Emma (Modern Library Classics)
by Jane Austen
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jane AustenIntroduction: A. Walton Litz
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-05-08
ISBN: 0375757422
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Modern Library
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780375757426
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Emma (Modern Library Classics)
Book Review: Blunders and Blindness
Summary: 5 Stars
In the quiet and picturesque village of Highbury there lived a self-professed matchmaker of little experience and expertise yet she believed herself to be in possession of superior observational skills and the ability to see into everyone's heart. Emma Woodhouse, our twenty-one year old matchmaker of Highbury, rates the marriage of her governess to a wealthy and respected gentleman, Mr. Weston, as one of her laudable matchmaking successes and decidedly takes on the challenge of finding a suitable wife for the vicar of Highbury, Mr. Elton. Alas, Emma is not the talented matchmaker she thinks she is and makes frequent blunders in judgment and is often blind to the romantic inclinations of the people around her...
What then ensues is a spectacular comedy of manners that is heartwarming, satirical, lively, and charming.
Mr. George Knightley, brother-in-law to Emma, does not approve of Emma's new matchmaking hobby or her new friendship with Harriet Smith, "the natural daughter of nobody knows whom." Harriet Smith, a seventeen year old parlour border at the local school, is inferior to Emma in sophistication and sense. Mr. Knightley would much rather see Emma with a companion that is her equal in intelligence and influence her positively. Mr. Knightley is one of the few people in Emma's life that recognizes her faults; and believing her too often indulged and spoiled he makes no qualms about admonishing her for these faults. Unfortunately, Emma is often willful and ignores Mr. Knightley's wise counsel.
Jane Austen is quoted to have said Emma was a "heroine whom no one but myself will much like." This is true for some Austen fans who rank Emma Woodhouse as one of their least favorite heroines. However, there many readers that find her likable and claim her to be one of their favorite Austen characters. Emma Woodhouse is unique in that she is wealthy and well provided for, thus giving her little inducement to marry. In addition, even though she enjoys pairing up her friends and neighbors, Emma has little inclination or interest in finding love for herself and declares that she will never marry. (So much for having a romantic heroine!) Nonetheless, I am very fond of Emma, her lack of experience in the world has made her naive and the indulgence of her family has swelled her head, but she is not an unworthy or unlikable heroine. Throughout the course of this novel Jane Austen beautifully depicts the journey of Emma's maturation and displays her blossoming into a self-aware, humble, and sensible woman.
My favorite thing about "Emma" is the charming village of Highbury and all who reside within. There is such a pleasant mix of endearing and exasperating characters: Miss Bates, a poor spinster who dearly loves to share news with her neighbors; Mr. Woodhouse, such a generous and a caring man who suffers from nervous anxieties about the health of his family and friends; Mr. Weston with his jolly and sanguine temperament; and Mrs. Elton, who believes herself to be the first in consequence in the town and is extremely vulgar and conceited. According to Miss Bates "there are few places with such society as Highbury." How very true!
While "Pride and Prejudice" is the most famous and popular of Jane Austen's six major novels, I believe that "Emma" is truly an excellent, accomplished novel that is not to be overlooked. I may not recommend it to someone for their first experience with Jane Austen, as it is a bit lengthier than the others, but I highly recommend it to readers who enjoy traveling to the time and world of Jane Austen whether it be in book or on screen!
Austenesque Reviews
Summary of Emma (Modern Library Classics)
Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her. So begins Jane Austen's comic masterpiece Emma. In Emma, Austen's prose brilliantly elevates, in the words of Virginia Woolf, the trivialities of day-to-day existence, of parties, picnics, and country dances of early-nineteenth-century life in the English countryside to an unrivaled level of pleasure for the reader. At the center of this world is the inimitable Emma Woodhouse, a self-proclaimed matchmaker who, by the novel's conclusion, just may find herself the victim of her own best intentions.This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition includes newly commissioned notes on the text.
Of all Jane Austen's heroines, Emma Woodhouse is the most flawed, the most infuriating, and, in the end, the most endearing. Pride and Prejudice's Lizzie Bennet has more wit and sparkle; Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey more imagination; and Sense and Sensibility's Elinor Dashwood certainly more sense--but Emma is lovable precisely because she is so imperfect. Austen only completed six novels in her lifetime, of which five feature young women whose chances for making a good marriage depend greatly on financial issues, and whose prospects if they fail are rather grim. Emma is the exception: "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her." One may be tempted to wonder what Austen could possibly find to say about so fortunate a character. The answer is, quite a lot.
For Emma, raised to think well of herself, has such a high opinion of her own worth that it blinds her to the opinions of others. The story revolves around a comedy of errors: Emma befriends Harriet Smith, a young woman of unknown parentage, and attempts to remake her in her own image. Ignoring the gaping difference in their respective fortunes and stations in life, Emma convinces herself and her friend that Harriet should look as high as Emma herself might for a husband--and she zeroes in on an ambitious vicar as the perfect match. At the same time, she reads too much into a flirtation with Frank Churchill, the newly arrived son of family friends, and thoughtlessly starts a rumor about poor but beautiful Jane Fairfax, the beloved niece of two genteelly impoverished elderly ladies in the village. As Emma's fantastically misguided schemes threaten to surge out of control, the voice of reason is provided by Mr. Knightly, the Woodhouse's longtime friend and neighbor. Though Austen herself described Emma as "a heroine whom no one but myself will much like," she endowed her creation with enough charm to see her through her most egregious behavior, and the saving grace of being able to learn from her mistakes. By the end of the novel Harriet, Frank, and Jane are all properly accounted for, Emma is wiser (though certainly not sadder), and the reader has had the satisfaction of enjoying Jane Austen at the height of her powers. --Alix Wilber
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