Emma

EMMA

By Jane Austin


Jane Austen's Emma is a novel of courtship. The main character, Emma Woodhouse, is a heiress that lives with her widowed father at their estate, Hartfield. At the beginning of the novel, she is a self-satisfied twenty-one year old woman who feels no need to get married. In the beginning of the novel, Emma's governess, Miss Taylor, has just married Mr. Weston, a wealthy man who owns Randalls, a nearby estate. When Mr. Westons previous wife died, he sent their only child, Frank Churchill, to be raised by her brother and his wife. It seems as though Mr. Weston could not at that time provide for Frank.
Without Miss Taylor as a companion, Emma adopts the orphan Harriet Smith as a friend that she wants to play the same role in Harriet’s life that Miss Taylor played in hers. Harriet lives at a nearby boarding school where she was raised, and knows nothing about her parents. Emma advises Harriet on everything she can, including the people she interacts with....