Emma
Emma by Jane Austen
Sometimes I’m just in the mood for some Austen. (This mood is characterised of course by a desire for wit, outspoken heroines, and neat, clean, unambiguous endings.) I picked up Emma because I felt like re-reading Northanger Abbey but Mum was reading my copy. Besides, I’d never read Emma and am working my way through all of Austen’s novels. Now I just have Persuasion left. (It and Emma were the only ones that weren’t assigned in school!)
I had a bit of trouble getting into it at first, but once I did I found it absolutely hilarious. Emma herself was just too much for me in her complete inability to understand the realities of a situation. The best part about this is that Austen makes it perfectly clear to the reader what is going on, so you get all the smug benefits of dramatic irony. Also the dialogue is fantastic. A couple of specific things struck me when I was reading the book:
1. Whoever it was who said that Austen is embarrassing to read because her novels centre around money was absolutely correct. (How I wish I could find that exact quotation again!) I should elaborate and say that I don’t find Austen’s discussion of money embarrassing, but I do find it significant that it is such a prominent feature in her books, especially in relation to marriage. I noticed it more in this book than in her others, but maybe that’s just because I was paying more attention to it.
2. I kept thinking about the Facebook group I came across called “Reading Jane Austen gave me unrealistic expectations about love.” I know that there are obviously major differences in the way that relationships work today compared to how they worked 200 years ago in high society, but the whole courtship game really stood out to me in an uncomfortable way because I kept thinking about it in light of today. Do people really still have expectations about love based on Jane Austen novels? I honestly can’t imagine being disappointed that my love life doesn’t play out like an Austen novel (and this is no way intended as an insult to my delightful first cousins).
Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable house and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her….The real evils indeed of Emma’s situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself; these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments. The danger, however, was at present so unperceived, that they did not by any means rank as misfortunes with her.
