One of the challenges posed by Jane Austen, of her heroine Emma
             Woodhouse, in the novel entitled Emma, is how Emma must learn to be a good
             reader of both male and female characters. The persona of Frank Churchill
             poses a constant series of challenges to Emmaâ€"is Frank a rouge and a
             coxcomb, or is he a nice young man, worthy (and willing) as a marital
             prospect' This education of Emma in moral terms is illustrated by the
             choice eventually posed for the titular heroine, between Mr. Knightly and
             Frank Churchill. By becoming a better reader of the human character in
             general, Emma learns that Mr. Knightly is the better choice of the two male
             romantic prospects, and also, by extension that she has misread the female
             characters of Harriet Smith and Jane Fairfax throughout the novel. Frank
             Churchill thus functions in the novel as kind of a transition figure for
             Emma's moral educationâ€"by learning to read Frank properly, Emma learns to
             be a better person, even if Frank is not the most moral character, by any
             stretch of the imagination in the novel.
             That Emma begins the novel as a poor reader of the human character
             becomes immediately apparent in the first chapter of the book, which
             portrays the charming scene, whereby Mr. Knightly is seen teasing Emma, as
             she sits next to her invalid, hypochondriac of a father Mr. Woodhouse, by
             the fire late one night. Mr. Knightly notes that while Emma frequently
             drew up many improving reading lists for herself, while under the tutelage
             of her former governess, she hardly ever read the books on the lists. This
             indicates that Emma at the beginning of the novel is a creature of
             surfaces, rather than someone who knows how to look deeply into the moral
             text of a person's character. The moral education of Emma, and her ability
             to read prospective suitors better is eventually exemplified in her
             shifting of allegia...