Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses baby loss, antisemitism, and domestic violence.

Emilia is one of the novel’s two heroines and a viewpoint character. She is born a young woman in Elizabethan England to a family of Italian court musicians. Her family is Jewish and secretly practices the religion, though it is forbidden in England at the time. Orphaned at a young age, Emilia is conscious of her low social status and her dependence on others. Her family and her guardian barter her to Lord Hunsdon to become his mistress. Though this initially horrifies her, she learns to take what power and freedom the position offers. As an adult, she is thought to be very beautiful, with dark hair “enormous gray eyes and [a] plush mouth” (112). She is well-educated, witty, and a talented musician.

Emilia’s struggle throughout the novel is primarily against external forces: societal expectations for women and a cruel husband. She has little power, especially in her abusive marriage. However, she continually pursues her secret writing and refuses to let her spirit break. Though she and her lover, Southampton, can never be together because of their different social statuses, she still finds fulfillment in her work and her son, Henry.