Power, Authority, and Egotism: Emma Woodhouse’s Transformation in the Path into Maturity

Abstract

Jane Austen’s novel “Emma” still inspires and challenges readers in the twenty-first century. The article engages in a critical analysis of the several maps of meaning the eponymous character draws in her circles of intimacy and of social acquaintances, underpinned by questions of identity and representation. It analyses how Emma represents herself and relates with the Other(s) from a position of power, authority, and egotism—identity traits of the narrative text, which is a metaphor of her life, a Landscape of the Self. During a long and painful path, in the fictionality of a possible world, from equivoque to equivoque, these identity traits are progressively transformed into true feelings of friendship and self-awareness. On the one hand, one finds a powerful young lady mastering the family and the social circles, and, on the other, an emotionally fragile young woman in need of orientation. Tracing her path, Emma constructs possibilities for her life, closely followed by the dutiful and loving help of a masculine character, whose enlightened vision transforms her stubborn, immature, and proud nature and is a cornerstone of her growth into maturity.