Emma

Emma

Synopsis

Beautiful, clever, rich – and single Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protigie Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, Emma is often seen as Jane Austin's most flawless work.

This edition includes a new chronology, additional suggestions for further reading and the original Penguin Classics introduction by Tony Tanner.

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• classic Austen

  Reviewed by Marianne V. | see all reviews by Marianne V.

  27/08/2011

  Emma is the fourth published Jane Austen novel. Emma Woodhouse is the spoiled, rich, younger daughter of the widowed Mr Woodhouse. Her father, Henry, is nave, self-centred, a borderline hypochondriac and the ultimate pessimist. Emma lives at home with him, looks after him and has no plans to ever marry because of this. She is a strong-willed and snobbish 20-year-old with a rather dull life who fancies herself an excellent matchmaker. Most of her friends and acquaintances indulge her. Only George Knightly, the elder brother of her sister Isabellas husband, John, is critical of her behaviour. He takes her to task for meddling in others lives. As with all novels of this era, compared with todays offerings, the reader has to be patient and allow the story to build. Theres also getting ones head around the language used. It took me a few instances of the word nice to realise that what it meant then (foolish, stupid, senseless) was not what it means today. The garrulous Miss Bates is a source of humour and there is plenty of talking at crossed purposes. This novel seems to point to the importance of status and appearance in Miss Austens world. Another Austen classic.
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