Emma (Modern Library Classics)

I love historical novels and Jane Austen holds a special place in my heart. Even so, I have issues with Emma. I adore much of the writing style, but the plot and characters irk me.

Let me start by saying that Jane gets kudos for trying to do something different here. In other stories she had not-well-off young women who were desperately trying to get by in life, to thrive in the world they had been born into. Emma is Jane's efforts to focus on a new kind of heroine. Rather than being poor and worried about her future, Emma is quite secure. She is wealthy. She has a father who dotes on her, a house she loves, and she is perfectly content to live like this forever. She has no need of a husband or really of a partner at all. This is an interesting diversion from other stories.

Emma, aged 21, grew up without a mother and with a loose-handed governess. So she is spoiled and very aware of her class and status. It might be hard especially for American readers to relate to just how stratified English culture was at the time. Some situations - like how Emma treats farmers - might be seen as cruel. It's important to put this into context. This was "normal" at the time. Heck, for a few societies on the earth this is "normal" even in modern times. You can't really judge it as right or wrong.

Mr. Knightley, aged 38, has been pretty much an uncle to Emma her entire life. He was a teen when she was born and was always there to watch over her and correct her. He tries to guide Emma as she plays romantic match-making games with the people around her, but Emma thinks she knows what is best. She manages to bungle a variety of relationships. To her credit, she does feel badly right away, but then she plows ahead with a new scheme.

SPOILER WARNING

One of the key issues I have with this book is the VERY creepy idea that Mr. Knightley has been lusting after Emma since she turned 13. If I had a young daughter and a male family friend in his late 20s started following her around as soon as she hit puberty, I would be quite irate with him. Again, I realize gigantic age gaps in this time period were normal. As they say in the story, men weren't expected to take on a family until they hit age 30 and had the financial strength to support a family. Women were supposed to marry in their late teens / early 20s so they could kick out as many kids as possible. Even so, though, to have a person that was almost an uncle to Emma stalking her as soon as she started showing a womanly body really bothers me a lot.

Also, I realize Emma is written to have her be spoiled. Jane Austen tries to give her some humanity by making her dote on her father and feel remorse each time she does something wrong. However, to me it just doesn't get past the way-too-spoiled aspect of her personality. Interestingly, I enjoy some of the movie versions FAR more than I enjoy the book because in the movie they alter the storyline just enough to make it much more palatable. They smooth out some of Emma's annoying traits and make the Emma-Knightly pairing a bit less creepy.

Still, if you're looking to start reading the Jane Austen series of books, I wouldn't start here. I'd start either with Pride & Prejudice or with Sense & Sensibility.

Emma Woodhouse is in need of a new particular friend now that her governess has married. As luck would have it, she meets pretty and artless Harriet Smith, a girl of obscure parentage. Emma is convinced that Harriet is a gentleman's daughter (after all, she did attend a good boarding school), and takes it upon herself to teach her the ways of a lady and to introduce her to a good eligible gentleman that would elevate her station in life. Harriet has her eyes set on a simple farmer, but that is not enough for her, at least not according to Emma. She knows what's best for everyone around. Emma fancies herself a matchmaker. In fact, she takes credit for introducing Mr. Weston to her former governess. And, at twenty-one, she has no intention of ever marrying. She has to look after her father and their Hartfield estate. She is an heiress to thirty thousand pounds and is well respected among her peers. What more could she want? But Harriet needs Mr. Elton. A girl like Harriet cannot become an old maid like the tiresome Miss Bates. Emma is determined to make it happen, and she doesn't care what Mr. Knightley, her brother-in-law's brother, has to say on the matter.

Jane Austen is known for creating flawed characters, most of which are not central in her stories. The closest Austen came to creating an anti-heroine was Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility. But the novel is told mostly from Elinor Dashwood's POV, which makes Marianne seem less insufferable. Emma is Austen's official anti-heroine -- a young woman who thinks she knows so much when she actually knows nothing. She is essentially clueless to everything that goes on around her. Mr. Knightley is always there to scold her and set her right, of course. Emma, though not my favorite Austen, is a lovely story. The theme is very popular and it has inspired many authors and Hollywood producers throughout the years. (The 1995 teen flick Clueless is a modern-day adaptation of Emma.) It has also inspired an infinite number of sequels written by new authors. Austen does sort of drag the story a bit toward the end, which is why I take away half a star. That, in a nutshell, is the only drawback in this book. The rest is wonderful. You will get all of the Austenian elements here: a shocking match, irritating snobs, hilarious social commentary, balls and assemblies, silly ladies and suspiciously charming men. Mr. and Mrs. Weston, Miss Bates, Harriet Smith, Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax are my favorite characters -- after Mr. Knightley, of course. He is my third favorite of the Austen men (after Mr. Darcy and Captain Wentworth). If you're new to Jane Austen, then Emma is a good way to start. You won't be able to resist reading her five other books. I read this several years ago, but the experience was more enjoyable this time around. Jane Austen is as addictive as chocolate and I look forward to reading Mansfield Park soon.

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.

the first chapter is a model of precision. in only nine pages, a handful of characters are introduced with masterful clarity. subtle dialouge paints a portrait of each character with a depth that many novelists never achieve over the course of hundreds of pages. jane austen's supreme talent is shining bright. then what happens? it goes on and on and on. and i got severely bored. i did not care about emma's social schemes, her obssession with ones rank within society. she is simply a dull character. and the language ultimately grows tiresome. the purple prose weighed heavy on my poor brain after a hundred pages. a bit beyond page 220 i jumped ship. i simply could not finish this dull thing. sorry.

This book is extremely shallow, it has no depth or metaphorical intensity. It is basically a chick flick with big words which often make no sense. It should be classed as trashy light romance, not as classic literature. It is not a comment on society, merely a glimpse of the life of one extremely conceited and shallow woman, Emma Gayhouse. DO NOT BUY