Review: Emma by Jane Austen

Emma by Jane Austen
My rating: 2 out of 5 stars

A young woman believes she is a natural matchmaker and wants to spread her gift, but it turns out she might have just gotten lucky the first time. Emma is the fourth novel by Jane Austin in which the titular character attempts to improve the lives of those around her with not so successful results.

After taking credit for engineering the marriage of her friend and former governess Miss Taylor to Mr. Weston, Emma Woodhouse's believes herself a matchmaker and looks for her next target. She becomes friends with Harriet Smith with the aim of marrying her to the local vicar Mr. Elton and persuades Harriet to refuse a marriage proposal from Robert Martin, a respectable, educated, and well-spoken young farmer which upsets Emma’s long-time friend and neighbor Mr. Knightley. Elton, a social climber, believes Emma is in love with him and thinks Harriet is an inferior which only comes out after Elton proposes to and is shot down by Emma. After many cancelled plans Frank Churchill, Mr. Weston's son though adopted by his wealthy and domineering though sickly aunt, arrives for a two-week visit and makes many friends though one of them is not Knightley who believes him to be of shallow character. Frank seems flirt with Emma and the two engage in speculation with another arrival Jane Fairfax who is visiting her aunt, Miss Bates, and grandmother, Mrs. Bates, for a few months before starting a governess position due to her family’s financial situation. Elton gets married to a social climber and the new Mrs. Elton and Emma do not get along which makes the former take Jane under wing and attempt to find her a position. Frank humors Emma’s belief that Jane had a mutual attraction to her friend’s new husband, which appear to be confirmed for Emma when a piano is sent to Jane by a anonymous benefactor. The Elton’s treat Harriet poorly, but is counteracted by a gallant act by Mr. Knightley. Frank and Jane start to noticeably arrive and leave outings at opposite times, but the banter between Frank and Emma continues harmlessly until Emma thoughtlessly insults Miss Bates. Emma apologizes the next day after a scolding by Mr. Knightley, but Jane refuses to see her nor accept gifts sent when Emma learns she is ill. Emma later learns that Mrs. Elton successfully convinced Jane to be the governess to a friend of hers. Meanwhile Frank’s aunt dies from her long illness which starts a stunning chain of events as he and Jane reveal they have been secretly engaged since autumn, something is now deceased aunt would have disapproved and whose nature strained the conscious of Jane making her end the engagement. Frank’s uncle approves the marriage, and it is made public making Emma feel embarrassed she was wrong. Events then happen quickly as Emma realizes she is in love with Knightley who proposes to her after at first coming to comfort her over Frank’s engagement only to learn she was interested in Frank. Emma then wonders what to do about Harriet after ruining her hopes only to learn of happy coincidences that have make Robert Martin propose to her a second time which she accepted.

Being completely honest, through most of this novel I imagined Emma becoming a busybody aunt who continually attempts to set up her nieces and nephews like several other characters from Austen’s previous novels, though she will not be a future Mrs. Norris. The overall narrative with its twists and turns was good, but the drag that the main character had on the whole piece was hard to overcome. Of the major secondary characters Mr. Knightley insightfulness into the personalities of others and heroic quest to temper Emma’s overbearing traits for the sake of their dual nephews and nieces—children of his younger brother and her older sister—future happiness makes him the standout of the novel, though the fact that poor Harriet Smith got her happy ending after the suffering she endured because of Emma was a truly the best ending any has gotten in Austen’s writing.

Emma as both a novel and character might have their admirers, but as you can tell I am not one of them. Through Austen wrote some interesting characters and a good overall narrative, the main character just came off as too unlikeable for my tastes.