Emma Woodhouse is one of Austen's most captivating and vivid characters. Beautiful, spoilt, vain and irrepressibly witty, Emma organizes the lives of the inhabitants of her sleepy little village and plays matchmaker with devastating effect.
It took me three months to finish this novel. I'll be honest, I absolutely loathed the book in the beginning because I thought it was unbearably dull, and Emma was incredibly insufferable. So many headaches were had stationary at home and on the subway reading this.
The pacing was slow, and although the writing showcased Austen's wit, which was often lost to me, it was long and dense. I'm not entirely sure when I started to enjoy the book and appreciate the novel's brilliance, but I am glad I finally did.
At first, I found many characters despicable and annoying; I only find two deplorable now—the Eltons.
I found Emma unlikable at first because she's vain, selfish, and inconsiderate. I'm thankful that she grows as a character, acknowledges her flaws and follies, etc. While I still dislike Frank Churchill, even after reading his "justification," he's still not as vile as the Eltons. Such lame and weak justifications. A terrible individual. Mr. Knightley is as close to perfection as there is, but that's just my opinion. His monologue where he pours his heart, a slight exaggeration, made me swoon.
Austen knows how to write well-rounded characters that serve a necessary function in the plot/scene. Their unique characters combined created a comedic dynamic that I only learned to appreciate towards the end. They play and build off each other well. I think Austen is especially talented in writing male monologues because it's everything I want to hear. We've been known with Mr. Darcy.
While character growth and how everything tied together in the end was satisfying, I do wish it was shorter. I also wish Emma was more proactive with Harriet in the end. She kind of lets fate take its wheels and forgets about Harriet. She doesn't actively try to fix her mistakes or help out; she quite literally brushed her aside. Personally, I don't think Emma is a great friend and resorted to her old, selfish ways.
As usual, happy endings all around.
I don't think I will read more Austen books for a while/ever again. I think reading P&P, one of my favorites, and Emma, often lauded as perfection, sets me up for failure with her other novels. I do see myself possibly rereading some of her works in the far future.
Have you read Emma? What are your thoughts if you have, or will you read it if you haven't already?
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