Mr. Woodhouse
Mr. Woodhouse, Emma's father, is a nervous, valetudinarian man whose gentle selfishness and horror of change define the daily rhythms of Hartfield and exert a powerful, often unspoken, influence over his daughter's life. He is a figure of pathos and comedy, universally beloved for his amiable temper yet profoundly limited by his constitution and habits, which make him a much older man in ways than in years. His need for constant cheerfulness and his inability to comprehend that others might feel differently from himself create the central domestic tension that Emma must perpetually manage.
Identity and Background
Mr. Woodhouse is a widower who lost his wife when Emma was too young to retain more than an indistinct remembrance of her. He is the father of two daughters, Emma and Isabella, and has been a valetudinarian all his life, without activity of mind or body. His talents could not have recommended him at any time, yet he is everywhere beloved for the friendliness of his heart. He has a strong habit of regard for every old acquaintance and a general benevolence of temper. His fondness for his daughters is deep, but it is expressed through a lens of constant anxiety about their health and comfort, and a desire to keep them near him.
Character and Habits
Mr. Woodhouse's character is defined by his nervousness and his hatred of change, particularly matrimony, which he views as the origin of all change. He is fond of everybody he is used to and hates to part with them. His gentle selfishness makes him unable to suppose that other people could feel differently from himself, leading him to pity Miss Taylor for marrying Mr. Weston, believing she would have been happier staying at Hartfield. He is a great talker upon little matters, full of trivial communications and harmless gossip, which makes him a suitable companion for the loquacious Miss Bates. His own stomach can bear nothing rich, and he cannot believe other people to be different from himself, so he earnestly tries to dissuade others from eating wedding-cake or any rich food. He is fond of society in his own way, preferring small evening parties and card-tables to large dinner engagements, and he can command the visits of his own little circle due to his long residence, good nature, fortune, and his daughter.
Relationship with Emma
Emma is the mistress of his house from a very early period, and she is the primary manager of his comfort and spirits. She dearly loves him, but he is no companion for her; he cannot meet her in conversation, rational or playful. Emma must always be cheerful to support his spirits, and she spares no exertions to maintain a happier flow of ideas in him. She knows that Mr. Knightley is one of the few people who can see faults in her, but she would not have her father suspect such a circumstance, as it would distress him. Emma's resolution never to marry is, in part, a reflection of her sense of duty to her father, as she feels nothing should separate her from him. When Mr. Knightley proposes, the central obstacle is how to arrange the marriage without attacking Mr. Woodhouse's happiness, and the solution is for Mr. Knightley to be received at Hartfield, so that Emma never quits her father.
Narrative Role and Significance
Mr. Woodhouse serves as a constant, gentle obstacle to change and a source of comic relief through his hypochondria and his fixed ideas about health, food, and weather. His fears about drafts, late hours, and rich food provide a running counterpoint to the social ambitions of the younger characters. His presence anchors Emma to Hartfield and gives her a powerful, legitimate reason for her stated disinclination to marry. His eventual, reluctant acceptance of her marriage to Mr. Knightley, prompted by the fear of poultry thieves and the need for a man's protection in the house, is a final, ironic resolution to the novel's central domestic problem. He is a figure of pure, unselfconscious affection, whose limitations are as real as his love, and whose happiness is the ultimate measure of the success of the novel's concluding unions.
