Emma
€0,00
First published in December 1815, Emma centres on Emma Woodhouse, a wealthy, intelligent young woman who, having little need to concern herself with marriage, takes pleasure in arranging the romantic lives of those around her. In the village of Highbury, she makes a project of finding a suitable match for her new friend Harriet Smith, confidently interpreting the affections and intentions of her neighbours while remaining blind to her own. Her schemes bring a succession of misunderstandings, delicate embarrassments and unexpected revelations, observed throughout by the perceptive and often exasperated Mr Knightley.
With extraordinary subtlety, Jane Austen explores the hazards of self-deception, the limits of social knowledge and the quiet education of a young woman accustomed to having her own way. Emma’s imperfections make her one of Austen’s most compelling heroines, while the intricate narrative, rich with irony and finely observed conversation, reveals the comedy and constraints of provincial society. The last novel Austen published in her lifetime, Emma is widely regarded as one of her most accomplished works, a brilliant study of character and the distance between what we imagine and what is true.
From the book
“One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.”
— Jane Austen, Emma
On Emma
“A novel about love and marriage which has no concern with the matter of choosing the right partner.”
— Lionel Trilling