Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Unavailable
Emma
Unavailable
Emma
Unavailable
Emma
Ebook629 pages10 hours

Emma

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this ebook

A fascinating, humorous, and timeless coming-of-age tale featuring one of Jane Austen's most memorable characters.

“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition…had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.”

The celebrated opening of Jane Austen’s Emma introduces readers to a supremely self-assured young woman who believes herself immune to romance. By turns brilliant and foolish, self-aware and self-deluding, Emma “leaps from error to error,” writes Margaret Drabble in her incisive Introduction, wreaking comic havoc in the lives of those around her with well-meant and ill-fated attempts at matchmaking. 

The mature flowering of Austen’s singular and prolific genius, Emma is a fascinating, hilarious, and timeless coming-of-age tale—the compelling story of a woman seeking her true nature and finding true love in the process.

With an Introduction by Margaret Drabble
and an Afterword by Sabrina Jeffries
LanguageEnglish
PublisherPenguin Group
Release dateJan 2, 2008
ISBN9781101098226
Author

Jane Austen

Born in 1775, Jane Austen published four of her six novels anonymously. Her work was not widely read until the late nineteenth century, and her fame grew from then on. Known for her wit and sharp insight into social conventions, her novels about love, relationships, and society are more popular year after year. She has earned a place in history as one of the most cherished writers of English literature.

Read more from Jane Austen

Related to Emma

Related ebooks

Royalty Romance For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Emma

Rating: 4.053254437869822 out of 5 stars
4/5

169 ratings190 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I must have read this book at least half a dozen times in the last 25 years, and I still love it. And I still can't read the Box Hill scene without cringing. I must say, though, that I am beginning to doubt Emma's and Mr. Knightley's long-term prospects. He is always correcting her -- isn't that going to drive her crazy after a while? And he is far too old for her.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Boo on this one. I can't believe Emma is a classic. If there were soap operas in the 19th century, this would have made an excellent teleplay for one. There were no noble characters; all were rich gossips overly concerned with complexions, tea time and the weather. Everyone was so afraid of being sick because of drafts, rain, lack of good air, etc.. Also annoying was the tedious length it took someone to express a thought (and not a very worthwhile thought at that). What could be expressed in one sentence took about three paragraphs.
    Emma was a rich, spoiled busybody who constantly tried to play matchmaker, and she was horrible at it. That's the basic story. Not worth reading. I was going to read some more Jane Austen but I think I need a break for now.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    When I first read Emma, I couldn't like her, she seemed just too perfect and too judgemental, or so it seemed.

    But after watching the 2009 edition and rereading the book with new eyes, I grew to love Emma Woodhouse. It is hard not to love a character by Jane Austen. Emma is a happy person, you can witness that in the way she talks and acts. I really love her now; she is like sunshine, and Mr. Knightly is very hot and such a great male leading character. I prefer him now more than Mr. Darcy, he's real, approachable, sensible, and good at observation.

    I never thought about how sometimes meeting a person could affect someone's life so profoundly even for the worst until it happened to me, I now understand where Mr. Knightly protectiveness came from.

    Such a favorite, dear book! My favorite adaptation is the 2009 miniseries and the indian movie Aisha... and let's not forget Clueless!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Emma tells the tale of Emma Woodhouse, a woman of means, who is an unrelenting matchmaker in early 19th century England. Emma, the sole caretaker of her father, spends her time trying to set people up, often with disastrous results.

    Emma, published in 1815, is a Comedy of Errors novel. This type of novel satirizes a particular class of people. In the case of this novel, it is the gentry of 19th century rural England. Comedies of Errors tend to have stereotypical characters. Two that appear in Emma are the fop, someone who is overly concerned with his appearance, and the rake, someone who is a heartless womanizer. We see these two characters in Mr. Elton and Frank Churchill (though Frank may not be as heartless as he appears).

    Jane Austen wrote Emma with the intention of creating a main character who no one would like. Emma at first appears to be frivolous and interfering. However, through the novel, we actually see Emma evolve into a much more mature character who recognizes her faults and shortcomings. The character of Emma was a departure for Austen, in the fact that Emma was not worried about income. Also, the character of Mr. Knightley is someone Emma has always known, as opposed to Austen’s other novels.

    Emma has always been one of my favorite novels. It strikes me as being more similar to the modern world than Austen’s other novels. I have always loved Mr. Knightley’s character, almost more than Mr. Darcy in Pride & Prejudice. It is a novel I read again and again, never tiring of the different adventures Emma finds herself in.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is my fourth reading of Emma. My appreciation for Emma seems to grow with every reading. I started out on the Kindle but ended up listening to the last part on audiobook read by Juliet Stevenson. Let me just add a note on the humor in Emma. I appreciated it more this time. Like Mr. Wodehouse, the hypochondriac, and his diet plans:"Mrs. Bates, let me propose your venturing on one of these eggs. An egg boiled very soft is not unwholesome. Serle understands boiling an egg better than any body. I would not recommend an egg boiled by any body else; but you need not be afraid, they are very small, you see—one of our small eggs will not hurt you. Miss Bates, let Emma help you to a little bit of tart—a very little bit. Ours are all apple-tarts. You need not be afraid of unwholesome preserves here. I do not advise the custard. Mrs. Goddard, what say you to half a glass of wine? A small half-glass, put into a tumbler of water? I do not think it could disagree with you." And Juliet Stevenson take on Mrs. Bates is fantastic. So funny how a simple question by Emma (how are you?) end up with an account of the whole day's minor details. I laughed a lot. Also the foolishness of Mrs. Elton and her meddling.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It took me a while to get into the prose style, the syntax - I don't read these old books. But such is Austen's skill that I'm now looking forward to finally reading P&P, and maybe some Dickens, too.

    I mean, while it's of course true that this 2 century old society of caste and protocol is alien to most of us now, human nature itself isn't. Young girls, for example, still do have passionate infatuations, and I'm sure teens now can easily see their friends in Harriet as she's told who to flirt with next, and as she compares two potential beaus to Emma: You must think one five hundred million times above me than the other."

    This is still relevant, too: "Something occurred... to make Emma want their advice; and, which was still more lucky, she wanted exactly the advice they gave."

    I did, personally, feel gypped that we didn't get to spend any time getting to know the children or servants at all - not even as much as we did in Jane Eyre.

    Social intrigue still isn't my thing, really, but this was funny, and smart, and interesting. Thank you Costco for buying the pretty pink leather (vinyl?) WordCloud edition and persuading me to buy it so I could finally get around to reading this story.

    (Said pretty edition avl. gratis to first US member who asks for it. :)"
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Well, Ms. Austen completely succeeds in her efforts to create a heroine that you both like and want to strangle at the same time (if indeed that was her design). Given the complete mess she makes playing with those around her, Emma hardly deserves to have anything go well for herself, yet I was cheering for her just the same. I found the book to be a bit long, and the dialog many times so tiresome I actually yelled at the speakers to "shut up!" (listening to audio edition) but the narration was outstanding, and for anyone looking for a good audio version of the book, I can recommend this one without reservation. Needless to say, this will remain at the bottom of my Jane Austen rankings and Pride and Prejudice will remain firmly at the top.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Although convinced that she herself will never marry, Emma Woodhouse - beautiful, clever, rich and single - imagines herself to be naturally talented in match making. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her friend Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. My only experience with Austen before this was Pride and Prejudice, which I quite enjoyed, so I was surprised by how hard a time I had getting into Emma. The story dragged in the beginning for me and I found myself putting the book down quite often. There was a lack of plot and I found that saw things coming that the characters didn't which made their big reveals have less impact. The other issue I had was with Austen's writing style. Her use of language is beautiful. However, at some points when the story seems to be going very slowly it began to grate on me. She also seemed to do a lot of telling rather than showing. That said, by the third act I finally became more involved with the characters. They are funny, witty, annoying and quite memorable. The social commentary provided by the ladies was an interesting insight into the times back then. Some things are vastly different now and in others things haven't changed all that much. I'm glad I stuck it out.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A delightful book, if not a little irritating in parts. I've read this at least once before, but it's been a few years. Emma lives with her father and fancies herself a matchmaker who will never marry herself. She learns a few lessons along the way that turn her from a spoiled, annoying young woman to someone who is kind and caring. My only complaint with this book is that Mr. Woodhouse and Mrs. Elton annoy me to tears. Otherwise, this is a good read.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Much ado about not much. Emma disappoints in the lack of interesting ideas or actions. It centers around a small, ingrown community of rich persons who seem to have little meaningful to do. Our heroine is (as she describes another) "a vain woman, extremely well satisfied with herself, and thinking much of her own importance." Why the active Mr. Knightley would even be interested in such a undeveloped young woman is a mystery to me.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What a thoroughly enjoyable book, however, challenging to read. Emma prides herself in being a good judge of character, as well as matchmaking. As she sets about setting up the single people in her village, she finds herself learning that she isn't as good as she thought. Mr. Knightley is her voice of reason, and often reveals to Emma, the truth about her abilities, much to her chagrin. Emma, determined to never wed, finds herself the object of desire by two men. One of which is truly interested in her, and the other, is an object of her imagination.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    By reading this book I learned that, as I grow older, I am finding pleasant stories set in an idealized English countryside increasingly appealing.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It was good, my first Jane Austen. I liked her protagonist actually, though I hear most people are put off by Emma. It was a little boring sometimes but other than that, I was happy with it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Emma Woodhouse is a young girl of 20 (or 21?), beautiful, lovable and therefore loved by everyone surrounding her, rich, socially privileged... The story begins right after her governess' marriage, a match that Emma proud herself of being responsible for. Now she's left alone with her father, a man that very much reminds us of a hobbit when it comes to his way of thinking and behaving, and so she decides to engage herself in matching another couple (she has decided not to ever get marry).

    Despite the fact that I usually like Jane Austen's books VERY much and having enjoyed this reading, I do think that Austen should have taken a closer look at how she portraits Emma. Since she's the protagonist, I felt like I should like her, but it was simply impossible to do so. Nevertheless, I found it really hard to sympathize with a girl who's so spoiled (and I failed to understand how she was so very much loved by all the other characters) and by the end of the book I felt happy not for Emma, but for the other characters. But maybe that was the point, maybe that was a way of portraying England's rural society from early 18th century.

    Most of the book consists in dialogues, descriptions of daily life in that society and the relationships between the neighbors. Now, talking about a period novel I always find it really hard to reach an equilibrium point between what was the author's view/intention and what is more of a description (yes, I know there's no such a thing as a description totally absent from the author's opinion, but here I'm referring to what was unintentional). After all I'm reading something from two centuries ago so most of what people speak and/or how they speak is different, so how can I know what was common at that time? In general I always think the way they treat each other to be extremely polite, too formal, which presented some kind of challenge at first, but after a while we tend to understand the characters and get used to the way of acting of each one of them.

    I believe this to be a good read for those eager to get an idea of habits and society from that time, especially concerning the social position by birth, how people moved within society and the treatment reserved to each one, which was defined not only by wealth, but also by tradition. Tradition, I believe, is the word that best describes England, even now.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Don't get the fuss. Did not enjoy.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    (late 1980s / early 1990s, dated from sticky-backed-plastic covering)How DO you actually review a book by Austen? Hasn’t everything already been said before? This was one of the two least-known of her books to me (the other being “Persuasion”, which I read back in January) but it’s just such a good read, with wonderful characters, and, although I had forgotten much of it, I remembered the well-plotted and satisfying story.As with other classics (see Hardy reads and “Middlemarch“, I have found my reaction to this book changing over time. I found Jane Fairfax unjustly judged now – although that’s obviously part of the story – where I found her annoying before, and I recall being more frustrated with Mr Woodhouse in earlier days – now I can see the worry shining through his dealings with anything at all out of the ordinary, having lost his wife young and only having one daughter left at home. Book blogger Dovegreyreader, who has also recently read and reviewed this book, although for the first time, points out the effects of the loss of her mother on Emma, and you can see that when it’s pointed out to you, with the lack of female guidance (think of Jo from Little Women without her mother) and only her governess to oversee her moral development, someone who is, although full of sense herself, perhaps a little over-indulgent of her dear Emma. And I think that it is to these women of sense, rather than sensibility, that we turn as we get older, isn’t it? Emma perhaps moves from one point to the other over the course of the book, and of course her relationship with Mr Knightley is just perfect! A great read, anyway.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It's hard to read this and not compare it to Clueless from time to time, but on the whole I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not Austen's best certainly, but entertaining nonetheless.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Third Jane Austen book down this year! Sadly, this one falls short of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility for me. Emma had a much slower plot and I thought it was insanely predictable. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good read and I enjoyed all the banter and classic "mishaps" that Jane Austen's characters got themselves into, it's just not my favorite. Emma is an independent, fanciful young woman. She lives with her father and loves to play matchmaker amongst her friends. As new residents come into their English country village, Emma finds that she may have taken things a little too far. Minding one's own business seems to be the best course of action. Although not my favorite, still worth a read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Seeing the movie Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow piqued my interest in the book. I am currently reading the novel and loving it!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Not my favourite of Austen's books, certainly, and I cannot see the attraction in the eponymous heroine. Furthermore, the book feels terribly over-long, and when the big reveal arrives, as it does in all of Austen's fiction, it is particularly unsurprising.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    After a bit of a disappointment with Mansfield Park it was back to excellent Austen with Emma, which I enjoyed thoroughly. Complex characters, some excellent moments of humor, and beautiful writing. What more can you ask for?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An excellent showcasing of Ms. Austen's satirical abilities. Rather hilarious.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I always thought I wasn't an Austen fan, but Emma made me rethink my position. Far more engaging than Pride and Prejudice, imo.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Hey, I'm a guy and I like Jane Austen. So, sue me. She had a talent and, for her time, was adept at writing romances. Her novels were boilerplate romances - down-trodden female, in love with an unapproachable wealthy man, through a series of chance encounters the heroine finds love. Yeah, yeah. I've read 4 of her works but fortunately months apart so there was some break in continuity otherwise I would probably have the same opinion of her as Mark Twain.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I just have trouble carrying the least bit about Miss Emma. She may be more likable than "Twilight's" Bella, but they both are utterly self-involved twits.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    As with all of Jane Austen's work, it's clearly a good book. I read it before a few years back, and I distinctly remember reviewing it in my Lit Crit class in college 40 years ago. I'll do an in-depth review of the antics of Miss Woodhouse in my blog. It deserves, most definitely, it's rating as a popular classic.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    5/6/14
    Love this book so much more the second time around. When I was 16 I thought Emma was silly and even a little slow. Ha! Definitely did not understand this book then. Now I think it fairly genius. Jane Austen really mastered subtleties in writing.


    4/21/14
    Read this for the first time in March 2003. Revisited it in college. Recently tried to read it "in the background", which resulted in half the book over more than a year - silly. So I'm starting over and hope to read it in a week.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Reading Austen can be a challenging thing in these modern times. Living in a world where visual entertainment is king and pretty much anything can be said in print, the florid language and social propriety of an Austen novel can leave some readers struggling and in some instances exhausted!That’s not to say our club disliked Emma (per se). There were those who found delight within the many pages and, as most lovers of Austen do, found themselves totally ensconced within the social whirlwind of the early 1800s. And although not everyone had managed to finish, there was determination amongst the ranks to do so. We had a great discussion on the Regency era and the importance of social standing, the class system and the all-important family lineage. We all felt Austen’s writing was clever in its orderly and efficient depicting of life among the gentile. And in a world where fictional entertainment was confined to either the theatre or the novel, her stories played an important role in the literature of the day. So, the general opinion was that, as a book club, ticking an Austen novel off our to-read list was an imperative. The fact that we found both pleasure and a new found respect for the classics made this month’s read more than worth our while.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    If books can grow on you - this one did. It started as something quite unsubstantial, especially in plot (not in style), compared to a more dramatic book I read just prior to this one. But I slowly got in with the story and the mindset of its protagonist, Emma - the great manipulator at first glance, but a little more insecure person when one reads deeper. Her character proves how even the shrewdest of us can never totally depend on our intuitive perception of reality. Jane Austen, as always, is very keen in describing the quirks and the essence of that particular layer of society of her days. One thing that still makes me smile (though not with much disapproval or anything like that...) is the fact how important it was in those circles for a person to be "agreeable". One just HAD to be "agreeable" to be included in certain company.The plot was not without its surprises, but there was a degree of predictability (thanks to the author's hints throughout the book) of Emma's true feelings for Mr.Knightley. All in all, to me, this novel cannot equal "Sense and Sensibility" (which I adored) but it was an amusing sort of read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Book on CD read by Michael Page. Portable Audio PlayAway performed by Juliet Stevenson

    Emma Woodhouse is one of the most exasperating lead characters in the English cannon, but I love her.

    Smart, rich, charming and accomplished, Emma seems to have every advantage. The youngest daughter of an indulgent father, she leads a somewhat pampered life. Because her mother died when Emma was young, and her older sister married and left the estate, Emma has been the de facto mistress of Hartfield for several years and, therefore, is used to managing her father and his household. Having recently lost her governess and companion, Miss Taylor, to marriage, Emma busies herself with cultivating a friendship with Harriet Smith, a parlor border at Mrs Goddard’s school. She declares that she will never marry. Not because she doesn’t favor the institution, but because she couldn’t bear to leave her father alone and there is no one in the immediate vicinity who is her equal socially. Feeling some success in bringing Miss Taylor and Captain Weston together, Emma is certain she can find a suitable match for Harriet as well.

    But Emma is decidedly blind to the realities of Miss Smith’s situation, as well as her own, Frank Churchill’s, and just about everyone else in her circle. Her actions taken as a result of misinterpreting many social cues, result in more than a little disappointment. Not to worry – this is Jane Austen, after all. Everyone will be happy in the end.

    I like Emma, the novel, though I am less enthralled with Emma, the character. To me, she behaves in an infuriatingly superior manner towards everyone. Once I have reminded myself of the very different social norms of Austen’s time, I see that Emma is merely a product of her situation and social class. Her final realizations, slow as they are to come, are all the more rewarding. Austen reveals her characters in their thoughts, words and actions. While there are some sections of the book where I felt her exposition was a bit much, that is probably because of changes in style of writing over the centuries. As ever, Austen shines in her dialogue.

    I began listening to the CDs on my daily commute, read by Michael Page. His voice is simply too deep and mature for the female characters, though he does a splendid job of bringing Austen’s dialogue to life. The portable PlayAway I used for the last third of the book was performed by Juliet Stevenson who is just marvelous. I really came to “love to hate” her Mrs Elton!