The significance of disillusionment in the two main characters - Essay Example

So, disillusionment prevailing inside an individual’s mind apart making their life a problematic or miserable one, will also create problems to theirs related and associated lives. His/her life will become a big complicated problem, which can be solved only by the person’s themselves, with some aid from others. This aspect of disillusionment has been visible in many fictional characters as well. That is, many fictional characters from different genres of work have faced disillusionment in course of the story.

So, this paper will analyze the significance of disillusionment in the two fictional characters, Emma and the governess, who were featured in Jane Austen’s Emma and Henry James’s The Turn on the Screw, respectively. Emma, the female protagonist of the Jane Austin’s play, is the daughter of a wealthy gentleman, who is raised with a lot of comfort. Even though the character of Emma shows care toward others and is well intentioned, it borders on self-centrism with a dose of over-confidence and stubbornness.

“…the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself” (Austin). Also, being from a wealthy household, Emma hasn’t faced many problematic and stressing issues in her life. But, these favorable times begins to change, when she faces certain problems in her personal life, with her self-centered attitude and stubbornness accentuating the situation. This is when, the disillusionment enters her mind, complicates her life and importantly ‘corrects’ her mindset in the final analysis.

That is, the disillusionments, which were result of certain mistakes committed on her part, actually turned her into an emotionally stronger person, and thus showed its significance. Emma commits the first mistake and gets little disillusioned, when she attempts to “match make” her teenage friend Harriet to the local vicar, Mr. Elton. And, when Mr. Elton rejects Emma attempts on the account of