November Books 10) Emma

[nwhyte]

10) Emma, by Jane Austen

I had read Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion previously, and frankly liked them more. Emma Woodhouse is a manipulative snob, and while the author clearly disapproves of her manipulations and occasional rudeness, she entirely endorses the snobbery. The unfortunate Harriet, whose emotional life is Emma's plaything, turns

Comments

[sciamanna]

I agree with you. I love the other Austens, but I hate Emma-the-character and this makes the book rather unpleasant. Probably because the author does endorse some of her unpleasant traits: I hadn't articulated it this way, but I think you're right.

[gareth_rees]

It's a tightrope walk of a book-the book challenges you to symphathise with Emma ("a heroine whom no one but myself will like" as Austen describes her) while observing with clear eyes her many faults. Readers who fall off the tightrope one way dislike her so much they cannot rejoice in her moral improvement and good fortune; readers who fall off to the other like her so much they cannot appreciate the dramatic tension that arises from the question of whether Emma will deserve the happy ending.

[rpowell]

I like the Emma Woodhouse character a lot, because she is imperfect. I don't view her as the most imperfect heroine created by Austen. But she is the only one whose imperfections are made very obvious by the author. And yet - despite her flaws - I find Emma to be rather likeable. I can't help it. And watching her character develop over the course turned out to be very satisfying to me.