Emma by Jane Austen is about a girl called Emma, who came from a wealthy family and lived a carefree life, making some bad decisions and realizing that not everything goes her way while finding herself and her true love in the process. Emma’s change originated with Harriet. Harriet is the daughter of “nobody” and is of much lower social status than Emma, but nevertheless Emma became good friends with her. Emma later discovered that Harriet developed feelings for Martin, a diligent farmer. Emma thought that this was an unsuitable match as Harriet was her friend and thus Harriet is of a higher class. After convincing Harriet that Martin is not a good match, she persuades her to pursue Mr. Elton. Because of how Mr. Elton diligently helped with the framing of a picture of Harriet, Emma supposed that he was interested in Harriet. However, Mr. Elton turned out to be more interested in the painter rather than the subject of the painting. Even worse for Emma, Harriet expressed her love for Mr. Knightley.

One effect of this chain of events is that it changed Emma’s view of social class. Social class and status have a rather strict hierarchy. Although a part of it is who you hang out with, having friends of a higher class don’t put you in that class. Harriet is a great example; no matter how close she was to Emma and how much Emma tries to help her, Harriet is still of a lower class because of her birth, education, and wealth. It is also important to note that just because someone has a high social status doesn’t make their actions good, such as when Emma made a poor joke at the expense of Miss Bates. There is no denying, both to Emma and to the readers, that Harriet is of good nature and high morals, but that does not offer much help to raise her status.

Beside the understanding of social class, perhaps the most important takeaway for Emma was that she finally recognized her love for Mr. Knightley. Throughout the book, Emma has said multiple times that she has no plan to marry at all. However, when Harriet expressed her interest in Mr. Knightley, Emma drew extremely nervously even though she knew a relationship between the two was highly unlikely. When Mr. Knightley came to Emma trying to say something, Emma even assumed that he liked Harriet. Mr. Knightley actually came to tell Emma his love for her. Emma then finally recognized her true emotions toward Mr. Knightley.

This is rather ironic because Emma has always pride herself in her ability to see the nuance in people’s emotions. Yet she failed to see her friend Harriet’s true love. More importantly, she failed to see her own heart. She at last saw her own shortcomings in blindingly advising others emotional life while she still struggles with her own. This also showed that no matter how determined you are, things can give way in front of true love.

As this book is a comedy, the story ended with everyone finding the perfect match. Everyone ended up with someone of their similar social class: Emma with Mr. Kightley, Mr. Elton with Miss Hawkins, and Harriet with Martin. Perhaps this story demonstrates yet again that social class is not only about wealth, but also about ways of life and beliefs. Harriet, who is from a lower class, ultimately finds herself suitable to the diligent, kind-hearted farmer, Martin. While in contrast, Mr. Elton also married Miss Hawkins who is more suitable for his way of life and status.