martin is not worthy enough for Harriet. In addition, Emma did not change her mind about Harriet being too good for Mr. Martin even after he wrote a very eloquent letter asking for her hand in marriage. Emma disregarded all the good features of Mr. Martin, due to his upbringing, which shows a very stubborn mentality and personality. Harriet on the other hand did not pay particular attention to social class and Emma had to convince her that Mr. Elton would be a better match than the kind Mr. Martin. Volume two of Emma, helps to further elaborate and prove that Emma is very stubborn, since she still does not approve of Mr. Martin.