Emma (Unabridged)

Emma by Jane Austen - is a novel written by Jane Austen. It is set in the fictional country village of Highbury and the surrounding estates of Hartfield, Randalls and Donwell Abbey, and involves the relationships among people from a small number of families. The novel was first published in December 1815, with its title page listing a publication date of 1816. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England. Emma is a comedy of manners.

Plot summary
Emma Woodhouse's friend and former governess, Miss Taylor, has just married Mr Weston. Having introduced them, Emma takes credit for their marriage and decides that she likes matchmaking. After returning home to Hartfield with her father, Emma forges ahead with her new interest against the advice of her friend Mr Knightley, who is also brother-in-law to Emma's elder sister Isabella. She attempts to match her new friend Harriet Smith to Mr Elton, the local vicar.

Emma persuades Harriet to refuse a marriage proposal from Robert Martin, a respectable, educated, and well-spoken young farmer, though Harriet likes him. Mr Elton, a social climber, mistakenly believes Emma is in love with him and proposes to her. When Emma reveals she believed him attached to Harriet, he is outraged, considering Harriet socially inferior. After Emma rejects him, Mr Elton goes to Bath and returns with a pretentious, nouveau-riche wife, as Mr Knightley expected he would do. Harriet is heartbroken, and Emma feels ashamed about misleading her.

Frank Churchill, Mr Weston's son, arrives for a two-week visit and makes many friends. Frank was adopted by his wealthy and domineering aunt and has had few opportunities to visit before. Mr Knightley tells Emma that, while Frank is intelligent and engaging, he has a shallow character. Jane Fairfax also arrives to visit her aunt, Miss Bates, and grandmother, Mrs Bates, for a few months before starting a governess position due to her family's financial situation.

She is the same age as Emma and has received an excellent education by her father's friend, Colonel Campbell. Emma has remained somewhat aloof with her because she envies Jane's talent and is annoyed by everyone, including Mrs Weston and Mr Knightley, praising her. The patronising Mrs Elton takes Jane under her wing and announces that she will find her the ideal governess post before it is wanted. Emma feels some sympathy for Jane's predicament.