Emma is a novel about youthful pride and the hazards of misconstrued romance. Emma Woodhouse, the protagonist of the story, is a lovely, high-spirited, intelligent, and 'slightly' spoiled young woman of twenty. She has just attended the wedding of Miss Taylor, her friend and former governess, to Mr Weston. Having introduced them, Emma takes credit for their marriage, and notices that she likes matchmaking. After she returns home to Hartfield with her father, Emma forges ahead with her new interest against the advice of Mr Knightley and tries to match her new friend Harriet Smith to Mr Elton, the local vicar... As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and complications of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England; she also creates a lively comedy of manners amid her characters.
