Emma Woodhouse is an atypical heroine for a Jane Austen novel. Usually, we see disadvantaged girls struggle to find happiness through marriage. In Emma's case, we see a girl who has everything in the world she could want. She is rich, pretty, and happy. She has no desire to be married, as it would interfere with the simple life she enjoys with her father and she knows it would break his heart to be parted from her. The story follows Emma's life beginning at 21 as she tries to help a young girl named Harriet Smith marry above her station. Emma also engages in a flirtation with a young man and generally makes a bit of a mess of things whenever she gets involved.
I have read that Jane Austen felt that Emma was a character only her creator could like. I would have to disagree with that. Emma is certainly flawed, but her heart is almost always in the right place. Pride has blinded her to her own limitations but she is also one who does not shrink from the responsibility of her mistakes and tries very hard to learn from them. I found this admirable and grew to like her more and more as the book progressed.
Aside from Emma, the rest of the cast was also very well written. Her father is a complete hypochondriac and often engages in behavior that would typically be considered highly rude. Yet, he is motivated so completely by a desire to be kind to others that his misguided application of that desire only endears him to the reader. Mr. Knightley, the no-nonsense friend of the family is admittedly not the most complex character in the world, but he is a very good one and his solidity is a great counterbalance to Emma's wishful thinking.
In summary, Emma is a nice change of pace from Jane Austen's other novels. It starts off well and grows more engaging as it continues. The characters are interesting and Emma herself grows considerably during the course of the novel. |
Emma (Modern Library Classics) Books In Print, Audio Books.