Emma tells Harriet that she never wishes to be married, for she would have to find someone superior to herself first. She reminds Harriet that, even unmarried, she would never be as pathetic as Miss Bates, for it is lack of money that makes celibacy contemptible. Emma would be single but with a fortune. Harriet brings up Jane Fairfax, Miss Bates' niece, whom Emma dislikes because she is so highly praised. As a highly independent woman who will never need to marry, she resolves only to marry for love and only to marry when she finds someone superior, a condition that, considering Emma's own vanity, is unlikely to be fully satisfied.
Marriage entails a sacrifice.
Emma would lose her authority and have to submit to a husband, while as a single woman with a fortune, she has the power to do whatever she chooses. This chapter also returns to Austen's distinctions between marriage for love and marriage for status. It is only the very few such as Emma Woodhouse who can marry for love, while status must be the overriding concern for women such as Harriet Smith. Austen also contrasts the reputations of single women Emma Woodhouse and Miss Bates. Because of Emma's status, she can remain unmarried without becoming the pitiable and pathetic creature that Miss Bates is.