Emma Woodhouse's flawed character In Emma Woodhouse, Jane Austen created a wonderfully flawed heroine. If Emma had been perfect, her situation would not have affected anyone; its flaws are what interests both the reader and the critic. Peter W. Graham is particularly interested in the first page of the novel where Emma is first introduced to the reader. He discusses how significant the beginning of the novel is for tracing "Emma's personal development" (42). Walton A. Litz and Patricia Meyer Spacks are much more interested in what Emma's imagination shows about her development. Litz says that "[t]he fundamental movement of Emma is from illusion to self-recognition, from illusion to reality" (369). Spacks makes the opposite argument by suggesting that Emma does not grow up but is simply relieved of boredom and her imagination disappears with it. I think Emma's growth over the course of the novel is pronounced; starts off lovely enough but with a lot to learn. He moves from illusion to self-awareness and learns to see the truth and not just what he wants to see. He also grows in his social vision, although not as much as one might hope. All in all Emma makes significant developments and it's easy to imagine that with more time and Mr. Knightley's influence she will only continue to learn and grow. At the beginning of the novel we are very aware of Emma's character, both her strengths and her flaws. It begins “seeming to unite some of the best blessings in existence” (Austen, 1; emphasis, Graham). Her faults are "at present so unnoticed that they are not at all regarded as her misfortunes" (1) but rather than seeming fortunate, Peter W. Graham states that "by naming what Emma has hitherto avoided... .... middle of the paper ......we are never told. All in all Emma makes great strides in her development and there is no part of her life in which she doesn't improve somewhat after this already for a long time and with the Knightley's continued guidance we can only imagine that Emma continues to learn and grow As we have already seen in her role as a daughter, she has been tested and not found wanting certainly bodes well for any trials that remain in the future by Emma Works Cited Austen, Jane. Norton Critical New York, NY: WW Norton & Company, 1993 Graham, Peter W. "Emma's Three Sisters" Arizona Quarterly vol 43 no. Walton. 1972. Norton Critical, New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 1993, 369-377, Patricia Meyer. "Women and boredom: the two Emmas" Yale Journal of Criticism vol.2 n. 2 (1989): 191-205