Emma is a novel about youthful hubris and romantic misunderstandings. It is set in
the fictional country village of Highbury and the surrounding estates of Hartfield,
Randalls and Donwell Abbey, and involves the relationships among people from a
small number of families. The novel was first published in December 1815, with its
title page listing a publication date of 1816 As in her other novels, Austen explores
the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in GeorgianRegency
England. Emma is a comedy of manners, and depicts issues of marriage, sex, age,
and social status.
Before she began the novel, Austen wrote, I am going to take a heroine whom no
one but myself will much like. In the first sentence, she introduces the title
character as Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable
home and a happy disposition... had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world
with very little to distress or vex her. Emma is spoiled, headstrong, and self
-satisfied; she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities; she is blind to
the dangers of meddling in other peoples lives; and her imagination and
perceptions often lead her astray.