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Amazon.co.uk Review
Quick-witted, beautiful, headstrong and rich, Emma Woodhouse is inordinately fond of match-making select inhabitants of the village of Highbury, yet aloof and oblivious as to the question of whom she herself might marry. This paradox multiplies the intrigues and sparkling ironies of Jane Austen's masterpiece, her comedy of a sentimental education through which Emma discovers a capacity for love and marriage. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Ashley Tauchert, University of Exeter
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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. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Exquisite Novel,
By David Rush "I've killed a Hell of a lot of pe... (Glasgow, Scotland) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)
This review is from: Emma (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
"Emma" by Jane Austen is easily one of the greatest novels ever written. Simple yet subtley multi-layered, it tells the story of Emma Woodhouse, the daughter of a rich landowner who finds herself living alone with him when her Governess marries and moves out of the family home of Hartfield. As a result, most of the day she is confined to staying in the house and looking after her Father and as there is precious little to do in the evening, finds herself desperate for amusement.
It is revealed very early on in the novel that Emma likes to match people up together and see how things turn out. She is a self proclaimed imaginist, although her playful games sometimes get out of hand, causing problems and hurting those involved. Soon after Miss Taylor - her former Governess - leaves, Emma meets Harriet Smith, a girl of unknown parentage and decides to take the girl under her wing, with hopes of improving her class and chances of finding a good husband. It is in these moments with Harriet that Emma's character is at her most unappealing, often seeming snobbish and rude and shocked that Harriet would be interested in marrying a farmer of all people. However, due to Austen's all seeing narrative, the reader discovers that Emma does not know as much as she thinks she does and that many events are taking place which she is completely unaware of. Perhaps the first novel which requires a re-read in order to fully appreciate Austen's intricate plot, "Emma" is a wonderful novel. It is filled with Austen's formidable wit and humour but is also a brilliant romance which will enchant its reader. Austen herself felt that no-one but her could like the character of Emma, which may or may not be true, however it is easy to empathise with her, especially on a second reading. One of my favourite novels, "Emma" is filled with memorable characters, wonderful descriptions of setting, excellent dialogue and a brilliant central heroine. A truly timeless novel with a story which will engross and enchant the reader, "Emma" is a book never to be forgotten.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delightful, accomplished, witty, deviously good,
By Raina (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Emma (Penguin Popular Classics) (Paperback)
Emma is the most accomplished and arguably the best of Jane Austen's novels. also, it is the most subtle. While one cannot approve of Emma's actions one can hardly escape liking her in spite of herself. As a story, it is charming, witty and intelligent, as a piece of art it is perfect. Naturally biased as I am by my enjoyment of it, this book is highly entertaining and wonderfully revealing about it's time and setting at once.Emma is social satire and entertaining storytelling at it's best and most perfect symbiosis.A must-read for any fan of old English literature.Since Jane Austen was the master of the romantic satire, this her most characteristic work is another example of the overcoming of the seeming oxymoron Romance-Satire. Ridiculing literary cliché though never to the extent of rendering her own art absurd, she takes very unromantic people and makes them susceptible to the imaginations of Romanticist Emma, who, through her delusions, brings all sorts of chaos into the tranquil neighbourhood before eventually falling prey to her own notions and foolishness in getting the man she wants through his supposed love for another. Nonwithstanding Emma's meddlings the novel ends well and everyone ends up where he or she is supposed to be, including herself. Though I am warning those who need great passion, gothic events and grand drama, read Charlotte Bronte, for here you find only, romantic comedy.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"I seem to have been doomed to blindness.",
By
This review is from: Emma (Penguin Popular Classics) (Paperback)
Emma Woodhouse, "handsome, clever, and rich," is the 21-year-old daughter of the elderly owner of Hartfield, the largest estate in Highbury. Though only a couple of hours away from London by carriage, Highbury regards itself as an isolated and virtually self-contained community, with the Woodhouse family the center of social life and at the top of its social ladder. Emma, doting on her hypochondriac father, whom she represents to the outside world, has grown up without a mother's softening influence, and at twenty-one, she is bright, willful, and not a little spoiled. Having too little to do to keep out of trouble, Emma's hobby is matchmaking, "the greatest amusement in the world,." Unfortunately, her sophistication in the social graces does not extend to much insight into human beings.Taking Harriet Smith, a young woman of "questionable birth" under her wing, Emma makes Harriet her "project," educating her in the social graces, convincing Harriet not to marry farmer Robert Martin, who has courted her, and ultimately persuading Harriet, wrongly, that the vicar, Mr. Elton, is falling in love with her. Bored and without a large circle of "suitable" friends, Emma is an incorrigible meddler, playing with the lives of those around her, snubbing those she considers inferior, gossiping about others in an attempt to divert attention to herself, and misreading intentions. Only Mr. Knightly, sixteen years older than Emma and a friend of her father, stands up to Emma and tells her what he thinks of her behavior, and it is through him that she eventually begins to grow. Love and the formal protocol or marriage are a major focus here, with marriage more often a merger of "appropriate" families than the result of romance or passion. Class distinctions, acknowledged by all levels of society, limit both personal friendships and romantic possibilities, and as Emma's matchmaking fails again and again, causing grief to many of her victims, Emma begins to recognize that her pride, willfulness, and love of power over others have made her oblivious to her own faults. Austen shines in her depiction of Emma and her upperclass friends, gently satirizing their weaknesses but leaving room for them to learn from their mistakes--if only they can learn to recognize the ironies in their lives. Though Emma may be, in some ways, Austen's least charming heroine, she is certainly vibrant and, with her annoying faults, a most realistic one. Mary Whipple
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