Resumo de Emma - Jane Austen

Emma is a charming story about a young and wealthy girl of 21 years old who is the undisputed queen in her family as well as neighborhood, loved and pampered by her not so interfering father. Overconfident and under a constant illusion of her too good judgment and perception regarding others, she is always eager to help others out of difficult situations and problems, not realizing that whatever she thinks or decides about others turns out to be utterly wrong.

The story begins when Emma?s governess and close friend for the last 16 years, Miss Taylor, gets married to one Mr. Weston and moves half a mile away from the Emma household, Emma experiences the pangs of loneliness and unhappiness for the first time. She is depressed, and both she and her father, don?t know how to cope with this drastic change in their lives.

In enters Harriet Smith, a girl of unknown lineage who has joined Miss Goddard?s school, and this gives Emma a reason to cheer up as she takes up Harriet as a friend and someone who needs proper coaching and guidance. Emma has a fondness for matchmaking and she happily takes up the cause of reforming and placing Harriet in a very influential and wealthy household by getting her married to one Mr. Elton. But as destiny had something else in store for Emma, Harriet seems to be in love with a local farmer Robert Martin and vice a versa. Emma dissuades and discourages Harriet from pursuing interest in Martin as she finds him too low in social status to be considered an appropriate match for her. Harriet agrees, though unhappily, as she comes to trust Emma as a true friend and like a sister. On the other hand, Mr. Elton confuses Emma?s constant showering of attention on him as her being interested in him and proposes to her. This proposal shakes and wakes up Emma from her ?to do good service to society? kind of slumber and dream and she realizes the folly of her making a match between Harriet and Elton.

To complicate and make things more interesting, another character, Frank Churchill, enters the scene. He is Miss Taylor?s young stepson and Emma takes an instant liking to him. Frank Churchill responds adequately to Emma?s interest in him. But a very major and scandalous twist takes place in the story when people in the village start talking about the secret engagement of Frank with Jane Fairfax, niece of the talkative Miss Bates. When Emma comes to know of this, she is further disappointed and the whole thing leaves a bad taste in her mouth. This again confirms her wrong judgment about others and she finds solace in Mr. Knightley?s company, a close and old friend of her family and a person whom she had always considered more like a brother figure with whom she could openly and freely discuss any matter without fear.

It is when Mr. Knightley expresses his profound love for Emma that she realizes that he is the person whom she always loved subconsciously. It is also the time for realization that Martin indeed is the right man for Harriet and these realizations act more like an epiphany for Emma.

All?s well that ends well, and that seems to be true in case of this delightful book too. The story ends with Emma agreeing to marry Mr. Knightley and Harriet marrying Martin, the local farmer.

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