Emma

Jane Austen s Emma (1816) tells the story of the coming of age of Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, who had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her. Typical for the novel s time, Emma s transition to womanhood is accomplished through courtship both of those around her and, ultimately, her own. As in other Austen works, education and courtship go hand in hand, and Emma s process of learning to relinquish the power of having her own way is also a process of falling in love. However, in Emma this classic plot is both complicated by and reflective of a collection of contemporary issues, assumptions, and anxieties that highlight just how political even the most conventional of courtship plots can be. This Broadview edition includes a critical introduction and an extensive collection of historical documents relating to the composition and reception of the novel, the social implications of England s shift from a rural agrarian to an urban industrial economy, the role of women in provincial society, and the contemporary preoccupation with health and the treatment of illness.