Reviews

Emma by Jane Austen

willowsmeanders's review against another edition

3.0

I first read Emma as a shortened version, meant to teach English in my third-world country. I liked it back then, as I enjoyed seeing Emma grow. I also liked that Emma and Mr Knightley ended up together as he seemed a positive influence on her.

Reading this now, I didn't like it very much, not as much as Pride and Prejudice, which I think is flawless. Not because of Miss Emma Woodhouse (who was one of my favorite things about the book), but because of other reasons.

What I Liked
Emma's Development: This is the main reason I even decided to pick up this book. I'm a sucker for character development, especially when it's caused by characters realizing their mistakes themselves.

Emma comes to realize that she was nothing but an arrogant twat when she was matchmaking Harriet and Mr Elton as it causes her friend sadness, as Mr Elton liked her (Emma) rather than Harriet. She makes a mistake, which causes her to rethink what's she's done, as she had never made a wrong match before. She also realizes that she mistreated Miss Bates, and she repents by trying to aid an ill Jane Fairfax. This is refreshing as she actively tries to compensate for what she's done, rather than wallow in self-pity. Kudos to Jane Austen for managing to pull it off so well.

Another character development I liked was Miss Harriet Smith. She started out as a character who needed Emma's advice to do everything, which – obviously – Emma used to her benefit. She eventually grew as her own character and started making her own decisions. It was nice to see Miss Smith grow as well.

Austen manages to pull off both of these well by doing what she does best — being slow. She doesn't make Harriet do a 180° turn immediately after Mr Elton dumps her. She lets her grieve and slowly come to terms with it on her own.

Emma & Frank Churchill: I absolutely loved reading about Miss Woodhouse and Mr Churchill's interactions. They talked and interacted with each other with such ease and friendliness. It's obvious that Frank was drawn by her intelligence and charm, and vice versa for Emma. And, though I would have loved a romance between them, I still liked that they ended up as just friends.

The Day-to-day Lifestyle: Once again, Jane Austen doesn't fail in perfectly depicting day-to-day life. There's a long time of sitting around with friends on dull days. There's a few days of activity, and gossip and tea usually follows. I find it wonderful. No one would have blamed her for skipping to the days of activity, but she chose to depict aftermaths, and she did it well.

What I Didn't Like
Jane Fairfax: Come at me, Janeites. I didn't care about Jane.

At first, I took an interest in her because she was the antithesis of Emma — a quiet, serious girl who hailed from a poor family. I wondered how the two women would interact with each other. Emma seemed to admire her, and I really hoped Miss Fairfax would play a role in her growth.

But later Jane just became an ass. She actively refused help from Emma because... Frank flirted with her? And she knew that Frank was doing so as he wanted to publicize their relationship, so it was Frank's fault. But she chose to blame Emma for whatever godforsaken reason. She worried the Bateses to death by not taking her help at all because she was jealous of Emma. Why would she blame Emma? She only flirted back with someone she thought was single, and eventually she just dropped Frank because she realized she didn't love Frank very much. Jane blaming Emma was just good old-fashioned "blame the woman", which I didn't expect from Austen as she should know better. Besides, she knew Frank was doing it so she would come clean about their engagement, yet she blamed Emma rather than him. Emma deserved better than to befriend that selfish freak.

George Knightley: Ah, Mr Knightley. What originally charmed me now disgusts me.

I initially liked Mr Knightley as he was a nice guy who wanted the best for Emma, whom he knew since she was little. He was also unafraid to put his foot down when she behaved out of line. In short, he was a good influence on her.

However, then he began acting like a douche. I don't like that he started belittling Frank because Emma seemed interested in him. I don't care that he did it out of jealousy, it's still wrong. Frank was innocent, and if he really loved Emma, he would have let her go. This entitlement — especially motivated by the fact that they weren't even together — is bloody disgusting. It shows an angry side to him that ruins the "perfect gentleman" image Austen gave to him.

Emma and Mr Knightley Ending Up Together: Just. Eww.

First of all, the massive age gap is gross. I don't know whether this is old-fashioned, but I firmly believe that you should only date people close to your age range. A 1-5 year gap is okay. 6-10 is pushing it, but still fine. 11-15 is where it gets gross. 16+ is bloody disgusting.

Emma is 21 in the novel, and Mr Knightley is stated to be 37 or 38. That's an age gap of 16-17 years. She's roughly 20, and he's almost 40.



Secondly, I preferred their mentor-student relationship, and I can't picture them as a couple at all. It literally came out of nowhere, with no hints. It was as if Austen had decided to pair them up as she needed break Emma's resolve to never marry, and he was the only bachelor left. Same goes for Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill, but at least she dropped hints about them. The only couple I was okay with was Mr Robert Martin and Harriet Smith, and you barely even see the guy.

Let's compare that to Pride and Prejudice and its main couples: Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, and Miss Jane Bennet and Mr Charles Bingley. You get to see those couples — especially Elizabeth and Darcy — develop and interact throughout the whole book, and Austen makes it hard not to root for them as she makes their hardships clear and their feelings seem genuine and realistic.

But in Emma, the main couple act like mentor-and-student rather than equals, which makes it creepy. Apart from that, Emma only realizes that she loves Mr Knightley at the end, when Harriet confesses she was in love with Mr Knightley rather than Frank. No other hint.

Conclusion
Overall, Emma is a disappointment if you have read P&P. It's riddled with bad characters, yet has good character development and wit. Wouldn't recommend, really. I'd prefer you pick up Pride and Prejudice if it's first time reading Austen.

________________________
Bit disappointed. Review to come!

bettan97's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

rheading's review against another edition

4.0

Jane Austen is the patron saint of the romantic comedy genre, I am utterly convinced. The world of Emma is intimate and iconic and intriguing, and Austen's cast of characters is absolutely brilliant and each individual fulfills their duty to the story so well. To further revel in this tale, I'd recommend watching fun film adaptations like Clueless (1995) and Emma (2020). The former is beloved but the latter is the better film.

tired_ghost's review against another edition

4.0

Made me feel so bitter how fast Emma

went from "my dear, sweet Harriet, who deserves the world" to "this arrogant, wothless girl I wish I'd never met" when she found out Harriet was harbouring hopes of being loved by Mr Knightley

mikenyby's review against another edition

lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

thesaurus4034's review against another edition

Top outdated writing style + boring

calcuff's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

gwafer's review against another edition

funny lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

nettles's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Emma is so iconic. Our girl cannot stop making a mess of things

The pacing isn't as good in this one (sometimes infodumping, sometimes there's long stretches of nothing) but overall it was a silly time with a very overdramatic vain meddlesome protagonist (affectionate)

just_peachy's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0