Woodhouse passes, because Knightley knows she does not want to leave him. Moving in with your in-laws to make your spouse happy? Now THAT is love! I think that is what makes her marriage to Mr. Knightley all the more precious. Emma and Mr. I will say, there are many cringe-worthy moments where Emma either puts her foot in her mouth, steers a friend in the wrong direction or is downright snobby in this book.
Sometimes you love her, sometimes you hate her, but by the end of the novel you feel like you really know her. Or when Cher tries to set her new friend Tai the Harriet Smith character of the movie with a guy who really has a thing for Cher.
Or how she dotes on her father and his health. I could go on and on about the similarities. Rowling stating that this was one of her favourite books. I thought Emma couldn't be that bad, it's a popular classic and its rating is good. To be honest, it's not bad, exactly, but the fact that it took me one whole month to get through it says a lot. I had lots and lots of problems with this novel.
Emma Such a vain and arrogant main character. I mean, I know she is supposed to be an unlikeable character for literary reasons. But that doesn't make it any easier.
Miss Bates Why bother wasting so much ink and paper on nonsense. Numerous pages of nonsense. They way people are Wait. Let me guess. That character is - wait for it - pleasant? The nicest person in the world? Of such sweet disposition? So generous, exceptional, kind, satisfactory and pleasant. Please save me. The way people talk Hours could go by and Emma and her father could talk about nothing but the pig they owned and had slaughtered, and what they'll make of it for dinner, and how nice it was that they gave some of it to the Bates, and if it was the right part of the pig they gave away, or if they should have given something else, but no it is all fine and pleasant , and that was very generous of them, and they will surely be very gracious, since they gave away such fine piece of pork, and won't dinner be nice and kick me on the shin pleasant.
The plot Scratch pages of nonsense and nervewracking pleasantness and this could have been a book I enjoyed. Find more of my books on Instagram View all comments. Loved it! Why don't I read more classics?! I'll definitely need to read her other books.
The BBC tv show was also adorable! View all 26 comments. May 24, Kelly rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Jane Austen fans, all women. Shelves: owned , regency , fiction , brit-lit. Village life? The lives of the idle rich? I mean, sure, but only partially and incidentally. A morality tale of the Education of Young Lady? The young lady stands for and does many more important things than that.
These things provide the base of the novel, the initial bolt of fabric, the first few lines of a drawing that set the limits of the author to writing about these thousand things rather than the other million things that lie outside those lines.
You just have to recognize them to be able to understand the rest of the piece. And that is all. The melody is never the point- the point is everything that comes in between each time it repeats, which then dictates why the repetition is different the next time it all plays out. First time I ever wanted to do that without moaning with boredom, so already, points, JA! But to bring it down out of the world of the abstract what I mean is that I think Austen is absolutely brilliant at decoding every little minute detail of the duties, privileges, guilts, obligations, and routines that go into human relationships.
Just like how in math if you add instead of multiply in one part of an equation it screws the whole thing, Austen shows us why one simple infraction of this delicate balance in relationships is such a major drama and can screw the whole thing for you. Red mark. She reveals the little town of Highbury- or even really just the upper echelons of its ruling class- to be a labyrinth of constant choices where there are fifteen steps that one has to go through to narrow down your options.
It takes so much time to get through the lead up and the aftermath of every decision, and every time you skimp on any of it, it comes back to bite you in the ass. She has a confrontational thing with Mr. Weston thinks that for Knightley to be so thoughtful he must be in love with Jane, but no, Mr.
Knightley just understands math better than anyone and comes up with the right answer more times than anyone as well. I entirely understand it because I think she does meticulous enough work every day to make her household and relationships function in the way that they do. I mean, think about it. How many of these people are really suited to be living in such close quarters, where they are forced into repeated contact? Almost none of them.
Her whole arc with Frank Churchill is sort of the same thing in that it represents another kind of escape from how hemmed in she is. If they were, the math of obligations and ties and duties and privileges would be upset in a way that would rend asunder the balance of life in a way that could never be repaired.
Mirrors and crystal balls are the complement of this math. Emma has a conversation with Harriet where the scary specter of her turning into Miss Bates is discussed, and she outlines everything she feels makes her different from Miss Bates. For someone who turns up her nose at people in trade and prosperous farmers, she must have surprised herself by making her main point that she is rich and Miss Bates is poor and then having all other differences proceed from that.
Instead Emma feels further hemmed in by her, almost until the point of suffocation, because it seems like people are telling her that she should be the incarnation of the math, which Emma hates. Jane is the total opposite of that. Weston is an idol, which could make her the same sort of suffocating symbol as Jane, but she escapes from that by being in another class and age that cannot be compared to Emma, and through her unconditional love.
Other characters also reflect to each other and therefore back onto Emma again as well. The two Knightley brothers, to each other and to the other men of the village, Mr. Weston to Mr. Woodhouse and Mr. Woodhouse to Mr. Knightley and back again, and so on in a round, but it all comes back to Emma.
The book actually reminded me of the feeling that I had towards the end of Madame Bovary, which was odd. That was also a book about living in tight spaces, which seemed to get smaller and smaller whenever you turned, and where the escapes offered to you seemed to have something lacking from them.
I was gasping for air by the time that they got to Box Hill, which is I think exactly what Austen intends. But this Emma is not like that Emma. That Emma ignored the math more and more. I still think she changes and grows in incredible amounts, in ways that make sense to me and seem genuine. She seems like the most messy, true to life, screwed up, actual person that Austen wrote about. That is the important point here. JA, FTW! And in my opinion, deservedly so. Emma is far and away the heroine that I identify the most with of all the Austen women.
Jane Austen thought that nobody would like her when she wrote Emma She has so many deep flaws that are so easy to completely hate, but she means so very well, and is really a deeply caring person. She just has absolutely no self awareness yet, and has not matured enough to change her opinions when faced with opposition.
Here is where she learns how. It reminded me so much of myself at a certain age, and even on some level right now. She's a snob, she's rather a bitch at times, she's condescending, and not all that perceptive.
But I just love her anyway. Perhaps because I used to or still have those characteristics and want to believe that even those people will learn and deserve love in the end, even from a Mr.
But also, I think, because Austen creates her so sympathetically, that it's hard not to love her. This book explains motivations a lot more than in the others, and one gets a few sides of the story of errors towards the end of the book, as everything is set completely right again.
I liked that, that she didn't let it go, but tied up all her threads to her readers' satisfaction. Or at least mine. My first Austen movie. Got me into the genre, really. I think it's fantastic, and very sweet, and Jeremy Northam is perfectly well cast. Also: you'll see Ewan McGregor with an awful haircut, looking completely unattractive. It's kind of funny. I am not prejudiced.
While inheriting author's most beautiful style of writing, each of her works appears to have its own 'uniqueness', offering the reader a wonderful reading experience each time. Emma is no exception to this rule, easily making it to my all-time-favorite-fiction. I'll admit I was a bit apprehensive based on some of the reviews, but for me, everything was amazing.
Those very very long sentences are quite amazing one's gotten used to! Characters like Elinor Dashwood, Anne Elliot, Elizabeth Bennett all shared a certain amount of sensibility and virtue, making them morally superior to most secondary characters.
But in Emma, the protagonist does not share the same set of characteristics. Rather, Jane Fairfax is the character here who appeared to have share some those traits - at least to a degree. On the other hand, from the set of male characters, Mr. This continues on for the majority of story, while highlighting her lack of rationality and it's effects on others. Despite the narrative helping the reader empathize with at times, it was difficult to justify most her actions.
I think it's natural for the reader to develop a little dislike toward her during first two volumes. However, there was no lack of humor, and no single part felt boring. And I loved the large number of vivid, and entertaining secondary characters. It was a lot of fun reading and understanding each one's disposition, which were well explained by the author.
Especially, Mr. Woodhouse, a unique and amusing character who became one of my favorites along with other supporting characters such as Miss Bates, Harriet Smith complimented the plot beautifully. But, the concluding chapters did wrap everything neatly, doing justice to all the characters.
Will definitely read again. View all 51 comments. Jun 22, Sean Barrs rated it it was amazing Shelves: romantic-movement , classics , love-and-romance , 5-star-reads. Austen paints a world of excess.
That much so I found the need to swear. The sarcasm is just oozing out of her words. The thought of visiting his recently departed governess, a long-tim Austen paints a world of excess. The thought of visiting his recently departed governess, a long-time family friend, is utterly deplorable.
She lives the great distance of half a mile away; thus, the only possibility is to hire a carriage. This is clearly the only feasible solution to the problem.
He is self-indulgent and spoilt, and in this Austen ushers in the origins of her heroine. Thankfully, Emma has a degree of sense. In addition, the departure of her governess is an agreeable experience. She has empathy. Whilst she misses her friend and her teacher, she is genuinely happy for her. Unlike her farther, seeing her friend enter a love filled marriage is an occasion for joy and celebration even if she dearly misses her company.
She is a strong woman. She spends her days helping her new friend Harriet; she endeavours to find her the perfect husband, and sets about trying to improve her character. But through this, and her own naivety, Emma never considers her own youth, and that she, too, is in need of some degree of improvement.
Thus sweeps in the straight shooter, the frank speaking, Mr Knightley. She considers herself a true authority on marriage, on matchmaking, but her experience, her credentials, come from one fluke partnership.
Her young age breeds arrogant ignorance. Because she has created one healthy marriage, she immediately thinks she knows what love is about: she thinks she will succeed again. And as a result she makes a series of terrible mistakes. Ones Mr Knightley is only too generous to point out. Such irony! She has no idea what love is, and in her well-meant advice, she frequently mistakes simple things such as gratitude and simple kindness as romantic interest. Austen being the wonderfully comic writer that she is, exploits this silly little misconception for the entire plot.
Emma does finally get over herself. By the end she understands the feelings that are ready to burst forth from her own chest. What she needed to do, and what Mr Knightly so desperately wanted to see, was for her to grow up. And she does: happiness reigns supreme.
This lacked a plot driver. This has a great deal going for it, though it is terribly slow at points. It will be very interesting to compare it to Persuasion and see which is the best.
View all 14 comments. Book from Books - Emma, Jane Austen Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about youthful hubris and the perils of misconstrued romance. The story takes place in the fictional village of High-bury and the surrounding estates of Hart-field, Randalls, and Donwell Abbey and involves the relationships among individuals in those locations consisting of "3 or 4 families in a country village". The novel was first published in December while the author was alive, with its title page listing a p Book from Books - Emma, Jane Austen Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about youthful hubris and the perils of misconstrued romance.
The novel was first published in December while the author was alive, with its title page listing a publication date of As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian—Regency England; she also creates a lively comedy of manners among her characters and depicts issues of marriage, gender, age, and social status. View 2 comments. Jul 28, Amanda rated it did not like it Recommends it for: Masochists.
Shelves: blog , untumbled-turds. He's too crude and crass. I shan't give him another thought. I tried, but life's too short. Plus, I like 'em crude and crass. Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder View all 69 comments.
I've noticed a lot of people hate Emma. She's spoiled by her circumstances and self-absorbed in a way that only someone who hasn't really known any sort of hardships can be. She grows and changes for the better. The appeal of Emma lies not only in its realism, but also in its comedy.
For example, it is only after finishing the book that first-time readers realize they have been just as oblivious to what is going on in Highbury as Emma was, and that they, too, have missed the clues to an important secret. Explore the resources below for more in-depth information about Emma , a discussion guide for your reading group, and more. Discussion Questions PDF. Map of Locations.
Hypothetical Map of Highbury. Please enter a valid email address. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now. An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later. Check here if you would like to receive subscription offers and other promotions via email from TIME group companies. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
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