E mma by Jane Austen is set in rural Regency England in the early nineteenth century. Austen is believed to have drawn inspiration for her depiction of the fictional village of Highbury from the beautiful villages in Surrey.
The novel portrays village life, inter-personal relationships and the social hierarchy.
Austen portrays the heroine Emma Woodhouse as a rather flawed young woman whose seemingly well intentioned meddling in other people’s lives forms the plot in the novel.
Austen stated that Emma is a heroine “no one but myself will much like.”
Emma’s brother-in-law and future husband, George Knightley is her only critic in the novel.
Austen tells readers at the beginning of the novel: “Mr. Knightley, in fact, was one of the few people who could see faults in Emma Woodhouse, and the only one who ever told her of them…”
Emma’s misguided fancy leads her to try to make an unsuitable match between Harriet Smith, who is described by Austen as“the natural daughter of somebody” and Mr. Elton, the Vicar of Highbury.
But Austen critiques the calculating and mercenary motives of Mr. Elton in marrying the newly rich and coarse Augusta Hawkins through the ridicule and sarcasm inherent in her tone.
The comedy in the novel arises from Mr. Woodhouse’s anxiety about his health, and the misunderstandings and confusion created by Emma’s meddling.
Emma is also a comedy of social manners which offers a psychological insight into the character and motivations of individuals.
Reviewed by Ryhanna Salie