A number of significant incidents which shows us Emma's poor judgment and lack of self-awareness. Consider, Harriet's manipulation and Mr. Knightly's carriage incident.

The errors of judgment, illustrated by Mr. Elton and Harriet, continue throughout the novel as Mr. Knightly spots the problems and Emma falls straight into them. Emma merrily pairs off her friends in her mind and is continually surprised when a match just doesn't happen. Miss Woodhouse's persistence in matchmaking can be seen by the reader as an example of her need for a sense of power and control over others. Her reference to it "…

…she is deluding both herself and her friend. Emma "was quite convinced of Mr Elton's being in the fairest way of falling in love, if not in love already", even when the vicar had hardly even seen - let alone knew Harriet. Emma decides to "take [Harriet's] likeness" in order to encourage Mr Elton's interest in her subject - yet she fails to notice that she herself is the sole object of Mr Elton's attentions.