How Emma. Excelled at Female Representation
Written by Emily Pearce
Spoiler warning: the whole film is discussed in this post and spoilers are present.
Emma. (2020) is a brightly colored treat in a world that desperately needs more sunshine. The set, costume designs, and cinematography of the film have been praised across the board, as has the acting. While many critics have said that this version of Emma doesn’t bring anything new to Jane Austen’s story, I think Emma. offers new perspectives that other adaptations have not, with one of its biggest strengths found in its depiction of the female characters.
Let’s look at the original story. Jane Austen’s Emma has always been a feminist work. The character of Emma is unique among literature for the time it was written. She is an upper-class woman in the early nineteenth century who doesn’t need a husband to survive. She is in charge of her own household and, in the beginning of the story, has no desire for a romantic partner for herself. Unlike the Bennet sisters in Pride and Prejudice, Emma will not lose her fortune when her father dies. Because Emma’s life isn’t occupied with efforts to find a husband, the book instead focuses on how a rich woman with no romantic ambitions spends her time. Emma, misguided as she is, spends her time matchmaking, which she genuinely believes betters the lives of the people around her. In the end of the novel, Emma not only marries for love, but she marries a man who is willing to give up his own household for hers, an act unprecedented at the time.
Other adaptations have captured these aspects of the story, but Emma. goes above and beyond in its treatment and depiction of women. It’s no surprise that this film, directed by Autumn de Wilde and written by Eleanor Catton—the only Emma adaptation to be completely female-led—succeeds so well at making the female characters feel real. There is a lot to learn about writing strong female characters from Catton and de Wilde’s Emma., and here we will explore our top three insights:
- The Humanization of the Female Characters
- The Treatment of Harriet
- Emma’s Character Growth
The Humanization of the Female Characters
The female characters in this adaptation of Emma feel more well rounded and complex than those found in other adaptations. Harriet isn’t a one-dimensional character whose only desire is to please Emma, and Miss Bates isn’t just a character to laugh at. The women in this film are given space to be human—to be humanized as women.
Harriet isn’t simply an airhead who does whatever Emma tells her, but a young woman inexperienced in the world, who has the very female weakness of not standing up for what she wants. We also see Harriet playing a silly game with her friends, which shows that she’s not solely dependent on her relationship with Emma and has a social context outside Emma’s story line. While Harriet clearly respects Emma’s social class and wants to impress her, Harriet has her own life and pursuits outside of Emma.
Miss Bates is just as silly as always, but underneath that silliness is a very human woman. The way Miranda Hart plays Miss Bates is phenomenal. Miss Bates is someone who was once Emma’s equal in social standing—and likely still thinks of herself as an equal to Emma. Miss Bates genuinely thinks of Emma as one of her closest friends. She’s excited to see Emma and wants to speak to her, even if it means interrupting the silence before a church ceremony. This makes Emma’s rude outburst at Box Hill all the more heartbreaking—because Miss Bates gets a peek behind Emma’s facade and sees that Emma might not like her as much as she thought, or even that the friendship may have been entirely one-sided.
Even Emma, who first appears to be an otherworldly being, too perfect for the people around her, becomes more human as the film progresses. It shows Emma in some very human moments—even she sometimes needs to warm her backside in front of the fire and gets nosebleeds at inopportune times. The way Anya Taylor-Joy plays Emma is brilliant. Just by the way she moves her eyes, the audience can clearly see the annoyance she feels at times, but then she shakes it off and puts on her pleasant-face mask because she knows it’s her duty to be nice to the people around her.
Application for Writers: Give each of your characters pursuits and goals that aren’t necessarily dependent on the other characters. Show multiple sides to your female characters—how they react to seeing their best friend, how they react to being deeply hurt, and everything in between. Show that even your heroine has human moments. Trust us. People will appreciate being able to relate to them.
The Treatment of Harriet
As mentioned earlier, Harriet has a life outside of Emma, and her character arc is learning to stand up for herself in the context of a new friendship. This humanizes their relationship because it contains the same complexities in real-life female relationships. There has been an emergence of stories recently with depictions of female relationships that feel very real: Grace & Frankie; Fleabag; Killing Eve; Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.; Hello, My Twenties!;and Little Women (2019).
One other way that this adaptation excels in its treatment of Harriet is that Emma has a genuine friendship with Harriet. While in the beginning Emma uses Harriet as a sort of doll to dress up and boss around, throughout the film Emma grows into her friendship with Harriet more and more. Emma is appalled at how disheveled Harriet looks when she is sick, but still Emma agrees to take notes of Mr. Elton’s sermon for her. And in the end when Mr. Knightley proposes to Emma, her first thought is not of herself and her love for Mr. Knightley, but instead she immediately thinks of Harriet’s romantic feelings for Mr. Knightley. Harriet is not just an afterthought for Emma in the midst of her happiness in this adaptation. Emma clearly prioritizes her relationship with Harriet, and it’s not until she makes things right with Harriet that the situation feels like a win for Emma.
Application for Writers: Your female characters need female friends. Show that your female characters appreciate and prioritize their friends! Let your characters do selfless things for their friends and show the friendship as a healthy, give-and-take relationship. Remember that female friendships, just like any other relationship, are complex and consist of two people with their own desires and needs.
Emma’s Character Growth
The last distinction this adaptation of Emma has that makes it a strong female work is that of Emma’s character growth, which comes from herself, and not from Mr. Knightley. In most adaptations, Emma seems unaware of the harm she causes to the people around her, particularly in her joking around with Frank Churchill. It’s only when Mr. Knightley scolds her for her behavior that she realizes she was wrong and begins to change. However, in this adaptation, Emma realizes her mistakes long before Mr. Knightley’s rebuke.
In the Box Hill scene, the game she and Frank Churchill play comes entirely from Mr. Churchill. While Emma goes along with it, it is not she who comes up with the rules of the game (whereas in other adaptations she does). And when she alludes to the fact that Miss Bates always says too many boring things, it is clear on Emma’s face that she regrets saying it the moment it leaves her mouth. She knows right away that what she said is wrong and that she hurt her friend—something she never set out to do, despite her impatience with Miss Bates. Emma is already wrestling with her guilt and shame by the time Mr. Knightley comes to her carriage to scold her for her actions.
At the end of the film, Emma makes amends with each of the characters she has wronged throughout the film before she has her happy ending with Mr. Knightley. When Emma goes to Miss Bates’s home, she apologizes for the inconvenience of calling unannounced, but it’s clear to both Emma and Miss Bates that she is really apologizing for the things she said at Box Hill. When she sees the sincerity on Emma’s face, Miss Bates forgives her. She decides, as Emma did, that their friendship is more important than her own pride. At this point, it feels like their friendship finally goes two ways, with equal power in the relationship for both women.
Emma then seeks out Robert Martin, after going out of her way to avoid him for the entire film, in order to make amends for splitting him and Harriet up. She encourages Mr. Martin to try again and allows Mr. Martin and Harriet to have their happiness.
And of course, Emma makes amends with Harriet before she tells Mr. Knightley that she will marry him. She doesn’t bask in the bliss of having the devotion of the man she loves until she makes things right with her friend. This Emma is one who truly grows as a character, not superficially because a man told her to, but because she really wants to be a better person. And that’s character growth that we can get behind.
Application for Writers: Develop the growth of your female character as something that comes from within herself—don’t have her simply go through the motions because a man told her to, but because it is what she herself wants to be as a person. This is especially important because women are often portrayed as subservient and not smart enough to define for themselves who they want to be. Showing true character growth coming from within your character will empower her, create a deeper character arc, and will ring truer to life for your readers.
A Final Note
Emma. isn’t a perfect film. The pacing is flawed, and it takes a while to get invested in the story. But the way this adaptation treats its characters (even the servants are given a considerable role in the film—something no other adaptation of Emma has done before) sets this movie apart as a strong adaptation and an enjoyable comedy that people of all ages and genders will be able to enjoy.
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