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 bearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.
This is Emma. Emma is a free-thinking, as witty and independent as Elizabeth could be in "Pride and Prejudice". Emma's world is similar to that of Elizabeth in that she lives in a rural world, not too far from London, she has a somewhat secluded life and all her attentions (and that of most of the people surrounding her) seem geared toward husbandry. So this is my second novel from Jane Austen, and the second filled with young women hunting good husbands; and, as in the first one, although the subject may seem naïve, is is very well written and does not allow the reader to let the book down.
Miss Taylor, Emma's governess and friend leaves the house to marry Mr Weston: Emma, 21, stays alone at Hartfield with her hypocondriac, but widely estimated, father. In want of company, she resolves to bring a young, good natured and pretty girl named Harriet to higher spheres and to a better education; Thus, when Harriet Smith receives a proposition from an honest but lowly Robert Martin, Emma makes her refuse him. A good friend of the family, Mr Knightley sees this as a bad omen but Emma chooses to continue the acquaintance, and when Mr Elton comes around Hartfield too often to be honest, Emma hatches a plan : Harriet will marry him. Things gradually grow from a possibility to a certainty in the girls' heads and, after a series of blunders and missunderstandings, the judgment falls: Mr Elton was courting the rich Emmma and not the poor Harriet. Emma says she will not be taken matchmaking again... Never says never... Then comes Franck Chuchill, Mr Weston's son, brought up by his wealthy uncle and aunt. He's rich and when he comes around, he appears to be courting Emma. Then follows a long series of dinners, balls, walks, encounters, unspoken truths, downright false ideas... Finally, everybody thinks that Franck is courting Emma, but he is secretly engaged to Jane Fairfax, who is being sent as a governess by a fiendish Mrs Elton; Harriet is deceived again when she's getting in love with Mr Knightley who loves Emma from the very start... As in Pride and Prejudice, all is well that ends well: Harriet marries Robert Martin, Franck Churchill marries Jane Fairfax and Emma marries Mr Knightley.
I'm aware that this account of the story sounds like "The Young and the Restless". But reducing this novel to a husband hunt is not to do it justice. I've thouroughly enjoyed it, it is well written and makes the little things in life interesting. Jane Austen knows how to delve into the minds of her characters and reveal them.
