“I must see somebody very superior to any one I have seen yet, to be tempted; Mr. Elton, you know, (recollecting herself,) is out of the question: and I do not wish to see any such person. I would rather not be tempted. I cannot really change for the better. If I were to marry, I must expect to repent it.”
– Jane Austen
Emma, Chapter 10. Emma comes across as a very self-assured person in her conversation with Harriet about marriage. This quote also shows her arrogance and vanity, blindness and self-deception. She declares that she must see someone “very superior to any one I have seen yet” before considering marriage. She feels she is not capable of self-improvement and cynically believes marriage would be a step down for her that she would regret. Yet Emma does end up marrying and being happy with someone she knows and sees on a regular basis. As a possible suitor Mr. Elton is dismissed out of hand. But with all her flawed thinking, she is not wrong on that one.