Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews
Written on Mar 19, 2009
Emma Woodhouse is a bona fide matchmaker, playing cupid for all her acquaintances while she claims to never marry herself. Famous last words...
Emma's current assignment is her dear friend Harriet Smith and after a proposal that Miss Woodhouse deems far to beneath her puts in all her efforts to find a suitable husband for Miss Smith. I found Emma to be a buttinski, while cute and charming she was also very meddling, granite that's want a matchmaker does but it started to get on my nerves.
I felt so sorry for Harriet throughout the book, releasing her "true love" due to a friend's persuasion and then to have her heartstrings continually yanked around throughout the whole of the book. So while I did feel empathetic towards her I also found Harriet to be a sweet, innocent push over.
Jane Fairfax plays the sweet natured niece of Mrs. Bates, a neighbor of the Woodhouses and who Emma takes a dislike to but eventually comes around in the end to see the good everyone else sees in Jane.
Then there are the ladies love interests, Mr. Knightly, Frank Churchhill, Mr. Elton and Robert Martin. who all play ring-a-rosies with the girl's hearts but in Jane Austen's classic fashion hearts are broken and mended and eventually married off to suitable gentlemen.
Emma was very quick and witty, along the same ranks as Pride and Prejudice and earns a spot on my bookcase next to this great novel.