“Fortune I do not want; employment I do not want; consequence I do not want: I believe few married women are half as much mistress of their husband’s house as I am of Hartfield; and never, never could I expect to be so truly beloved and important; so always first and always right in any man’s eyes as I am in my father’s.”
– Jane Austen
Emma, Chapter 10. Emma doesn’t feel the economic need to wed, since she is mistress of Hartfield, her father’s house in the English countryside. Nor is she in need of the love of a husband, since she is content with her father’s love. In her case against marriage she makes to her friend Harriet, she comes across as somewhat smug and superior sounding. And she is rather proud of a privileged position many other women are not lucky enough to enjoy, including Harriet.