What is Jane Austen trying to say about the character and vocation of the novel through Emma, in her novel Emma?

On one
level,is a novel about about artistic endeavor and how we receive it. Austen lays this out in
chapter 6, as Emma draws a portrait of her friend Harriet. In the comments other characters make
about this portrait, we learn how the artist (or writer), either by design or lack of skill, can
alter reality. Emma's portrait makes Harriet more beautiful than she really is, a move Austen
critiques.  Austen...