It's such a happiness when good people get together
"Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition" is a suitable heroine for Jane Austen's lightest, frothiest novel. While "Emma" is not nearly as dramatic as Austen's other works, it is an enchanting little comedy of manners in which a young woman with the best intentions meddles in others' love lives... with only the faintest idea of how people (including herself) actually feel.
After matchmaking her governess Miss Taylor, Emma Woodhouse considers herself a natural at bringing people together. She soon becomes best buddies with Harriet, a sweet (if not very bright) young woman who is the "natural daughter of somebody." Emma becomes determined to pair Harriet with someone deserving of her (even derailing a gentleman-farmer's proposal), such as the smarmy, charming Mr. Elton. When Emma's latest attempt falls apart, she finds that getting someone OUT of love is a lot harder than getting them INTO it.
At around the same time, two people that Emma has heard about her entire life have arrived -- the charming Frank Churchill, and the reserved, remote Miss Jane Fairfax (along with rumors of a married man's interest in her). Emma begins a flirtatious friendship with Frank, but for some reason is unable to get close to Miss Fairfax. As she navigates the secrets and rumors of other people's romantic lives, she begins to realize who she has been in love with all along.
Out of all Jane Austen's books, "Emma" is the frothiest and lightest -- there aren't any major scandals, lives ruined, reputations destroyed, financial crises or sinister schemes. There's just a little intertwined circle of people living in a country village, and how one young woman tries to rearrange them in the manner that she genuinely thinks is best. Of course, in true comedy style everything goes completely wrong.
And despite the formal stuffiness of the time, Austen wrote the book in a languidly sunny style, threading it with a complex web of cleverly orchestrated rumors and romantic tangles. There's some moments of seriousness (such as Emma's rudeness to kind, silly Miss Bates), but it's also laced with some entertaining dialogue ("Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way") and barbed humor (the ridiculous and obnoxious Mrs. Elton).
Modern readers tend to be unfairly squicked by the idea of Emma falling for a guy who's known her literally all her life, but Austen makes the subtle relationship between Knightley and Emma one of affectionate bickering and beautiful romantic moments ("If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. You hear nothing but truth from me").
Emma is a character who is likable despite her flaws -- she's young, bright, well-meaning and assured of her own knowledge of the human heart, but also naive and sometimes snobbish. She flits around like a clumsy butterfly, but is endearing even when she screws up. Mr. Knightley is her ideal counterpoint, being enjoyably blunt and sharp-witted at all times. And there's a fairly colorful supporting cast -- Emma's neurotic but sweet dad, her kindly ex-governess, the charming Frank, the fluttery Miss Bates, and even the smarmy Mr. Elton and his bulldozing wife.
"Emma" is the most lightweight and openly comedic of all Jane Austen's novels, with a likable (if clueless) heroine and a multilayered plot full of half-hidden feelings. A lesser delight.
The Timelessness of Emma
*Warning: there are some plot spoilers in this review!*
Jane Austen has a reputation as a witty, humorous writer with a keen eye for human folly and failings, and with this novel she certainly lives up to her reputation. While Emma isn't as popular as my personal favorite Pride and Prejudice, I believe that Emma is so popular, and can be considered "literature" (that is, a piece of art) because the story really has a universal quality to it. The fact that we can relate to the situations and characters in Emma some 300 years later is what makes it seem so timeless, and why the Emma movie with a "modern twist", Clueless, was so wildly successful. When you compare both Emma and Clueless they show how little has changed and that privileged teenagers (and young adults) will find themselves in the same situations and social patterns, whether they are in 19th century England or 21st century America.
Of course, while the wealthy and bored teenagers in Clueless might try to set up their friends on dates, the stakes were a bit higher in Emma. Emma (the heroine) attempts to match her new friend Harriet Smith with the new minister Mr. Elton not just for dating, but for marriage as long as they both shall live (remember, divorce was rare, if not nonexistent in early 19th century Britain.) Unfortunately, this plan backfires when Mr. Elton becomes interested in Emma, not Harriet. The problem was that Emma (already conceited because she successfully "guessed well" when she matched her tutor Ms. Taylor with a local widower Mr. Weston) failed to get to know Harriet and Mr. Elton well enough to figure out if they were, in fact, right for each other. Emma shows her class-snobbery when she (through some very adolescent mind games) convinces Harriet to reject the proposal that she receives from a local farmer (Mr. Martin, the man Harriet likes and eventually falls in love with), in the hopes that Mr. Elton will propose. Emma was too self-centered and (to steal the phrase from Amy Heckerling) clueless to notice that Mr. Elton was not, in fact, interested in Harriet, but in herself--a fact that leads to Harriet's heartbreak. Of course, this is only one part of the multi-faceted story that Jane Austen created about the life of a "handsome, clever and rich" woman living in Highbury, England, but it gives you a sense of the life and times of Ms. Emma Woodhouse (as we see them in the book)
Fortunately, all is well in the end when Emma learns her lesson about matchmaking and toying with emotions and discovers that she loves her brother-in-law and well loved family friend Mr. Knightly. This is a classic "happy ending by way of falling in love with the best friend that you had all along," but with a slightly dated feel. First, he is sixteen years older than her and he, in a way, helped to raise her (at least, in principles). The fact that he admits openly to having been "in love with (her) ever since (she) was thirteen at least," slightly bothered me. Who, in the 21st century, would admit to having a crush on their 13 year old sister-in-law? In the context and time of the novel it's romantic. Now Mr. Knightly might be described as a pedophile. However, the dated dialogue (like the above) is the only qualm I had about the book, and I hope that it doesn't discourage anyone from reading Emma. Overall, I would recommend this book to any Clueless fan, romantic-comedy fan, or anyone who wants to read the wonderfully universal writing of Jane Austen.
Austen Shines
Though not her favorite novel, Austen's Emma shines as one of her most beloved. The character of Emma is both believable and lovable. This particular edition is a great keepsake, one you can pass down to your own daughter.
Check for more reviews on Amazon.com
Similar Products:
|
