Emma is a novel written by Jane Austen. It is set in the fictional country village of Highbury and the surrounding estates of Hartfield, Randalls and Donwell Abbey, and involves the relationships among people from a small number of families.[
The novel was first published in December 1815, with its title page listing a publication date of 1816. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian–Regency England. Emma is a comedy of manners.
Before she began the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like." In the first sentence, she introduces the title character as "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and a happy disposition... had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her."
Emma is spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfied; she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities; she is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people's lives; and her imagination and perceptions often lead her astray.
Emma, written after Austen's move to Chawton, was her last novel to be published during her lifetime,[5] while Persuasion, the last complete novel Austen wrote, was published posthumously.
The novel has been adapted for a number of films, television programmes and stage plays.
Plot Summary:
Emma Woodhouse's friend and former governess, Miss Taylor, has just married Mr Weston. Having introduced them, Emma takes credit for their marriage and decides that she likes matchmaking. After returning home to Hartfield with her father, Emma forges ahead with her new interest against the advice of her friend Mr Knightley, who is also brother-in-law to Emma's elder sister Isabella. She attempts to match her new friend Harriet Smith to Mr Elton, the local vicar. Emma persuades Harriet to refuse a marriage proposal from Robert Martin, a respectable, educated, and well-spoken young farmer, though Harriet likes him. Mr Elton, a social climber, mistakenly believes Emma is in love with him and proposes to her. When Emma reveals she believed him attached to Harriet, he is outraged, considering Harriet socially inferior. After Emma rejects him, Mr Elton goes to Bath and returns with a pretentious, nouveau-riche wife, as Mr Knightley expected he would do. Harriet is heartbroken, and Emma feels ashamed about misleading her.
Frank Churchill, Mr Weston's son, arrives for a two-week visit and makes many friends. Frank was adopted by his wealthy and domineering aunt and has had few opportunities to visit before. Mr Knightley tells Emma that, while Frank is intelligent and engaging, he has a shallow character. Jane Fairfax also arrives to visit her aunt, Miss Bates, and grandmother, Mrs Bates, for a few months before starting a governess position due to her family's financial situation. She is the same age as Emma and has received an excellent education by her father's friend, Colonel Campbell. Emma has remained somewhat aloof with her because she envies Jane's talent and is annoyed by everyone, including Mrs Weston and Mr Knightley, praising her. The patronising Mrs Elton takes Jane under her wing and announces that she will find her the ideal governess post before it is wanted. Emma feels some sympathy for Jane's predicament.
Emma decides that Jane and Mr Dixon, Colonel Campbell's new son-in-law, are mutually attracted, and is the reason she arrived earlier than expected. She confides this to Frank, who met Jane and the Campbells at a holiday resort a year earlier; he apparently agrees with Emma. Suspicions are further fuelled when a pianoforte, sent by an anonymous benefactor, arrives for Jane. Emma feels herself falling in love with Frank, but it does not last to his second visit. The Eltons treat Harriet poorly, culminating with Mr Elton publicly snubbing Harriet at the ball given by the Westons in May. Mr Knightley, who had long refrained from dancing, gallantly asks Harriet to dance. The day after the ball, Frank brings Harriet to Hartfield, as she fainted after a rough encounter with local gypsies. Emma mistakes Harriet's gratitude to Frank as her being in love with him. Meanwhile, Mrs Weston wonders if Mr Knightley is attracted to Jane, but Emma dismisses the idea. When Mr Knightley says he notices a connection between Jane and Frank, Emma disagrees, as Frank appears to be courting her instead. Frank arrives late to a gathering at Donwell in June, while Jane departs early. The next day at Box Hill, a local scenic spot, Frank and Emma are bantering when Emma, in jest, thoughtlessly insults Miss Bates.
1898 illustration of Mr Knightley and Emma Woodhouse, Volume III chapter XIII
When Mr Knightley scolds Emma for insulting Miss Bates, she is ashamed. The next day, she visits Miss Bates to atone for her bad behaviour, impressing Mr Knightley. During the visit, Emma learns that Jane accepted a governess position from one of Mrs Elton's friends. Jane becomes ill and refuses to see Emma or receive her gifts. Meanwhile, Frank has been visiting his aunt, who dies soon after his arrival. Now he and Jane reveal to the Westons that they have been secretly engaged since autumn, but Frank knew his aunt would disapprove of the match. Maintaining the secrecy strained the conscientious Jane and caused the couple to quarrel, with Jane ending the engagement. Frank's easygoing uncle readily gives his blessing to the match. The engagement is made public, leaving Emma chagrined to discover that she had been so wrong.
Emma believes Frank's engagement will devastate Harriet, but instead, Harriet says she loves Mr Knightley, and though she knows the match is too unequal, Emma's encouragement and Mr Knightley's kindness have given her hope. Emma is startled and realises that she is also in love with Mr Knightley. Mr Knightley returns to console Emma from Frank and Jane's engagement, thinking her heartbroken. When she admits her foolishness, he proposes, and she accepts. Harriet accepts Robert Martin's second proposal, and they are the first couple to marry. Jane and Emma reconcile, and Frank and Jane visit the Westons. Once the mourning period for Frank's aunt ends, they will marry. Before the end of November, Emma and Mr Knightley are married with the prospect of "perfect happiness."
The Film:
2009, BBC, UK, Comedy, Drama, Romance
Director: Jim O'Hanion
Stars: Romola Garai, Michael Gambon, Jonny Lee Miller
Writer: Jane Austen
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