About the story:
Of all Jane Austen's heroines, Emma Woodhouse is the most flawed, the
most infuriating, and, in the end, the most endearing. Pride and Prejudice's Lizzie Bennet has more wit and sparkle; Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey more imagination; and Sense and Sensibility's
Elinor Dashwood certainly more sense--but Emma is lovable precisely
because she is so imperfect. Austen only completed six novels in her
lifetime, of which five feature young women whose chances for making a
good marriage depend greatly on financial issues, and whose prospects
if they fail are rather grim. Emma is the exception: "Emma
Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home 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." One may be tempted to wonder what
Austen could possibly find to say about so fortunate a character. The
answer is, quite a lot. For Emma, raised to think well of herself, has such
a high opinion of her own worth that it blinds her to the opinions of
others. The story revolves around a comedy of errors: Emma befriends
Harriet Smith, a young woman of unknown parentage, and attempts to
remake her in her own image. Ignoring the gaping difference in their
respective fortunes and stations in life, Emma convinces herself and
her friend that Harriet should look as high as Emma herself might for a
husband--and she zeroes in on an ambitious vicar as the perfect match.
At the same time, she reads too much into a flirtation with Frank
Churchill, the newly arrived son of family friends, and
thoughtlessly starts a rumor about poor but beautiful Jane Fairfax, the
beloved niece of two genteelly impoverished elderly ladies in the
village. As Emma's fantastically misguided schemes threaten to surge
out of control, the voice of reason is provided by Mr. Knightly, the
Woodhouse's longtime friend and neighbor. Though Austen herself
described Emma as "a heroine whom no one but myself will much like,"
she endowed her creation with enough charm to see her through her most
egregious behavior, and the saving grace of being able to learn from
her mistakes. By the end of the novel Harriet, Frank, and Jane are all
properly accounted for, Emma is wiser (though certainly not sadder),
and the reader has had the satisfaction of enjoying Jane Austen at the
height of her powers
About the Norton Critical Edition
The text reprinted in this new edition of Austen’s
comedic novel is based on the 1816 text, which has been carefully
edited in light of later editions, including the Chapman edition.
"Backgrounds" supplies an abundance
of documents that shed light on Austen's life and reveal some of her private
attitudes toward her writing.
"Reviews and Criticism" presents
a wide variety of perspectives, both contemporary and recent, including
essays by Sir Walter Scott, Henry James, A. C. Bradley, E. M. Forster, Robert
Alan Donovan, Marilyn Butler, Mary Poovey, Claudia Johnson, Juliet McMaster,
Ian Watt, and Suzanne Juhasz. New to this edition are essays by Maggie Lane,
Edward Copeland, and Linda Troost and Sayre Greenfield, the last of which
discusses film adaptations of Emma.
A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are included.
- Jane Austen
- Emma
- Third Edition
- Edited by Stephen M. Parrish, Cornell University
- ISBN 0-393-97284-4
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