Emma by Jane Austen – delightful and engaging classic

Emma is a well-written, delightful, and engaging classic filled with entertaining characters, social dramas, and witty observations.

Other Books I Read By The Same Author :

Persuasion

Sense and Sensibility

Mansfield Park

Synopsis

Beautiful, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her single life and sees no need for either love or marriage. However, nothing 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 protégée, Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected.

This was Austen’s final novel published during her lifetime, viewed by literary scholars as both revolutionary and reflective of Austen’s maturity as a novelist; its 1815 publication helped established Austen’s iconic place in literature’s pantheon of great writers. It explores themes such as courtship and marriage in the Regency era; manners and etiquette; gender limitations; pride and vanity; and the power of imagination.

Review

After reading timid, shy, and submissive heroines in Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park, reading Emma and its clever, confident and independent heroine was a refreshing change.

Emma is young, proud, and intelligent, accustomed to people agreeing with her at home, Hartfield, and enjoying her high social standing in Highbury. The only person who dares to contradict her is Mr. Knightley, her sister’s brother-in-law, who visits Hartfield regularly. After her governess marries Mr. Weston of Randalls, Emma takes up matchmaking, determined to pair her protégée, Harriet Smith, with the village’s young vicar, Mr. Elton.

Despite Mr. Knightley’s warnings— which she promptly ignores—Emma persists in pushing them together, only to face embarrassment herself and heartbreak for Harriet. Yet, she continues advising Harriet, raising her standards and expectations to unrealistic heights. This ultimately backfires in ways Emma never anticipated, forcing her to recognize her own misjudgments and their consequences.

I thoroughly enjoyed the novel’s exploration of pride, vanity, misperception, meddling, courtship, social class, and gender limitations.

Emma is many things, but she is not arrogant like Mrs. Elton, whom we meet later in the novel. She possesses the grace to act properly even in difficult situations and among the unreasonable and obnoxious side characters she can barely tolerate. I admired her for caring for her father, whose frail health limited her social outings. She understood him well and, even when she realized her love for Mr. Knightley, she prioritized her father’s well-being over her own desires. Her love for her family—her sister, her sister’s family, and her friends—was equally admirable.

However, Emma is only 21, and like many young people, she makes mistakes due to poor judgment and a lack of foresight. She was wrong to influence Harriet’s decisions, persuading her to reject Mr. Martin and encouraging unrealistic expectations.

One aspect I didn’t particularly enjoy was how Emma only realized she was in love with Mr. Knightley after Harriet’s confession about her own romantic feelings. Up until then, Emma admired Mr. Knightley’s character, but it never seemed to go beyond friendship and family connection. The idea of love struck her primarily out of concern for her nephew’s inheritance—rather than from an emotional awakening—and yet, that realization quickly turned into genuine feelings.

I also disliked Emma’s decision to send Harriet away after Mr. Knightley’s declaration of love. She could have simply talked to him—he would have handled the situation maturely—but instead, she avoided the issue, creating unnecessary anxiety over Harriet’s return and their future interactions.

Mr. Knightley, in contrast, was mature and sensible. Perhaps because I am closer to his age, I found myself relating to him more. I enjoyed his and Emma’s bickering in the early chapters and wished there had been more of it throughout the book. Unlike Emma, his feelings for her were evident—through his subtle but telling actions, his jealousy regarding Frank Churchill, and his efforts to ensure Emma’s happiness. His decision to live at Hartfield for her father’s sake only made me admire him more.

The secondary characters—Miss Bates, Mrs. Elton, and the Westons—were dramatic and entertaining. Harriet, despite Emma’s high regard for her, wasn’t particularly intelligent. I laughed when it was mentioned she had fallen in love three times in a single year—she was so easily influenced.

Mr. and Mrs. Elton were truly despicable. Why Jane Fairfax would stay friends with them, despite being said to be smarter and cleverer than Emma, is beyond me. Frank Churchill’s two-timing reminded me of Edward Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility, and it was frustrating to see the Westons quickly forgiving him and his actions.

The most intriguing part of the novel was the mystery surrounding Jane Fairfax. When the truth was finally revealed, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it coming—the hints had been there all along in the second half of the book.

Overall, Emma is a well-written, delightful, and engaging classic filled with entertaining characters, social dramas, and witty observations.

Favorite Quotes/Lines

“You must be the best judge of your own happiness.”

“if a woman doubts as to whether she should accept a man or not, she certainly ought to refuse him.”

“There are people, who the more you do for them, the less they will do for themselves.”

“I always deserve the best treatment because I never put up with any other.”

“Vanity working on a weak head produces every sort of mischief.”

“Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.”

“If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.”

Book Links

Goodreads | Amazon.in | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Have you read this or wish to read?
What is your favorite 19th century fiction?

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