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Editorial Review Product Description
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.'I always deserve the best treatment because I never put up with any other.'Beautiful, rich, self-assured and witty, Emma Woodhouse delights in match-making those around her, with no apparent care for her own romantic life. Taking young Harriet Smith under her wing, Emma sets her sights on finding a suitable match for her friend. Chided for her mistakes by old friend Mr Knightley, it is only when Harriet starts to pursue her own love interests that Emma realizes the true hidden depths of her own heart. Delightful, engaging and entertaining, Emma is arguably Austen's most well-loved social comedy.Amazon.com Review
Of all Jane Austen's heroines, Emma Woodhouse is the most flawed, the most infuriating, and, in the end, the most endearing. Pride andPrejudice's Lizzie Bennet has more wit and sparkle; CatherineMorland in Northanger Abbey more imagination; and Sense andSensibility's Elinor Dashwood certainly more sense--but Emma islovable precisely because she is so imperfect. Austen only completed sixnovels in her lifetime, of which five feature young women whose chances formaking a good marriage depend greatly on financial issues, and whoseprospects if they fail are rather grim. Emma is the exception: "EmmaWoodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happydisposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; andhad lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distressor vex her." One may be tempted to wonder what Austen could possibly findto say about so fortunate a character. The answer is, quite a lot.For Emma, raised to think well of herself, has such a high opinionof her own worth that it blinds her to the opinions of others. The storyrevolves around a comedy of errors: Emma befriends Harriet Smith, a youngwoman of unknown parentage, and attempts to remake her in her own image.Ignoring the gaping difference in their respective fortunes and stations inlife, Emma convinces herself and her friend that Harriet should look ashigh as Emma herself might for a husband--and she zeroes in on an ambitiousvicar as the perfect match. At the same time, she reads too much into aflirtation with Frank Churchill, the newly arrived son of family friends,and thoughtlessly starts a rumor about poor but beautiful JaneFairfax, the beloved niece of two genteelly impoverished elderly ladies inthe village. As Emma's fantastically misguided schemes threaten to surgeout of control, the voice of reason is provided by Mr. Knightly, theWoodhouse's longtime friend and neighbor.Though Austen herself described Emma as "a heroine whom no one but myselfwill much like," she endowed her creation with enough charm to see herthrough her most egregious behavior, and the saving grace of being able tolearn from her mistakes. By the end of the novel Harriet, Frank, and Janeare all properly accounted for, Emma is wiser (though certainly notsadder), and the reader has had the satisfaction of enjoying Jane Austen atthe height of her powers. --Alix Wilber ... Read more Customer Reviews (286) 
I didn't like it.
A lot of people have said that Emma is one of their favorite books but I would have to differ. This book put me to sleep every time I picked it up.It was dull and boring, this is only my opinion. I would not let this book effect and make me not want to read Jane Austen again. Since it is only one book out of many of hers. I felt this book was for a different crowd of people. Maybe I should have waited till I was older and grasped the concept more.
Miss. Taylor Emma's good friend and governess get's married and move's out. Emma has no clue what to do with herself. Mr. Woodhouse, Emma's father, gets upset and thinks Miss. Taylor now known as Mrs. Weston is making a huge mistake of leaving the family and things will never be the same without her living at the house. Emma then meets a girl named Harriet Smith, who is not as smart as Emma but she likes how she is willing to learn and listen to what she had to say. They went on daily walks around the town. Mr. Martin a very dull farmer that Emma's brother-in-law works proposes to Harriett who has had a crush on him before Emma tried to set her up with Mr. Elton. Emma influences her to refuse the offer of marriage, so she does. This was before n and got to know each other very well.
Emma thinks she can match anyone up with love, if they gave her a chance. She herself has vowed to remain single. She tries to set Harriet, up with Mr. Elton, but Mr. Elton likes Emma instead of Harriet and wants to marry her. Emma refuses and Mr. Elton leaves and gets married to some person who nobody thinks is worthy of him. When Emma finds out Mr. Elton got married she doesn't want Harriet to find out since she is still hung up on him they found out Mr. Elton had married. Emma is very controlling when it comes to love, and this is one reason why I didn't like the book she aggravated me.
Mrs. Weston's stepson is coming she is nervous he won't like her and confides in Emma. Emma is out for a carriage ride and she gets stuck. Mr. Churchill Mr. Weston's son comes and helps her get out, he doesn't tell her who he is till after and she is amazed by how good looking he is. She is confused with hr feelings for him after that. She thinks she may be in love but she doesn't feel like she is. Mr. Churchill likes a woman named Jane who is staying with Miss. Bates, a dear friend of Emma.Emma doesn't really like Jane since she always has one over her. For example at a party that was thrown they asked Emma if she would like to play the piano, when she is done Jane is asked to play the piano and everyone loved Jane's when people only like Emma's performance.
At a picnic with Jane, Mr. Churchill, Miss. Bates, Mr. Elton, his wife, and Mr. Knightly, Emma's very good friend.Emma insults her friend, Miss. Bates. Mr. Knightly tells Emma off. Emma realizes she loves Mr. Knightly but is worried he loves Harriet. They secretly have feelings for each other but neither of them do anything. Finally they do confess there feelings and they get engaged. Harriet ends up with Mr. Martin and Mr. Churchill ends up with Jane.
Mrs. Weston becomes pregnant and Emma does not want anyone to know about her and Mr. Knightly's engagement until the baby is born. Jane and Mr. Churchill are also keeping their engagement a secret.
I couldn't really relate to this book. I would have done a lot of things different then what she did. For starters I would not have gone and meddled into every ones love life. Its their life and people need to respect that and not mess with it. I understand she thought she was helping everyone but truth be told she wasn't and it just was annoying to see how she kept going off and doing that throughout the book.
Austen's longest, and perhaps most rewarding, novel
Emma Woodhouse has it all. She's the only Austen heroine who doesn't seem to need anything. All the other heroines are either in difficult financial straits or they're going to be, but Emma is actually wealthy. She's the only lady in her home, and since her father is an aging hypochondriac, she makes all the important decisions and has a degree of power and independence. Despite her singleness, Emma has great social standing as the chief well-bred lady of her small town of Highbury, and she's admired and respected by all. On top of that, she's young, smart, and attractive. So what could this heroine possibly need that she doesn't already have? Humility and empathy. Five weddings, a half-dozen major misunderstandings, and 400 pages pass before she gains them, but Emma's ending is as happy and triumphant as the close of Pride and Prejudice.
While most Austen heroines get to travel around some, either because they've been displaced from their homes, invited on vacation, or both, Emma is firmly rooted in Highbury, influencing her neighbors and being influenced by them. Emma's flaws are insidious because no one but friend-of-the-family Mr. Knightley notices that she has them. Everyone around her thinks she's angelic, accomplished, and positively brilliant, so when she decides to find a husband for her young friend Harriet, she naturally assumes that her advice and discernment are flawless. Emma nudges Harriet into refusing one man's proposal and setting her heart on another gentleman, but nothing turns out as Emma hopes.
Most of Emma's plans and notions ultimately tie back to feeding her own ego. She may say--and may fully believe--that she wants Harriet to make a good match simply out of friendship and kindness, but if Harriet, a girl without a dowry or advanced social skills, makes an excellent match, it'll be entirely due to Emma's influence. That's why it's so fortunate that her plans don't work out--it would be bad for Emma's character if she was vindicated in playing God. But though Emma is proven wrong several times, this is a light, optimistic story, so she is never humiliated. She's embarrassed and humbled a little, but the new understanding she gains makes her a better, stronger person.
The other big schemer in the book is Frank Churchhill, whose actions aren't honorable even if his intentions are. He's not villainous, but he's careless and inflicts a good deal of pain on those who love him most by pretending to like Emma and pretending to disdain his secret fiancée, Jane Fairfax. It's bad enough that he deceives all of Highbury into thinking he wants to court Emma, but it's another matter altogether when he helps keep his and Jane's secret by insulting Jane when she's away and feeding unpleasant rumors about her. Even though concealment was vital, it seems like Frank went too far in playing his role, and he's ultimately rewarded with his aunt's fortune and Jane's love despite his poor behavior. He's a bit of a Karma Houdini, as TV Tropes would call it; he always evades the unpleasant consequences that should be coming his way.
I've heard that endings in fiction should always be unexpected, but at the same time inevitable, and Emma is a brilliant example of this convention. All the matches that come about are not the ones that Emma expects (it's not just her--Harriet and Mr. and Mrs. Weston also make wrong guesses about who will marry whom), yet at the same time, they are the only suitable and reasonable matches. Mr. Elton is only pretending to be a good-hearted man, so he marries a rich, obnoxious woman who fits better with him than sweet little Harriet would. Mr. Martin is a kind, humble farmer who will never look down on Harriet for her illegitimate parentage, so he's an excellent husband for a girl who has a gentle temperament and good looks, but not much else to recommend her. Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill seem the most mismatched of the group, but they get by since they're complimentary opposites; she has all the wisdom in the relationship and he has all the energy and zest for life. And Emma and Mr. Knightley make the ultimate perfect-yet-surprising match, mainly because they were both totally content to be single. But Emma needs someone who will call her on her occasional rudeness and pride, and Mr. Knightley is almost too self-sufficient and rigid and needs to soften a little and incorporate another person into his daily life.
Emma is longer than Austen's other books, but it's lovely from start to finish. It's a comedy of manners that ends with the heroine not just receiving, but earning, her happily ever after. It's an old favorite of mine and I hope you'll like it, too.
Excellent, but falls short of Pride and Prejudice
When Jane Austen sat down to write Emma, she had a tall order. Her previous work, Pride and Prejudice, is one of the great masterpieces in English literature. Unsurprisingly, Emma does not measure up to P&P, but is still a delightful read in its own right. The same themes that readers have come to associate with Jane Austen are all present in Emma: courtship, marriage, Victorian reserve, and, of course, social status. The biggest problem I had with Emma is that the characterization is not near as solid as in Austen's previous work. The only truly interesting character is the main protagonist, Emma, whose wit and vivacity sparkle throughout. The only fair way to read Emma is to do so without comparing it to Pride and Prejudice. Doing so, this book stands just fine upon its own merit. Just don't expect lightning to strike twice.
Great novel
Thank you for the quick shipment!The novel is in great condition and will be a nice edition to my library.
Great writing, great story
I think most people are already familiar with the story of Emma, and many are probably also familiar with the back-story, which is that Jane Austendecided to write about a character which she thought "nobody but myself will much like." I dare say there are plenty of people who indeed do not like Emma Woodhouse, but I have loved plenty of books, TV shows, and movies centered on a character I disliked (or even hated) far more than Emma, whose faults do not, at least, include witlessness, stupidity, or true ugliness of character.
Added to Emma's attractiveness as a protagonist and other well-rounded characters that we may love orhate, is Jane Austen's excellent prose and story plotting, and, most importantly, her cutting humor and social commentary. Oh wait, perhaps most important is the love story--or love stories--that touch the readers' hearts. Or at least touched mine. All of those elements are there, and so I enjoyed the book. While not my favorite book of Austen's, Emma is far from my least favorite (ahem, Mansfield Park).
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