Jane Austen - Emma
"What two letters of the alphabet are there, that express perfection?”
“What two letters!—express perfection! I am sure I do not know.”
“Ah! you will never guess. You, (to Emma), I am certain, will never guess.—I will tell you.—M. and A.—Em-ma.—Do you understand?”
Indeed Emma is perfection. It is definitely the best of the Jane Austen novels. As with all her novels, there's a whole lot of socializing and dances and bitching and mistaken identities and everyone gets married in the end. But the flurry of activity doesn't feel quite as excessive as, say, in Mansfield Park.
I think a lot comes down to how likeable Emma is as a character. She's sort of like Lizzie Bennett but (imo) better. She's more flawed. Emma is a homebody. She isn't terribly smart. Nor is she terribly emotional ("sensible" in Austen terms). Emma doesn't have much going on in her life apart from hanging out with her dad and coming up with stupid matchmaking schemes.
She isn't an accomplished lady, not because she lacks talent but because she just can't be arsed:
She had always wanted to do every thing, and had made more progress both in drawing and music than many might have done with so little labour as she would ever submit to. She played and sang;—and drew in almost every style; but steadiness had always been wanting; and in nothing had she approached the degree of excellence which she would have been glad to command, and ought not to have failed of.
Emma's lack of discipline is a source of amusement for her family friend Mr Knightley, who watched her grow up.
“Emma has been meaning to read more ever since she was twelve years old. [...] But I have done with expecting any course of steady reading from Emma. She will never submit to any thing requiring industry and patience, and a subjection of the fancy to the understanding.”
The thing about Emma is that she holds herself apart from the other young people and doesn't really participate in their romantic lives. She tried to convince herself that she was in love with Frank Churchill, but failed, immediately forgetting him once he left the neighbourhood.
So there she is, on the sidelines. Little did she realise she's never been alone, because Knightley was on the sidelines with her the whole time. Towards the end of the book, prompted by jealousy, Emma realises she's always thought of Knightley as belonging to her. Knightley rather heroically moves into Emma's household so that she wouldn't have to leave her eccentric father.
The romance is particularly effective because Knightley is discerning about Emma's flaws. He is indulgent about the small ones (like her inability to stick to her resolutions) but openly critical about the important ones (like when she says mean things to be witty). To be seen like that seems the epitome of love to me.
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My personal ranking for the Jane Austen novels:
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