Jane Austen

Emma illustrated 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 Highboy and the surrounding estates of Hartfield, Randall's, and Dowell Abbey and involves the relationships among individuals in those locations consisting of "3 or 4 families in a country village "Before she began the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like."In the first sentence, she introduces the title character as "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and a happy disposition... and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her." Emma is spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfied; she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities; she is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people's lives; and her imagination and perceptions often lead her astray.