Reviewing Jane Austen's "Emma"

Jane Austen called the character of Emma Wodehouse “a heroine whom no one but myself will much  like.” And I agree with her.  Emma is arrogant, catty, a gossip and a busybody.  But then, she is only twenty-one. 

Perhaps it is because the heroine is so very flawed that Emma is the most humorous of Austen’s works. It’s about a young, beautiful, rich socialite who has it all…and so amuses herself by trying to make it so everyone else has it all in the way of matrimony. A self-styled matchmaker, Emma starts her novel out on a high note, having successfully engineered the marriage between her governess and a neighboring country gentleman. 

Much to the chagrin of her neurotic old father and sarcastic family friend Mr. Knightley, Emma embarks on her next projects: finding a wife for their local clergyman Mr. Elton and adopting a protégé in the form of parentless and silly Harriet Smith. But Emma is only twenty-one and really does not understand anything about relationships.  She misinterprets the characters, motives, desires and feelings of pretty much everyone she encounters. She doesn’t even understand her own heart, which is probably the root of all the misinterpretations she makes of those around her. Like Catherine Morland, Emma is consumed by her own preconceptions of the world, and that’s where most of her mistakes originate.

While Emma is one of my least favorite Austen characters, the hero, Mr. Knightley, is my favorite, mostly because he is so snarky. Where Emma is over-the-top, Mr. Knightley is an average guy aside from being excessively rich.  Despite knowing that Emma is set in the same time period as the rest of Austen’s work, and therefore the costumes would be mostly top hats and frock-coats, I can’t help but always picture Mr. Knightley in a sweater. 

But that’s beside the point.

But now I have a mental image and I can’t remember what my point was.

Recommended Reading Age: 13+

Parental Notes: None.

Availability: Do not ask me why this hardcover copy has a chairs motif. Because I don’t know, and will be sorely tempted to just make up something to cover my ignorance. 

Adaptations: There are four adaptations, three of which I’d recommend. Two were made in 1996: the Kate Beckinsale/Mark Strong version (in which Emma has flights of fancy and Mark Strong shows that he has made some sort of Faustian deal in order to never age because HE LOOKS EXACTLY THE SAME THEN AS HE DOES NOW) and the Gwyneth Paltrow/Jeremy Northam version which was my favorite for quite some time.  The newest adaptation stars Romola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller, and is my favorite not only because Garai is one of my favorite actresses (and makes Emma hilariously manic), but also because it sports The. Best. Mr. Elton. Ever.