Emma
Hi guys, this is Clara. During quarantine, I decided to go back to the classics and read Emma by Jane Austen. Emma focuses on a rich young woman (Emma) who has no interest in finding love for herself but loves to conjure love matches for her friends. Though Emma is clever, she often miscalculates situations, which causes herself and the people close to her strife and confusion throughout the novel. After she has success with matchmaking her governess and a widower named Mr. Weston at the beginning of the book, she befriends a girl with unknown parentage named Harriet Smith, and sets her eyes on a match between Harriet and Mr. Elton, the village vicar. Emma makes sure nothing gets in the way of this planned couple, and even convinces Harriet to refuse a marriage proposal from Mr. Martin, a farmer that Harriet knows well. As the novel progresses and Emma continues to meddle in other people’s personal lives, she begins to realize how wrong she was about certain people’s true intentions, and the severe damage she has done becomes apparent.
One of the special aspects of Emma is the unique narration. The narration stands out due to its ambiguous direction. It is written in third person and is narrated by an unknown and all-knowing being, however, the narrator often shows the story through Emma’s naive thoughts. Due to this style, the true motivations behind the characters around Emma and their feelings for each other are not entirely clear. If the reader is not incredibly observant, they might end up just as blindsided as Emma when the twists of the book arrive.
Another part of Emma that I found interesting was the heavily flawed but still compelling main character, Emma Woodhouse. It is very easy to dislike her, as she is spoiled, ignorant, stubborn, and vain. Her inability to realize that her perspective on a situation is incorrect causes the entire conflict in the plot. However, her ignorance becomes endearing, as she does everything out of the good in her heart, and only meddles in her friend’s lives to give them what she thinks will make them happy. It’s also enjoyable as a reader to watch Emma become self-aware of her miscalculations of the story unfolding around her, and humble herself because of it.
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ReplyDeleteI really like how you slowed down to talk about certain aspects of the book that aren't usually talked about in blog posts. I like how you mention that while reading this book if the reader isn't observant they won't see Emma's true character, it gives possible reader a heads up to pay extra attention to her. I also like how you give a little hint at Emma's character and her development throughout the book. It made the blog post engaging to read and makes the reader want to read the book. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis book has a very interesting concept, although it is not something that I would read. I think that a good twist is always surprising, so I would not be mad at the fact that the twists are a surprise if the reader is not observant. I wonder if Emma finds love herself, and if it is with one of the people she tried to match with someone else. I think that would be a very interesting consequence to her actions. Thanks for the review!
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