For many, Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice, 1812) and Emma Woodhouse (Emma, 1815) represent two opposing ideals of performative femininity. Elizabeth represents the woman who acts in opposition to society’s surface level expectations of women (e.g. talking long, muddy walks), while Emma represents the woman who conforms to the trappings of traditional womanhood (e.g. wearing pretty dresses and matchmaking). However, both women staunchly refuse to marry for the majority of their novels, and both are, more or less, the masters of their own fates. Despite these similarities, Emma is often codified as a bitch, and Elizabeth is given the “not like other girls” treatment in modern culture. These surface-level characterizations derail Jane Austen’s careful portrayal of multi-faceted women and play into the patriarchal pressure for women to be in competition with each other and to appeal to expectations of acceptable womanhood. I firmly believe if Elizabeth and Emma were to meet in 2020, they would drunkenly run into each other in a bathroom at a downtown bar. Emma would sincerely compliment Elizabeth’s outfit, and Elizabeth would use her impeccable character judgement to help Emma swipe through Harriet’s Bumble matches. In this essay, I will—
