Emma Woodhouse or Jane Austen?

I.............analyze. I know, you've never heard me say that before but for me, it is literally the answer to everything! :) Well, I have been unconsciously analyzing Jane Austen. I know, I know, I never knew the women in person but that didn't stop me. (What would stop me...hmm.) Anyway, it came to my attention how idealistic Mr. Knightley is. When it comes right down to it, Mr. Knightley is the ideal man whose only flaw is his reluctance to dance. (And even then, with all his other virtues, could that really be labeled a flaw? I think I'd be able to handle it.) So after considering Mr. Knightley, a fine subject for reflection, I considered Emma. Emma is, I would argue, Miss Austen's most seriously flawed heroine. She is, in short, a very difficult person to love and appreciate even with the fine movies made for her. It was said that when writing Emma Woodhouse, Jane Austen said "she wanted to write a character that only she could love". And yet, she wrote a hero that also loved this difficult female. As a whole I would say there is very little information based in fact relating to Miss Austen's love life. She wrote and she died. Of that, we can be certain. I simply can't help wondering if maybe Miss Austen, unknowingly, or perhaps knowingly, wrote Emma based upon herself or her perception of herself and created a man she could truly love if he ever existed. Would you mind exploring this subject with me? Let's!

Alright there is a glaring difference between Austen's representation of the reputation of both Mr. Darcy and Mr. Knightley. Both are considered to be her best heroes and yet Miss Austen still showed her preference with the style she used in their respective books. For example, Mr. Darcy is not always called Mr. Darcy. There are times in the novel where this title of distinction, Mr., is omitted by characters of varying importance. Whereas in Emma Mr. Knightley is Mr. Knightley to all except Mrs. Elton. Even so the idea that Mrs. Elton removes the title is used to display her uncouth upbringing and is a means of proving how her manners are disrespectful.

This show of preference, for me, seems to point to the fact that Miss Austen did not consider Mr. Darcy to be to her tastes. I think she would have laughed outright at his pride and wouldn't have come to think of him in any warmer light. She would have scoffed at his stiff manners and wouldn't have approved of his opinion of her if he pronounced some affectionate feelings for her. Comparitively with Mr. Knightley, as correcting as he was and as disinterested in social graces leads me to wonder if perhaps these were the traits Miss Austen truly admired and would have respected in a companion.

Sooo, what do you think? Do you think Miss Austen made another writing error (the first being her genius ability to construct a run-on sentence), and actually write a character based on herself?

Yours truly,
Cordy