Emma (1815)
by Jane Austen
Emma tells the story of Emma Woodhouse—a beautiful, clever, rich young lady who entails herself never to marry. She thinks highly of herself, particularly her match-making skills that it blinded her to see her friend Harriet's feelings, as well as her own.
Full of witty lines, and hilarious twists and turns, Emma was such a fun read (I cannot help but imagine Clueless, a film loosely based on the novel which starred Paul Rudd and Alicia Silverstone). I did like Pride and Prejudice more than this one, though. Nonetheless, both share the right amount of brilliance and entertainment. Emma, though a bit silly and stubborn, still showed a great deal of firmness in her beliefs.
I lay it down as a general rule, Harriet, that if a woman doubts as to whether she should accept a man or not, she certainly ought to refuse him.
That's what I like most about Austen's novels: her heroines. They have their odd characteristics too, but they are almost always unafraid to show their true selves regardless of what society imposes. Considering the customs of proposal and marriage (in relation to the importance of social status) during her time, Austen writes without fear of society's judgment. She creates characters with wit and strong convictions; further bending the conventional image of women during her period.
In her novels, women are admired because of their intelligence, and they rebel against society's banalities; while men are not only liked because of their social status. There is, of course, other factors, and enough chemistry and romance that would balance the contradictions. Likewise, despite of Austen's seeming fondness of creating male and female protagonists with huge age gap, the development of the relationship remains rational, and with justified conclusion.
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