| First published in 1816 and generally considered Jane | | | | Harriet Smith, that were Harriet to have married the |
| Austen's finest work, Emma is a comic portrayal of a | | | | humble Robert Martin, she could not possibly have |
| heroine whose insensible interferences in the life of a | | | | visited them, given her own elevated social position. |
| young live-in servant in a nearby village often lead to | | | | This is a social value which readers at the time would |
| misunderstanding and embarrassment. | | | | have recognised, but Jane Austen leaves us in no |
| Emma was written and published in less than two | | | | doubt as to what she feels is the morality of such a |
| years, while Jane Austen was living at Chawton in | | | | statement. Thus, throughout the novel, characters |
| Hampshire. Although it lacks the narrative scope of | | | | reveal themselves not only according to the position |
| her other novels, many have hailed it as one of her | | | | they occupy in society, but also in terms of the way |
| most perfect and accomplished. | | | | they behave towards one another. |
| Emma Woodhouse is Jane Austen's most unusual | | | | The attempts at finding Harriet a suitor occupy all of |
| heroine being arrogant, self-willed and egotistical. Her | | | | Emma's time. However, in the midst of the search |
| interfering ways and habitual matchmaking are at | | | | she settles on a most unlikely union with her own |
| both shocking and comic. She is 'handsome, clever | | | | constant critic: Mr. Knightly. |
| and rich' and has 'a disposition to think too well of | | | | In Emma Jane Austen displays the shrewd wit and |
| herself. | | | | delicate irony which made her a master of the English |
| Austen also brings to life a myriad of engaging | | | | novel. Although Austen thought that only she would |
| characters as she presents a mixture of social | | | | like her witty, fanciful, self-deluded heroine, Emma |
| classes as she did in Pride and Prejudice. Her two | | | | has gained the affection of generations of book |
| greatest comic characters are part of Emma's | | | | lovers. |
| machinations - the eccentric Mr. Woodhouse and the | | | | Jane Austen (1775-1817) was born at Steventon, |
| quintessential bore, Miss Bates. | | | | England, and later moved to Bath. She began to write |
| Emma is a funny and heartwarming story of a young | | | | early for her own and her family's amusement. Her |
| lady whose zeal, snobbishness and self-satisfaction | | | | novels, set in her own English countryside, depict the |
| lead to several errors in judgment. Emma takes | | | | daily lives of provincial middle-class families with wry |
| Harriet Smith, a live-in servant and unknown, under | | | | observation, a delicate irony, and a good-humored |
| her wing and schemes for advancement through a | | | | wit. She is now considered by many scholars to be |
| good marriage. (Jane Austen considered a happy | | | | the first great woman novelist. |
| marriage to be the symbol of social and moral | | | | Emma is available to listen to as downloadable audio |
| adjustment and harmony). | | | | book (unabridged and 19 hours long) which is narrated |
| At the beginning of the book Emma is introduced as | | | | by Nadia May who has been nominated as an |
| a wealthy over-indulged young woman, who feels | | | | AudioFile Golden Voice five years running and is a |
| she has every right to trifle with the destiny of | | | | winner of thirteen AudioFile Earphones Awards. She is |
| others simply as a result of the social position she | | | | the co-founder of TheatreFirst, a theater company in |
| was born into. She is therefore only adopting the | | | | the San Francisco Bay Area where she currently lives. |
| accepted social hierarchy when she explains to | | | | |