MBTI Type: ISFP

Jane is extremely secretive about her emotions, which is why Emma finds her so frustrating; Knightley says he prefers a woman of an ‘open temperament’—with Emma, you always know what she’s thinking and feeling because she expresses it, but Jane bottles it up deep inside and it leaks out as direct behaviors, which is how an IFP expresses themselves. She rarely speaks her feelings, so much as she acts on them—by getting up and leaving a party, telling off Mrs. Elton (rebuking her for interfering or getting her a position without her permission). She refuses to see Emma or socialize with her for weeks, after seeing Frank teasing and flirting with her to make Jane jealous; her hurt feelings are so much that she leaves the room whenever Emma is about to knock on her aunt’s door. Though at first she tries to tolerate Mrs. Elton out of a desire to avoid conflict, Jane becomes more and more terse and short-tempered with her, as Mrs. Elton takes over her life. Jane gets upset at the idea of not having her morning walk, or having people snoop through her letters; she tells Emma how weary she is of life and its disappointments; Jane has a quarrel with Frank, which makes him surly and disagreeable at the picnic. She leaves the table after Frank makes a ‘blunder’ and tries to apologize, because she won’t have it. When Emma pleads with her to take the carriage and not walk home because it’s so hot, Jane refuses to listen to her and walks home anyway, because this is something she has control over. Truth be told, Jane hasn’t much in the way of middle functions, because she is so quiet and rarely does much of anything, but it’s easier to say she’s a sensing type than an intuitive type, since she lacks idealism of any kind. Jane is firmly aware of the world she lives in, and of what she will have to do even if she dislikes it in order to survive, provided Frank does not keep his promise to marry her (become a governess, which in that culture usually meant you wound up a spinster). Her interests, though she loves to read intellectual books, are primarily sensory—she is an accomplished pianist (much more proficient than Emma, to Emma’s distress). She becomes impatient about being with Frank, and is very proactive in “acting” on her feelings—walking away when she feels offended, coming most alive and excited to attend a ball (that’s the one time Emma sees her as animated, because there is finally something happening in Hartford). She argues with him about telling his aunt about their engagement, and pushes him to take action, so she doesn’t have to accept a position elsewhere as a governess. Jane also remains resolute in her conviction that she wants Frank, and he is the person for her, which could indicate a low Ni determination to set her course and stick to it. She is anticipating and strategizing for her future and seems quite convinced of it, either in being with Frank or joining the working profession.

Enneagram: 9w1

Jane shows many traits of the 9, which Emma finds frustrating; first, she does not readily share her opinions and that makes it almost impossible for Emma to get anything out of her. She is noncommittal, ambivalent, and guarded. Pleasant, but in Emma’s mind, boring because of a lack of fierce views. She can be submissive and sweet, but also become more and more stubborn the more Mrs. Elton tries to push her around. She will accept a piano as a gift, she will forgive Frank his reprehensible behavior (teasing and tormenting her, flirting with Emma in front of her, etc), but she will not let this woman whom she dislikes run her life, find a position for her, or know the contents of her mail. Over the course of the story, Jane becomes angrier and angrier with Emma, but avoids her, rather than directly telling her off. Her 1 wing is furious at being ‘woman-handled’ by Mrs. Elton, but combats her frustration with both her and Frank by being gentle and kind—until she snaps, and tells off Frank on her walk home from the picnic.

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