Emma is one of my least favorite of Austen’s heroines, but not for the reasons listed in this article on lithub, namely that she is handsome, clever, and rich.

We still have complicated responses to women who have more, look better, and do more, and worst of all, don’t seem all that apologetic about it. (Demi Lovato’s “What’s Wrong With Being Confident?” shouldn’t even be a rhetorical question.) We might call it the “Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful” predicament. Its most recent incarnation seems to be the brouhaha over “Resting Bitch Face,” a concept brought to bear most often on exceptionally beautiful, powerful female faces, which some would prefer to glimpse only if obsequiously smiling. Read more here.

Emma is my least favorite because she spends most of the novel not only believing she knows what is best for everyone, but manipulating them into doing things they do not want to do. Poor Harriet Smith!

However, the moral of the novel Emma is one of Austen’s best and most important. There is only one person who knows what’s best for your life, and that is you. Emma’s moral is important. Only one person knows what’s best for your life: you.