Emma – Jane Austen
Emma – Jane Austen
Emma Woodhouse, aged 20 at the start of the novel, is a young, beautiful, witty, and privileged woman
in Regency England. She lives on the fictional estate of Hartfield in Surrey in the village of Highbury
with her elderly widowed father, a valetudinarian who is excessively concerned for the health and
safety of his loved ones. Emma’s friend and only critic is the gentlemanly George Knightly, her neighbor
from the adjacent estate of Donwell, and the brother of her elder sister Isabella’s husband, John. As the
novel opens, Emma has just attended the wedding of Miss Taylor, her best friend and former
governess. Having introduced Miss Taylor to her future husband, Mr. Weston, Emma takes credit for
their marriage, and decides that she rather likes matchmaking