Character Representation

Jane Austen represents characters in Emma quite differently than characters in “Miss Brill” by Virginia Woolf. Virginia Woolf divulges information about Miss Brill slowly throughout the course of her short story and the reader doesn’t know certain details about her until the end. Whereas Jane Austen takes a different approach and immediately describes how her characters look and other people’s opinions of them right away.
Virginia Woolf believes that the character is the most important part of the story. The way that she portrays the character keeps the reader guessing with an open mind because she releases information, details, looks and feelings slowly and indirectly.
In “Miss Brill”, Katherine Mansfield first reveals that the main character is poor indirectly by saying she has worn clothes that she won’t or probably can’t pay to replace and will only pay the small price to fix them when absolutely necessary. Mansfield then reveals that Miss Brill is more an observer than one who makes close relationships with people. The reader knows this because Woolf has Miss Brill set in the park sitting by herself watching the other people who come to the park every Sunday rather than conversing with them or at least saying ‘hello’. Finally almost towards the end, Mansfield lets the reader know that Miss Brill is at least middle aged when a young couple sitting near her calls her old. The reader now knows that Miss Brill has never been married because of her name, and will probably never marry because of what the couple calls her.
Emma immediately cuts straight to the point. Jane Austen starts her book by describing the main character, Emma. Austen describes how Emma looks, her social class, her current situation concerning her governess being recently married and her father’s hypochondria and fear of change. Even though Austen wrote the novel in the third person, she describes Emma’s feelings and thoughts without any reservations or hidden meaning. Once Austen gets information about the characters out of the way, she proceeds with plenty of social interaction between characters. That includes dialogue, physical activity and further character development when Austen describes feelings, thoughts and conclusions that other characters make while interacting with each other.
Woolf argues in an essay refuting a piece by Mr. Bennett that the proper way to develop a character is to release information slowly so that the reader’s prejudices do not immediately cloud their judgment. Both agreed that the most important part of a story is character development, but their opinions as to the how differed. Austen represents the other side of the coin by describing her characters right away and having a myriad of social interaction and connections to further develop her characters.
The reader keeps an open mind throughout “Miss Brill” and starts off hopeful for the future. That hope slowly diminishes for Miss Brill as the reader slowly finds out more information about her. The lack of information keeps the reader interested, involved and invested in the character’s story. Emma differs in that there is really no hope for some of the characters, such as Emma declaring that she’ll never marry. Austen changes the readers mind slowly about some of the characters, and actually changes the characters as the story progresses and that is her way of keeping readers involved. Both methods of character development keep the readers guessing but for different reasons.

Citation:
Austen, Jane. Emma London: Penguin, 1996. Print

Woolf, Virginia. “Character in Fiction” Criterion July 1924. Rpt. In The
Essays of Virginia Woolf: Vol. II, 1919-1924. Ed. Andrew McNeillie.
New York: Harcourt Brace Javanovich, 1988. 420-38. Print.

Mansfield, Katherine. “Miss Brill”. Stories. 1956. New York: Vintage 1991.
298-302. Print.