Emma The Character of Frank Churchill and Reading The Moral Qualities of Men in Jane Austen essays

Emma The Character of Frank Churchill and Reading The Moral Qualities of Men in Jane Austen essays One of the challenges posed by Jane Austen, of her heroine Emma Woodhouse, in the novel entitled Emma, is how Emma must learn to be a good reader of both male and female characters. The persona of Frank Churchill poses a constant series of challenges to Emmais Frank a rouge and a coxcomb, or is he a nice young man, worthy (and willing) as a marital prospect' This education of Emma in moral terms is illustrated by the choice eventually posed for the titular heroine, between Mr. Knightly and Frank Churchill. By becoming a better reader of the human character in general, Emma learns that Mr. Knightly is the better choice of the two male romantic prospects, and also, by extension that she has misread the female characters of Harriet Smith and Jane Fairfax throughout the novel. Frank Churchill thus functions in the novel as kind of a transition figure for Emma's moral educationby learning to read Frank properly, Emma learns to be a better person, even if Frank is not the most moral character, by any stretch of the imagination in the novel. That Emma begins the novel as a poor reader of the human character becomes immediately apparent in the first chapter of the book, which portrays the charming scene, whereby Mr. Knightly is seen teasing Emma, as she sits next to her invalid, hypochondriac of a father Mr. Woodhouse, by the fire late one night. Mr. Knightly notes that while Emma frequently drew up many improving reading lists for herself, while under the tutelage of her former governess, she hardly ever read the books on the lists. This indicates that Emma at the beginning of the novel is a creature of surfaces, rather than someone who knows how to look deeply into the moral text of a person's character. The moral education of Emma, and her ability to read prospective suitors better is eventually exemplified in her shifting of allegia...