Emma is Stuck Up

The society Emma has been raised in is one where "the Woodhouses were first in consequence there. All looked up to them" (2-3). These are ideal conditions for her to think too highly of herself, essentially to become stuck up. This is precisely what does happen. Emma comes to believe that only those who move in the same social circle as she and her family are worth her notice: "The yeomanry are precisely the order of people with whom I feel I can have nothing to do" (17). When she decides to "help" Harriet, Emma makes it clear that Harriet's friends, the Martins, are now not worth her notice. Even when she meets Mr. Martin and acknowledges to herself that he is not that bad of a person, she exaggerates his faults to Harriet. Emma's attitude about social class is a bit ironic, however. While she refuses to have anything to do with farmers and people on the same social rung, she is willing to make Harriet an intimate friend. One would assume that Harriet's lack of known parentage would cause Emma to avoid an acquaintance with her as much as possible, not pursue it.