Essay

1999. The eighteenth-century British novelist Laurence Sterne wrote, “No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.”

From a novel or play choose a character (not necessarily the protagonist) whose mind is pulled in conflicting directions by two compelling desires, ambitions, obligations, or influences. Then, in a well-organized essay, identify each of the two conflicting forces and explain how this conflict with one character illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. You may use one of the novels or plays listed below or another novel or work of similar literary quality.

A Conflict Caused by Herself

In the novel, Emma, there are two conflicting desires that Emma must deal with. Emma learns that Harriet has feelings for Mr. Knightley, not Frank Churchill, and she’s faced with a conflict that involves Harriet, Mr. Knightley, and herself. One of the forces in Emma’s conflict is that she has feelings for Mr. Knightley and doesn’t feel that Harriet is a worthy match for him, the other force in Emma’s conflict is that she doesn’t want to be responsible for hurting Harriet again and realizes that she’s at fault for this situation, and this conflict Emma faces illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole by showing how Emma’s matchmaking backfires on her when she goes against the social order.

A force in Emma’s conflict is that she has realized that she’s in love with Mr. Knightley and has been all along. Emma can’t bear to think of Harriet and Mr. Knightley together, because it would be very painful for her and hard to deal with. She also doesn’t believe that Harriet is a worthy match for Mr. Knightley and feels that he will degrade himself if he ends up with Harriet. Emma desperately hopes that Mr. Knightley doesn’t return Harriet’s feelings and also sadly doubts that her feelings will be returned by him.

The other conflicting force in Emma’s situation is that Emma doesn’t want to hurt Harriet again, which would be the result if she tried to prevent Harriet and Mr. Knightley from getting married. During her attempts at matchmaking, Emma has already hurt Harriet enough by encouraging Harriet’s feelings for Mr. Elton, only to find out that he loves Emma, not Harriet, and Emma doesn’t want to be responsible for causing Harriet more pain. Emma also has realized that she is responsible for putting herself in this situation. If she hadn’t influenced Harriet to reject Mr. Martin’s proposal, Harriet never would have fallen for Mr. Knightley because she would’ve been happily married to Mr. Martin. Also, Emma has taught Harriet to search for a man superior to herself, and Harriet has done just as Emma wanted her to.

This conflict Emma faces illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole by showing how Emma’s matchmaking has backfired on her when she went against the social order, a recurring theme throughout the whole novel. Emma would have never been in this situation if she hadn’t been trying to set Harriet up with somebody in order to try to raise Harriet’s social status. Emma had been matchmaking Harriet with men above her social class, which was realized whenever it was revealed that she was the daughter of a tradesman. None of these matches worked out; however, Harriet and Mr. Martin worked out perfectly, which shows that the social order was maintained. Emma shouldn’t have tried matchmaking and going against the social order, because it will be maintained and everyone will end up with who they’re meant to be with, not who Emma tries to match them with.

In Emma’s conflict, she is faced with having feelings for Mr. Knightley and doesn’t believe Harriet is worthy of him, Emma is also faced with not wanting Harriet to be in pain anymore due to her actions and realizes her current situation is her own fault, and this conflict Emma is dealing with illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole by showing how Emma’s matchmaking backfires on her when she goes against the social order. Emma’s matchmaking and going against the social order results in a conflict she never predicted. However, the conflict is resolved, everyone is happy, and the social order is maintained, with Harriet marrying Mr. Martin and Emma marrying Mr. Knightley.