Emma is a novel that I’d heard about many times before I read it – always in the context of it having an unlikeable protagonists. The funny thing is, I didn’t find Emma unlikeable at all. Sure, she’s a flawed character, but she’s well-intentioned and quite funny too – the scenes with her tend to be more entertaining than those without. It probably comes from Jane Austen herself saying that the novel’s protagonist is a character that nobody but she will like, and perhaps it ended up being sell-fulfilling. Ironically, I hear Emma described as unlikeable much more than lots of much more unlikeable characters in other novels.
What may be off-putting for some readers is that there’s not very much of a story to this novel. It’s essentially about Emma and her interactions with her friends and family at various social gathering and private get togethers. A big focus is on her relationship with her friend Harriet, with whom she gets involved in a number of misunderstandings – typically, it’s that Emma thinks that Harriet is in love with someone, or vice versa, and then tries to ignite the embers of attraction in the other person, but ends up creating one-sided crushes. Big over-arching plots may be preferable to some, but I feel like this style is much truer of life.
The way it’s all presented is actually kind of funny. I can see why it makes some people dislike Emma, but she’s never shown as meddling for the sake of meddling – she’s always thinking of her friends’ wellbeing and acts in their best interests. Although, to be fair, I was a little bit disappointed by some of her actions towards the end (just not enough for me to stop liking her).
I also quite enjoyed Emma’s relationship with Mr. Knightley. The two of them are old friends and he quite frequently thinks that Emma is making bad decisions, and then they have the kind of affectionate arguments that only people who are very comfortable with one another have. They’re a good duo.
Besides the interesting relationship dynamics, and the humour behind witty retorts and unfortunate understandings, one thing that stood out to me about this novel was its high levels of cosiness. The whole atmosphere of the book is great, and one scene where characters are enjoying a Christmas get together on a snowy night, was truly wonderful to read.
As is quite common for Jane Austen novels, it’s a little too drawn out, and is definitely overly wordy at times (to the extent of being confusing). Nonetheless, if you’re used to her style, it’s not going to be a problem (though keep in mind that in this regard, she’s worse than a lot of contemporaries) – but for me, these were relatively small issues. My overall impression of this book was definitely a positive one.
Rating: 8.2/10
