Emma

In the opening chapters a complicated picture of Emma as a young, beautiful, clever, and confident character, who exercises her influence in a constricted and complex environment and has much to learn about friendship, love, and the ways of the world, is created. Emma's affection for Miss Taylor and her kindness to her foolish and tiresome father reveal Emma's capacity for true warmth and generosity. But, at the same time, the narrator quickly alerts us to the ways in which Emma is somewhat spoiled by her advantages and blinded by her own self-regard.

In Emma, the dialogue between characters often contains an implication available only to certain characters or to the reader. For instance, when Emma says to Harriet, "I wish you may not get into a scrape, Harriet, when e...