EMMA

EMMA

THE AUTHOR:

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 at Steventon, England. She was the seventh child of the rector of the parish at Steventon, and lived with her family until they moved to Bath when her father retired in 1801.

Her father, Reverend George Austen, was from Kent and attended the Tunbridge school before studying at Oxford and receiving a living as a rector at Steventon. Her mother, Cassandra Leigh Austen, was the daughter of a patrician family. Among her siblings she had one sister, Cassandra, with whom she kept in close contact her entire life. Her brothers entered a variety of professions: several joined the clergy, one was a banker, while several more spent time in the military. Although her family was neither noble nor wealthy, Rev. Austen had a particular interest in education, even for his daughters. Although her novels focus on courtship and marriage, Jane Austen remained single her entire life. She died in Winchester on July 8, 1817.

Jane Austen published four novels anonymously during her lifetime: Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815). Two novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published in 1817. These novels are prominent for her satiric depiction of English society and manners.

WORDS:

clergy Geistlicher

courtship Anwesen, Hof

depiction Darstellung

to meddle sich einmischen

receptive aufnahmefähig, empfänglich

pretensions Ansprüche

to indulge nachsichtig sein

propose Heiratsantrag machen

spinster ältere unverheiratete Frau

to be engaged verlobt sein

siblings

pitying mitleidvoll

to flatter schmeicheln

matchmaking verkuppeln

CHARACTERS:

Emma Woodhouse: Emma is a twenty-one year old daughter of a wealthy gentleman. She´s handsome, clever and rich and thinks a little too well of herself. She is very self-confident, selfish and generally well intentioned. Emma loves meddling into other´s businesses.

Mr. George Knightly: A sensible man of thirty-seven, his brother had married Emma's elder sister, Isabella. Noble and intelligent; he has a well behavior, but he´s not afraid to correct Emma for her mistakes. (He marries Emma at the end of the novel.)

Harriet Smith: A short and plump girl of seventeen, which has dubious origins. Emma is mostly responsible for bringing Harriet into Highbury society and constantly instructs and advises her, although not always to her benefit.(In the end, she marries Mr. Martin, a farmer that Emma considers as too low for Harriet´s status.)

Frank Churchill: The son of Mr. Weston, he was brought up by his aunts, the Churchills. He is also handsome and charming enough to attract Emma. He is secretly engaged to Jane Fairfax.

Jane Fairfax: The only child of Mrs. Bates' youngest daughter. The same age is Emma, she is equally talented, charming and well-regarded. Sometimes Emma is jealous. She is secretly engaged to Frank Churchill.

Mr. Woodhouse: Emma's father; possesses a large estate. He loves his daughter, but he often is very unpleasant.

Mrs. Anne Weston (Miss Taylor): Emma's governess who raised Emma after her mother died. At the beginning of the book she marries Mr. Weston, an older gentleman. Emma wants to be like her: reserved, but self-confident.

Mr. Weston: The older man that Miss Taylor marries. Mr. Weston has been married much earlier. From this marriage he has a son, Frank Churchill, whom he has sent away to be raised by his late wife's relatives who at the time could better provide for him.

Miss Bates: The daughter of Mrs. Bates; she´s rather unpleasant and has never been married, handsome or rich. Although she is a pitying character, she is mostly happy and treats others with great goodwill.

Mr. Philip Elton: Vicar of the church in Highbury whom Emma chooses as a possible husband for Harriet Smith but who only has interests for Emma herself. But she doesn´t like him and so he marries the rude and unpleasent Augusta Hawkins.

Mrs. Bates: The widow of a former vicar of Highbury, a very old lady, the grandmother of Jane Fairfax and the mother of Miss Bates.

Mrs. Goddard: The mistress of a Boarding school where girls of Highbury are sent to receive a little education. Her school has a high status. One of her former students is Harriet Smith.

Jane Austen

So far Emma's life has been relatively constant and comfortable. The recent marriage of her governess Miss Taylor with Mr. Weston, disrupted her life but she accepted it as a fact of life. Emma lives in Highbury, where the Westons, the Woodhouses and Mr. Knightly are the top of the society. When Mr. Weston´s previous wife died he sent his son Frank Churchill to his uncle. Then Harriet Smith steps into her life. Harriet, a young girl of unknown origin , is a student at Mrs. Goddard's school. Emma sees the reformation of Harriet as a challenge to practise her matchmaking-skills and to see Harriet marry a person in a higher social standard. But this time Emma is acting in contradiction to her own philosophy:that people should marry within their own social class. She thinks that perhaps Harriet's parents may have been of some importance and that she therefore is able to marry to a higher status in life. Soon she is determined that Harriet should marry Mr. Philip Elton, who is the vicar of the church in Highbury.
Emma seems to have some success in her attempts to bring together Harriet Smith and Mr. Elton. The three spend a lot of time together and he seems receptive to all of Emma's suggestions.

The friendship between Emma and Harriet does little good for either of them. Harriet indulges Emma's worst qualities, giving her opportunity to meddle, only to flatter her. Emma fills Harriet Smith with pretensions that do not suit her low situation in society. When Robert Martin proposes to Harriet, she rejects him because of Emma's advice, thinking that he is too common. Mr. Knightly criticizes Emma's matchmaking, since he thinks that Robert Martin is suitable for Harriet, because she is from uncertain origins. Suddenly Emma realizes Mr. Elton's disinterest in Harriet and his attraction to herself instead. Emma is truly hurt and shocked when he tells her he loves her. Shortly after Emma rejects Mr. Elton, he leaves Highbury for a stay in Bath. Emma tells sad Harriet the bad news.

Frank Churchill, Mr. Weston´s son has not yet visited his father and his new wife. Emma, without having met the young man, decides that he must certainly be a good husband for her, since he is of appropriate age and breeding.

Another character who occupies Emma's thoughts is Jane Fairfax, the granddaughter of Mrs. Bates, the widow of the former vicar, and the niece of Miss Bates, a chattering spinster who lives with her mother. Jane is equal to Emma in every respect (beauty, education, talents) except for status, and provokes some jealousy in Emma. Jane will soon visit her family in Highbury.

Mr. Elton returns from Bath with news that he is engaged to a Miss Augusta Hawkins. This news greatly embarrasses poor Harriet Smith.

Frank Churchill finally visits the Westons, and Emma is pleased to find that he lives up to her expectations, even though Mr. Knightly does not like him. Emma and Frank begin to spend time together, until he makes a day trip to London to get his hair cut.

As Frank and Emma spend more time together, Mr. Knightly becomes jealous, while Emma becomes jealous, because she suspects that Mr. Knightly might be in love with her rival Jane Fairfax.

Suddenly Frank has to leave Highbury, because of his aunt´s illness. Emma thinks that she is in love with him, but then she finds out that she is as happy with Frank absent as she is with him when they are together.

When Frank returns, he and Emma sponsor a ball. During this ball Mr. Elton doesn´t take any notice of Harriet. Mr. Knightly can´t see her standing there alone and asks her to dance. When they walk home they are nearly attacked by some criminals, but Frank saves them. The next day Emma believes that Frank, whom she doesn´t love, would be a good match for Harriet. Harriet has some feelings for the man, who saved her the night before, which helps her getting over Mr. Elton.

There is shocking news for Emma when Frank tells the Westons that he has been secretly engaged to Jane Fairfax.

Mr. Knightly begins to show a greater romantic interest in Emma, but when she attempts to tell the bad news to Harriet Smith about Frank Churchill's engagement (the second heartbreak for Harriet), Emma learns that Harriet in fact had fallen in love with Mr. Knightly, who saved her socially at the ball. Emma now realizes that she is the only one who can marry Mr. Knightly.

Mr. Knightly soon admits that he´s in love with Emma, and they plan to marry. But there are two obstacles: first, if Emma would marry she would have to leave her father, whodoesn´t want to lose her ; second, she must tell Harriet Smith the news. Emma and Mr. Knightly decide that, when they marry, he should move to her father´s house, for Mr. Woodhouse cannot be left alone.

Harriet takes the news about Mr. Knightly well, and soon after she comes back together with Robert Martin and they marry. Emma apologises to Harriet for everything and she´s glad that Harriet becomes engaged to her original and most appropriate suitor. They even find out that Harriet´s father was a successful tradesman.

MY OPINION:

I really enjoyed reading this book, though it often was very hard to understand. There are many words used by the author, which we don´t use any more nowadays. I like the way Austen describes things, but sometimes the book is boring. When you read it you can imagine who live was in the 18^th century.