Emma (Penguin Classics)

Rating:
Summary: Great Book.
Review: Emma is another one of Jane Austen's novels. It's a good book, however I don't believe it's as good as Pride and Prejudice. The protagonist, Emma, is a very bright and handsome young lady. It seems that the protagonists of Jane Austen are always female, intelligent, and pretty. The characters in this book are complex. For example, an elderly well-known bachelor suddenly falls in love and took a wife of about the same age as he. His reason for marrying is also strange, because he simply wanted to have a wife. And Emma was the person who started and encouraged their relationship. The plot was interesting too, a few surprises here and there.
My problem with Emma is that it wasn't as engrossing a story as Pride and Prejudice. But this is a different style of book, so it's really unfair for me to say that Emma is not as good as Pride and Prejudice. Other than that, it's a wonderful book.
I recommend it to readers who want dialogue-based novels.


Rating:
Summary: Manipulating Affairs of the Heart
Review: Genteel society in early 19th century England proved resourceful in conjuring up their own rural entertainment. Dinner parties, amateur musicales, cards, charades and balls provided indoor amusement, while picnics, local excursions or taking the waters in fancy resorts took the restless upper crust out of doors. Lacking telephones and even telegrams Austen's characters relied on local mail delivery by their servants or trusted in the efficiency of the British Post to bring detailed, epistolary news into their information-starved lives.

While the men discussed politics and their farming interests, most ladies devoted great mental and verbal energy to schemes for romance-encouraging or quashing. The fair sex plotted and surmised about their neighbors and relatives'affections for one another. In true Victorian style pregnancy was hushed over, but village gossips took great delight in pondering such weighty matters as one's birth, social station and probable inheritance.
In addition the whims of older relatives must be humored at all cost, since they held the of purse strings which could make or break the success of a young person's suit. Marriage after all was still more in the interest of the parents than for the sake of actual love.

Twenty-one-year old Emma Woodhouse is the younger daughter and mistress of the home of her elderly father. Having recently lost her young governess/companion to marriage, Emma undertakes a new social challenge: to mentor in her turn 17-year-old Harriet-a recent graduate of a local boarding school. The plot revolves around Emma`s subtle attempt to mold Harriet's immature heart in certain directions, indicated by insincere behavior on the part of various young men. Having frustrated what she considers an inferior proposal on Harriet's behalf, Emma gradually learns that she has meddled too much and caused needless unhappiness.

Several young couples court and become engaged in the course of this light novel, but all is not as it seems on the surface, due to a secret engagement and surprising twists of Cupid's darts. Harriet's heart is easily swayed by suggestions and appearances--without direct, verbal confirmation--so it is Emma who matures the most. She has long been sensitive of the good opinion of her 31-year-old neighbor, Mr. Knightly, who on two occasions finds it necessary to reprove her thoughtless behavior. What does she care, since she has already declared that will never marry-which would mean deserting her doting but
doddering father.

This novel is Austen-lite, though in extensive format (over 400 pages), with many long letters which fill in the off stage action--which proves to be wherever our Emma is Not present. The heroine's own tender heart is swayed first by this man, then by another. The advent of young persons into the village of Highbury is welcomed by local society-ever appreciative of newcomers to the social mix. Inside these pages one encounters the typical village gossips and snobs of course, who make everyone's business their private agenda. Ah, how will these impetuous young persons sort out their feelings and
relationships? Especially without antagonizing or distressing their elders? EMMA is almost a sly treatise on early Victorian social and moral restrictions, delightfully disguised as a novel.


Rating:
Summary: "Emma" is a wonderful book!
Review: "Emma" was the first Jane Austen book I read, and after reading all of Austen's novels, it is still my favorite. The plot is amusing, and it kept my interest from beginning to end. Indeed, I couldn't put the book down until I finished it. For those who think that it is too difficult a read, try it. I was only 12 the first time I read it, and I enjoyed it immensely. Also, I would like to set the record straight concerning the movie Clueless, which was based on "Emma". Clueless was made in the 1990's, while Jane Austen was born in the late 1700's and died in her forties. It is rather obvious that "Emma" came first. I know this at the age of 17, and can only wonder where certain reviewers were during English class. Back to the book, though - I loved it and would recommend it to anyone!

Rating:
Summary: Humor in Classical Literature
Review: All through high school I stayed as far from the British female authors (of classical literature) as I could...and now I have to wonder why. I figured them to be drab, sappy, overly sentimental and trite. How wrong I was! Upon urging of friends, I picked up "Pride and Prejudice" and enjoyed it immensely (though I disagree with another poster that it was faster paced than Emma). I immediately purchased "Emma" and was delighted. The character, as is mentioned, is flawed...but charming BECAUSE of these flaws. Emma is a wonderful character and the book is a joy to read. I will continue my journey through the books of Jane Austen--and I can't wait to continue!

Rating:
Summary: A comedy treating human follies in an intellectual manner
Review: Emma by Jane Austen is truly a very enjoyable novel dealing with the upper-middle class women of the Victorian Era, and it gives us an illuminating insight on the way of life of the people of that time. Emma is a comedy in the sense that the novel ends on a happy note with three marriages and also in the sense that it gives themes such as marriage an exaggerated importance. Also, the novel as a whole in conceived in a spirit of irony - irony in incidents and irony in characterisation. In the novel, Jane Austen depicts her view of people as social animals who live by a social code based on a set of moral values. Thus, in Emma, Jane Austen shows, in a good-natured way, the disastrous consequences caused by human follies and stupidities, leading to the violation of the social code.
The very fact that Emma is looking for `would-be' grooms for girls she takes a fancy to is undoubtedly a trespass of the social norms existing at that time - a clear example of a folly. Emma's other folly may be said to be her excessive pride. Her pride leads her to dominate, and to see the lives of others as extensions of her own ego, and therefore deny the other characters their human autonomy. Ironically, we see that she, who delights in using others, discovers that she, in turn, has been used, or more correctly, duped.
Emma also deals with the follies of arrogance and self-deception. While reading the novel, we find Emma adopting what may be called a `know-all' attitude. She is utterly self-important and presuming. She pays no heed to Mr. Knightley's advice either with regard to Mr. Elton or with regard to Frank Churchill. She thinks that she can successfully handle the affairs of others, and the high regard the Highbury society has for her only makes matters worse. Hence, through the character of Emma, Austen warns against the dangers of influence and interference. Emma, through her actions of meddling in everybody's affairs, finally achieves nothing good, and even causes harm to her own self.
Also, Austen gives marriage such an undue importance that the title character, in her pursuit of husbands for others, overlooks social norms existing at that time and gives more value to marriage rather than crucial human relationships. Thus, in a comic way, Austen depicts Emma's greatest fault in breaking social norms and overlooking crucial human considerations in pursuit of petty things such as marriage.
Comedy also emanates from the narrator's treatment of Mr. Woodhouse and Miss Bates as "comic characters". But through these characters, Austen explores another facet of human follies. Through the character of Mr. Woodhouse, we are brought to see the negative aspects of indulgence - indulgence of the same kind that has caused harm to Emma. And the character of Miss Bates, while depicting the pitiable state of unmarried women, acts as a kind of test for Emma's power of responding to `socially inferior' people. Mrs. Elton is another comic character, amusing us greatly by her airs of self-importance and her social snobbery. She has too high an opinion of her own elegance, accomplishments, and social charm that she thrusts herself upon everybody without inhibition or hesitation. She also breaks the established social rules by calling Mr. Knightley "Knightley", not giving him his gentleman's worth. In fact, we may say that Mrs. Elton is used to portray the very evils of Emma's character in a somewhat extreme way.
Hence, as we have seen, Austen deals in an intellectual way the follies and stupidities of humans. We learn particularly through our understanding of Emma's faults, and by learning above all, how significant and fundamental these values are. For Emma's aloof relation to others, her willingness to treat other characters as toys - these become significant betrayals of human considerations. The social and moral universe of the novel takes a greater significance because it provides a context in which Emma's faults are not minor ones to be treated lightly, but total violations of a whole established system. The agents of retribution in this world are Mr. Knightley and Austen herself as the narrator.
Thus, Austen condemns certain human foolishness such as snobbery, excessive pride and a disrespect for established moral and social values. These are the human stupidities which are purged, through Emma's process of self-analysis and redemption. It is only at that time that Austen makes her heroine rise above such human foolishness and stupidities to become a more moral and less petty human being. Hence, it may be said that the novel persuades us, through a very entertaining and comic plot, the importance of self-knowledge, a true regard for self and others, and also to consider every human action as a crucial, committing act of self-definition.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: Emma is the first Jane Austen novel I ever read, and 13 years later it's still my favorite. It's also the most accessible, easy to read Austen novel. I literally could not put this book down. I thought all the characters, especially Emma, were wonderful. The title character, whie arrogant, was well meaning in her attempts to play matchmaker for the people around her. I could really relate to her, because I recognized that I've met people like her. She was at once funny, well intentioned, spoiled, controlling, and sweet. This book is really funny. The introduction is very useful in helping the reader keep all the events of the story straight. As well, it gives readers insight into the times, and into Austen's views about society. I really appreciated having the cast of characters printed at the beginning of the book, because there are alot (sometimes, it seems, too many) characters inhabiting the book. Because each person in the novel is so distinct and well drawn, the occasional confusion is worth it. I highly reccommend this book to anyone!

Rating:
Summary: Miss Woodhouse Explains It All
Review: Emma Woodhouse is easily Jane Austen's most annoying character. She's young, knows absolutely everything about everything, is the judge of everyone's good character and takes those around her for granted, despite frequently praising her friends and relations. She is, for all intents and purposes, the 18th century version of daddy's little rich girl.

How can a book about such a person be so captivating? The short answer is simply: because Jane Austen wrote it. The long answer is several hundred printed pages and well worth the read.

Much of the story is the typical Jane Austen framework, but the character of Emma is entirely different from many of the other main figures in Austen's works. While her other heroines have plenty of outstanding qualities and several flaws, Emma has plenty of flaws and several outstanding qualities. It's the central, exceptional qualities that make Emma a worthwhile character, but the flaws - and her growing consciousness of them - that make her loveable.

Countering Emma is the younger, and more gullible, Harriet Smith. She becomes Emma's project when Emma learns of her situation in life and is determined to improve it by befriending her. Emma's increasing awareness of her own flaws footnote their friendship, as she is forced to admit to being something of a snob, and a meddler.

There are all sorts of loud and obnoxious people in "Emma", and Austen's orchestration of the interaction among them is, as always, brilliant. The character of Mrs. Elton alone is one of my favorite "bad examples" of all times. This is perhaps the downright funniest of Austen's books, but in ways it is also the happies and the saddest. Miss Woodhouse and Miss Smith are in the throws of adolescence, where everything is either tragic or blissful.

I typically say that "Pride & Prejudice" and "Northanger Abbey" are my favorite Austen works, but secretly it might be truer to say that "Emma" is. It's not as clever as "Pride" or as satirical as "Northanger", but the way in which Emma is forced to open her eyes to the world - and the way it continues to revolve, and evidently not around herself - is really something most of us can relate to all too well.

Incidentally, the movie version of "Emma", starring Gwyneth Paltrow, isn't bad, but if you haven't seen it yet, please do yourself the favor of reading the book first. As always, there is so much in the pages that is ignored on the screen. Then, when you're done reading, watch "Clueless" again, which isn't nearly as true an adaptation, but is a funnier movie.

Rating:
Summary: Dollops of Clotted Cream
Review: I confess: I often read Jane Austen as an exercise in self-discipline. However, caution should be exercised in reading her books. Little surprises turn up which force a certain circumspection of all characters and events. In "Emma", we meet with the practice of "giving up" children, illegitimacy and the concomitant existence of, and suspicion of, extra-marital sex, flirting clergymen who, naturally, view courtship as a Machiavellian enterprise, egotism, snobbery, hypochondria and maybe even a little attention deficit disorder--heroes, heroines, villains alike. It is a great tour de force. Austen draws her characters well--who hasn't met a Miss Bates or a Mrs. Elton in their lifetime? Finally, also watch out for those little dollops of wisdom interspersed throughout--they pop up, wake you up and then are gone, leaving you in the midst of the question of just what is the best way to prepare a piglet's leg.

Rating:
Summary: Another wonderful novel of a headstrong young woman.
Review: Ms. Austen wrote very well about headstrong, intelligent young women. All of her books are wonderfully warm, but they show a tendency to light irony as well. Ms. Austen describes her world of early nineteenth century England so very well. In this book her heroine is Emma Woodhouse. She is the younger daughter of a wealthy landowner. She has a good heart, but she is spoiled. She also sticks her nose into other people's love affairs with some disastrous results. Miss Austen does a wonderful job describing life in a busy English village. The village in this story is Highbury. The characters in the book are wonderful, but it is the spiritual development of Emma that carries this book. Somehow she manages to grow and learn while staying within the strictures placed on her by her father and by English village life. Your journey reading Jane Austen's work is not complete if you do not read this book.

Rating:
Summary: My first Austen book! :)
Review: My mom got this book from the library not long after we saw the movie with Gwyneth Paltrow. She found out in the movie credits that it was based on a book (we caught the movie on TV by chance) and found out it was by Jane Austen. Since her favorite book is Pride and Prejudice (which she had tried to get me to read for years without success) she read the book, as I did soon after. It's funny that even though Emma is one of Austen's longer books, it took only one movie to render it perfectly, whereas the much shorter Pride and Prejudice needed seven videos altogether!

However, this is a review about the book, not the movie. Ahem. The book was great, and like all Austen's books never loses your interest. It is a bit drawn out and your mind may wander a bit during the course of the story, but it was a great story. Emma, the character Austen said no one would like, is much more likeable to me than the pathetic sop that is Fanny of Mansfield Park. She is much different than all other Austen characters; she is rich and has a thirty thousand pound dowry (at least I think so, I forget exactly; I read the book a while ago) which is a lot compared to the other penniless heroines who have at the most a thousand pounds. She is twenty-one, handsome, and though her snobbery is a turn off at the start of the book, you can't help but fall for her charms. She is, as the reviews say, irresistible. And Mr. Knightly is just like most other Austen heroes; a real dreamy guy -sigh- I'm so jealous of these girls. He's not romantic though, and unlike other books, the romance is a minimum, with barely an, "I love you" in sight.

The situations are original and entertaining, and the mismatches of Emma the would-be matchmaker (with no sight in mind of marriage for herself) are very amusing. I would recommend this book to any Austen fan, but for beginners I would recommend Pride and Prejudice or Northanger Abbey, as they are shorter and much lighter, funnier stories. Emma is a bit more quaint. My only complaint is the speeches of that girl who talks too much, what's-her-name; she talks for pages on end, interrupts herself and is in general much more boring than amusing. Highly recommended, buy it now!!!