Emma (novel)

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Hugh Thompson : Emma and Mr. Knightley, 1896

Emma is considered a masterpiece by the British writer Jane Austen and is counted among world literature. With her main character Emma Woodhouse , the author describes the maturation process of a privileged and intelligent woman at the beginning of the 19th century who, with her misperceptions, harms others and can ultimately find her place in society. Jane Austen is said to have said about her heroine: "I will create a heroine that nobody but me will particularly like".

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The setting and only setting for the novel is the village of Highbury about 16 miles southwest of London. The plot spans a little over a year. The staff is mainly recruited from three families belonging to the local " gentry " and based on the family estates at Donwell Abbey, Hartfield and Randalls. In addition, there is the local vicar, members of the tenant Martin family, the newly rich Cole family, the boarding house manager Mrs. Goddard with her pupil Harriet Smith and the ladies of the impoverished Bates family. Occasionally the circle is expanded by visitors from the capital. All those involved are connected to one another through different, more or less close social contacts.

Emma Woodhouse is a beautiful and affluent young lady of 21 years who lives with her father in the Hartfield country estate in Highbury, a small village near London. The Woodhouses are among the first families in town. The book begins immediately after the marriage of her governess Miss Taylor to Mr. Weston, a widower and well-off merchant who recently bought the Randalls estate near Highbury.

Because Emma is of the firm opinion that she has initiated the marriage of her teacher and that she has a talent for making marriage, she thinks about a new arrangement that should keep her boredom away. A young girl from less good backgrounds, Harriet Smith, she chooses as the new friend and future bride of the village vicar Mr. Elton. She pulls out all the stops to bring the two together, although Mr. Knightley, her neighbor and brother-in-law of her older sister Isabella, strongly advises against this.

When Harriet receives a marriage proposal from Mr. Knightley's tenant Robert Martin, she rejects the proposal on Emma's advice, although she secretly admires Mr. Martin. But Emma made the vicar palatable to her, and of course he is far above a farmer. The fact that Elton is actually courting Emma herself completely escapes her in all her strenuous efforts to couple Elton and Harriet. At the upcoming Christmas party at the Westons, Emma hopes to finally bring Mr. Elton and Harriet together. But Harriet is in bed with a severe sore throat.

Mr. Elton has been courting his queen of hearts long enough. On the way home he is alone with Emma in the carriage and makes her a stormy marriage proposal, in the certainty that Emma will answer him. However, Emma is shocked and firmly rejects him. Only now does she notice that Elton was never interested in Harriet and that all his manners were meant for her alone. She vows to stop making marriage. She is now in the awkward position of having to explain this turn to Harriet. For his part, Mr. Elton immediately travels to Bath , only to return married after a short time. His wife is a conceited and intrusive young lady with some wealth who likes to praise herself, but has few talents herself.

Shortly afterwards, two new guests arrive in Highbury: Miss Bates' niece Jane Fairfax, of whom Emma is a little jealous because Jane is very talented, beautiful and also popular. After the death of her parents, Jane was raised by Colonel Campbell, a friend of her father's, and his wife, who have a daughter Jane's age. After Miss Campbell recently married to Ireland, Jane will soon have a job as governess to make a living. Before that, however, she would like to spend a few more months with her grandmother and her aunt in Highbury.

Also visiting is Mr. Weston's son, Frank Churchill, who was adopted by his childless uncle after his mother's untimely death and who will inherit his family fortune. He was secretly hopefully chosen by Mr. and Mrs. Weston as Emma's future husband. This plan seems to work too, because Frank Churchill openly courted Emma, ​​which she definitely flattered. She is a little in love, she likes flirting with Frank, but she is not deeply impressed.

At a ball, Harriet is snubbed by Mr. and Mrs. Elton in front of all the guests because Elton refuses to dance with her. Then Mr. Knightley asks them to dance. Emma is very grateful to him for this friendly gesture. The next day Emma and Harriet meet to talk about the ball. While taking a walk, Harriet is harassed by gypsy children who beg her for money. Frank Churchill comes to her aid and saves her from her predicament.

A little later, Harriet Emma confesses her affection for a man. Emma thinks she knows that Harriet is now in love with Frank Churchill - he has just saved her life, as Harriet described to her. Emma encourages her in this love without wanting to find out the man's name and adds that she definitely doesn't want to interfere anymore. Mrs. Weston suggested to Emma that Mr. Knightley appeared to have taken a liking to Jane Fairfax. Emma can't believe this and tries to annoy Mr. Knightley with an appropriate remark. This, however, claims to have observed a secret connection between Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill, which Emma rejects with a laugh: she can say from a reliable source that Frank Churchill is not in love with Jane.

No one really seems to be enjoying themselves on a trip to Box Hill that was planned as a pleasure trip . Frank Churchill openly courted Emma, ​​who behaved very heartlessly towards the somewhat naive Miss Bates and was sharply reprimanded by Mr. Knightley for this. Jane Fairfax can no longer avoid the intrusive efforts of Mrs. Elton, who wants to find her a position as governess with a befriended family "from the best of circles".

Shortly thereafter, it emerges that Frank Churchill has been secretly engaged to Jane Fairfax for months. When Emma explains this to Harriet, she is shocked to discover that Harriet is not in love with Frank Churchill, but with Mr. Knightley. And then Emma suddenly senses who her own heart beats for. She, who never wanted to marry, is in dire straits because Harriet is certain that Mr. Knightley will reciprocate her feelings.

The following days are very long for Emma because Mr. Knightley has left to visit his brother in London. There he learns from a letter from Mr. Weston of Frank Churchill's secret engagement to Jane Fairfax. Mr. Knightley, who thought Emma was in love with Frank Churchill, rushes back to comfort her. In the process he learns that Emma has long since seen through Frank Churchill and never loved. Mr. Knightley sees his hour now and successfully proposes marriage to Emma. Harriet will also marry; Mr. Martin has asked her a second time to be his wife. This time Harriet accepts with pleasure. In the end there are three weddings, because after the sudden death of Mrs. Churchill nothing stands in the way of Frank's marriage to Jane Fairfax. Emma and Mr. Knightley decide to live in the Woodhouse house first so that Mr. Woodhouse is not left alone.

people

Woodhouse and Knightley families

The two families are friends with each other and are related by marriage. The Knightleys Donwell Abbey estate and the comfortable Woodhouse Hartfield family home are close by.

Emma Woodhouse is a self-confident woman of 21 years and has been "Mistress of the house" since her sister's marriage. She has assets of £ 30,000 of her own and is financially independent. Emma has no intention of getting married. However, she takes great pleasure in promoting marriages. People who are close to her rate her differently. Her father, Mr. Woodhouse, says: "Emma never thinks of herself when she can do something good for others [...]". Mrs. Weston says to Mr. Knightley, "[...] but since we separated, I can't remember that Emma never did anything I wanted her to do." The most blunt comment comes from Mr. Knightley and is addressed directly to Emma: “I have to say, Emma, ​​when I hear you use your own mind, I am almost inclined to think that way myself. Better to have no mind at all than to engage in such abuse as you do. "

Mr. Woodhouse is Emma's father and a good-natured and polite man. “He liked everyone he was used to, never wanted to part with anyone; in general he hated change of any kind. ”He values ​​Mr. Perry's opinion and is sensitive to criticism:“ Mr Woodhouse was very indignant that his friend Perry, to whom he, albeit unconsciously, had many of his own attitudes and had foisted views, so disgraced; "Emma loves him and" that's why she liked it best when it didn't even occur to him that not everyone thought she was perfect. "

Mr. George Knightley , along with the Woodhouse family, is one of the most respected members of Highbury. He lives as a dedicated landowner on the family estate Donwell Abbey in the neighboring borough not far from Hartfield and is about 37 years old. He is an old friend of the Woodhouse family and is not afraid to put Emma in her place: "In fact, Mr. Knightley was one of the few people who found fault with Emma Woodhouse and the only one who ever spoke to her about it [...]" . Emma has great respect for him and appreciates that he always treats her father with respect and kindness.

John Knightley is the younger brother of George Knightley and works as a lawyer in London. He "was a tall man, a distinguished figure and extremely clever [...]." He is not very popular with Emma. “She never missed a mistake in him. She immediately felt all the little malice towards Isabella that Isabella never felt herself. [...] but even with the most beautiful compliments to her, she would hardly have forgiven him for what in her eyes was the greatest of those mistakes in which he made sometimes decayed, namely the lack of respect and indulgence towards her father. "

Isabella Knightley is Emma's older sister and mother of five. Mrs. John Knightley, as she is called in the book, inherited the delicate physical constitution of her father, is ailing now and then, but she is a loving wife and constantly worried about the health of the children. The relationship with father and sister remains close and cordial even after their marriage. If Mr. George Knightley does not have children of his own, their eldest son Henry will inherit the family estate of Donwell Abbey.

Weston / Churchill family

Mr. Weston seeks Miss Anne Taylor. Color illustration by CE Brock , 1909

Mr. Weston is a former militia officer who was married to a sister of Mr. Churchill. After the untimely death of his wife, he said goodbye to the militia, joined his brother's business and, after making a fortune, lives as a privateer in Highbury. His son Frank, who was a toddler when his wife died, was fostered and adopted by Mr. Churchill and his wife. Mr. Weston sees his son in London once a year.

Mrs. Weston , Miss Anne Taylor before she married, was Emma's governess for 16 years and remains Emma's closest friend and confidante after her marriage to Mr. Weston. She left Hartfield after her wedding, but the Woodhouses and Westons visit each other almost every day. Mrs. Weston is a level-headed woman who moderates Emma and loves her like a daughter of her own. Mr. Knightley says to her: "[...] you are called to be a wife, but not to be a governess."

Mr. Frank Churchill is Mr. Weston's son by a first marriage. After his mother's untimely death, he was raised by his uncle, Mr. Churchill, and his wife. Since the couple are childless, they have adopted Frank and designated him as the heir to his considerable fortune. “[...] he was a very handsome young man; There was nothing wrong with his stature, demeanor and manners; […] He looked nimble and intelligent. “Mr. Knightley is the only one who stays at a distance from him and watches him with suspicion. He thinks he's superficial and selfish and on one occasion he remarks, “Hmm! just the useless, silly guy I thought he was. "

Bates family

Mrs. Bates is the impoverished widow of a village pastor. She is good-natured and a little deaf. She “was such an old lady that apart from drinking tea and playing quadrilles, she couldn't be expected to do much. She lived […] in very modest circumstances and was treated with all indulgence and all respect that a harmless old lady can wake up in such unfortunate circumstances. ”Mrs. Bates receives discreet support from friendly neighbors. They give her the abundance of their gardens or, like Mr. Knightley or Mr. Woodhouse, provide her with a carriage to pick her up for an evening party.

Miss Bates lives in a household with her mother, Mrs. Bates. She is not married and penniless. She “had a really remarkable amount of respect for a woman who was neither young nor pretty, neither rich nor married. Miss Bates' popularity could not be explained by her position, and she also lacked the kind of intelligence that could have put her own person in a better light or demanded outward respect from possible adversaries. ”She talks at length about everything what she is currently seeing and what is shooting into her head and can hardly be stopped in her flow of speech. "Her simple and happy nature, her contented and grateful disposition made her popular with the whole world, and she herself drew her greatest happiness from it." Emma despises her, treats her beloved and makes fun of her, which causes her serious rebuke Mr. Knightley for her heartlessness.

Jane Fairfax is an orphan and the granddaughter of Mrs. Bates. She is the same age as Emma and has previously lived in Colonel Campbell's household. Colonel Campbell was an old friend of her father's who took her in after her parents' death and treated her like his own daughter. She grew up with the only daughter in the house and received the upbringing of a lady. With Miss Campbell recently married, Jane Fairfax has chosen not to postpone the inevitable any longer and to seek a job as governess. Jane is a beautiful and very elegant woman, of 'patient courtesy'. She has a wide range of talents, has a beautiful singing voice and is an excellent piano player. However, she is very closed and appears aloof from society. Mr. Knightley thinks very highly of her. Emma doesn't like her. “It's hard to say why she didn't like Jane Fairfax. Mr Knightley had once told her that it was because in her eyes Jane was exactly the well-educated young lady she would like to be mistaken for [...]. "

Other people

Philip Elton is the young, neat and ambitious village pastor. He is highly valued by all the villagers. Emma wants to marry him off to her friend Harriet Smith, but he is much more interested in Emma herself and her dowry. Emma refuses to admit it, although Mr. Knightley advises her that Philip Elton may not be interested in Harriet Smith. His brother, Mr John Knightley, warns Emma: “[…] but you would do well to consider whether it is so and then adjust your behavior accordingly. It seems to me that your behavior is encouraging him. I speak as a friend, Emma. You should be on your guard, you should be clear about what you are doing and what you want to do. "

Augusta Elton , the pastor's young wife, brought £ 10,000 into the marriage. She is 'arrogant, presumptuous, clumsily confidential, uneducated and poorly brought up', takes great credit for her 'inner wealth' and is 'tireless in her misjudgments and bad taste'. She wants to be the center of attention everywhere. In spite of their obvious resistance, she tries to get Jane Fairfax as governess into 'better circles'. She knows she's for Mr. Elton - she takes turns calling him 'Mr. E. ',' caro sposo 'or' My Lord and Master '- only the second choice was and still rejects Emma. Although the whole of Highbury is seeking Mrs. Elton's favor, Emma is unwilling to court her.

Harriet Smith is “someone's illegitimate daughter.” “Harriet could not have been called clever, but she was gentle, obedient, grateful, alien to vanity, and she liked to be guided by someone She could look up to. ”Emma takes her under her wing to find a suitable husband for her. “She would take care of them; she would give it the necessary polish; it would rid them of their bad company and introduce them to good society; she would shape their opinions and manners. It was an interesting and charitable task, just right for her, given her position, her leisure and her influence. "Mr. Knightley is indignant at Mrs. Weston's improper relationship and points out the dangers:" I consider her to be the worst kind of companion Emma could have. She doesn't know anything herself and looks up at Emma as if Emma knew everything. She is flattered in her whole being, and the fact that she doesn't do it on purpose only makes matters worse. Your ignorance is one flattery. How is Emma supposed to notice that she still has something to learn herself as long as Harriet is so wonderfully inferior to her? [...] Hartfield will only make sure that all the places that are her real home are spoiled for her. "

Mr. Perry is the local pharmacist whom Mr. Woodhouse is very fond of, of whom there is much talk, but who seems to be constantly on the move.

Robert Martin is one of Mr. Knightley's tenants who values ​​the young man's common sense and sincerity. Emma secretly shares his assessment, but this goes against her sense of class and self-interest. Harriet Smith is a school friend of the Robert Martin sisters and has spent her holidays on his farm where he fell in love with them. When he asks Mr. Knightley for his opinion on his proposed marriage proposal, the latter supports him and is upset when Emma thwarted the marriage.

interpretation

Illustration by Chris Hammond, 1898

The protagonist Emma Woodhouse is “pretty, smart and rich”. Her "truly loving and indulgent" father and her "good-natured" governess spoil her beyond measure. When her older sister and the governess get bored, she tries to convince the marriage foundation that she is able to direct fate according to her will and her ideas. Despite being warned by Mr Knightley, she is unaware of her own unreality and emotional ignorance, and thereby causes suffering and pain.

The Emma Woodhouse Marriage Foundation plays a central role in the story. For Emma it is “the greatest pleasure there is!”. She books the marriage between Miss Taylor and Mr. Weston as a success of her own, whereupon Mr. Knightley puts her in her place: “Success requires effort. Indeed, if you had spent the past four years trying to bring about this marriage, you would have spent your time well and wisely. (…) But if, as I rather suspect, your, as you call it, matchmaking consisted solely in imagining a marriage […], what is your success? You have properly advised ; and that 's all there is to it. ”Regarding her intentions to get Mr Elton married, he advised her,“ Take him out to dinner, Emma, ​​and serve him the best of fish you can get and chicken, but let him choose his wife himself. Believe me, a man of twenty-six or twenty-seven can do that alone. "

Emma Woodhouse's commitment to the women affected is existential. At the beginning of the 19th century, gentry women could either take up the profession of governess or choose marriage that afforded them financial security. In the further figure of the good-looking, talented and socially integrated Jane Fairfax, Jane Austen shows "what an uncomfortable path a single woman has to take in Austen's company".

If you love fine humor, you wo n't miss out on Emma . Often he comes at the expense of Mr. Woodhouse when it comes to visits to his property, for example: “[...] among them were Mrs. and Miss Bates and Mrs. Goddard, three women who are almost always available for an invitation from Hartfield and which were picked up and driven home so often that Mr. Woodhouse no longer considered it an effort, either for James or for the horses. If it had only happened once a year, it would have been a burden. ”Another passage comments on the person of Mrs Goddard about the English boarding schools for girls at the time of Jane Austen:“ […] nothing where you can give young women the health of young women for an outrageous amount of money and put nonsense in their heads - but a real, upright, old-fashioned girls' boarding school, where a reasonable level of skill was available for a reasonable price, and to which girls were sent to get them out of the way and so them acquired a little bit of knowledge as best they could without running the risk of coming back as child prodigies. "

The subtlety of the narrative in Emma is not limited to the main character. About the person of the pharmacist Mr Perry, who never speaks once in history and is talked about all the time, John Mullan says: “Yet not a single word that he ever says is actually given us in the novel. Of course not! He is the echo to every person's existing prejudices; no wonder he is so successful. "

Another special feature of Emma is the shape and technique used by Jane Austen. The narrator's subtle criticism of the protagonist is evident in the use of the spoken word . The distanced narrative style is achieved through the indicative of the third person. The story lets the reader participate in the thoughts and deliberations of a privileged and intelligent woman without the reader becoming immediately aware of her subjective point of view. The masked self-talk is only gradually revealed to the reader.

Aspects

dedication

At the beginning of the book is - prominently on a separate page - the dedication to the Prince Regent and later King George IV.

"To his Royal Highness
the Prince Regent,
this work is,
by his Royal Highness's permission,
most respectfully
dedicated
by his Royal Righnesses's
dutiful
and obedient
humble servant,
the Author."

The background of the dedication was Jane Austen's long stay in London in the autumn of 1815, when it came to negotiating and monitoring the publication of Emma . When her brother Henry became seriously ill during the stay, he was likely cared for by Matthew Baillie , who was also one of the Prince Regent's doctors. It is believed that through this contact Jane Austen was invited to visit the Prince Regent's library at Carlton House . As a result, she was asked by the librarian James Stanier Clarke to dedicate her next work to the Prince Regent.

Jane Austen's earlier letters show that she had no admiration for the Prince Regent. So she asked the librarian if the dedication was mandatory, to which Clarke said no. However, her family advised her to interpret the Prince Regent's request as an order and to obey him. The famous dedication is interpreted to mean that in its brevity it is almost an insult. It only mentions the permission to dedicate and contains no compliments. For this, the Royal Highness is performed almost penetratingly three times. In other words: "Fine mockery is a thorn that has preserved some of the flower's fragrance."

Historical context

From Walter Scott until well into the 20th century, Jane Austen's works were interpreted as detached from their historical context. In the small-format descriptions of the gentry in a small, remote village, one saw no reference to contemporary issues. The starting point was the definition of a historical context that required the presence of contemporary topics and events. When Marilyn Butler published her book Jane Austen and the War of Idea in 1975 , that changed radically. Her approach, that the historical context can also relate to contemporary discussions and arguments and is expressed in the works of Jane Austen, gave the unique unobtrusiveness of Jane Austen's works a new dimension in interpretation. In particular, the discussion about the nature and positioning of an individual, which was intensively conducted in the 19th century, is reflected in the theme of Emma , when an immutable and everlasting truth that exists independently of the individual demands an adaptation of the individual presumption and self-consistency. If you read Emma in this way, then the work is inextricably linked with the zeitgeist of the turn of the century from the 18th to the 19th century and at the same time timeless literature.

At one point in Emma's second book you can read: “A private dance, without sitting down to supper, was pronounced an infamous fraud upon the rights of men and women; […]. ”Readers of the early 19th century would have understood “ the rights of men and women ”as a phrase and reference to the Revolution Controversy , a debate that was intense in England from 1789 to 1795 as a result of the French Revolution has been. Well-known publications such as Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke , Vindication of the Rights of Men and Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft and The Rights of Man by Tom Paine have appeared . They raised the issue of whether human rights should be valued higher than the embedding of an individual in a broader social community with obligations to higher and subordinates. When Emma was written in 1815, these discussions flared up again in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars . The passage in the book is typical of the scattered fleeting references to events and conflicts of that time.

Emma was written during the Industrial Revolution , which widened the social gap between rich and poor. The topic is taken up in the story and processed in many layers. In the first book, Emma and Harriet make a charitable visit to a poor and sick family in Highbury. A privileged person like Emma is expected to live up to their social responsibilities and take care of the disadvantaged. In the conversation between Emma and Harriet, the topic soon revolves around the social position of a single woman, which is defined by her (lack of) wealth. "[...] it is poverty only which makes celibacy contemptible to a generous public!" That is why she sees her work of the marriage foundation as a social commitment. It is their answer to the social grievances of their time. The entire presentation, written as an experienced speech , leaves the reader with an uncomfortable feeling, as the author leaves him no other choice than Emma's point of view. The image of the poor family and the problem of the economic situation of a single woman are remembered all the more strongly.

References from the time of Jane Austen are made in a variety of ways. Mr. Woodhouse prefers quadrille to whist and therefore characterizes himself as out of date. In addition to eating habits and clothing, literary references are made that describe the character in retrospect. For example, Mr. Knightley reads William Cowper and manifests himself as "man of worth", Robert Martin reads the Vicar of Wakefield and is thus identified as a solid contemporary who does not chase every fad, and Mrs. Elton shows inappropriate mentions of John Gray their stupidity.

Charades and puzzles

In Emma , charades appear in two senses. There are actual word games that are woven into the story and played as a parlor game. Likewise, the charades (meaning a farce) of Highbury play a key role, where the reader is asked to unravel them.

Charades as word games are understood as a specific form of communication. In their foreignness, both in terms of syntax and expression, they can be a challenge for the puzzler as well as for those who want to decipher the puzzle and force those involved to have to change predictable trains of thought if they want to solve the puzzle. Suspicions of supposed solutions that are put forward too quickly sometimes lead to "appalling errors". Solving a riddle requires flexibility and the ability to transform spiritually so that a deeper understanding is possible.

The ninth chapter of Emma's first book is devoted to the word games and puzzles that were very popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Whole books with collections of charades, some of great literary value, were published during this period, and newspapers regularly printed puzzles and received solutions. Collecting charades privately was also a popular pastime, as Harriet does. At the same time, it was also seen as an easy pleasure, as the ironic sentence "In our literary age, such collections on a large scale are nothing unusual."

Emma is intelligent but unable to unravel the various charades of the Highbury residents. She suspects too quickly and is caught up in her ideas and prejudices. At first, she can resolve Mr. Elton's pun because the solution meets her expectations, but beyond that she misinterprets his intentions. In her career, Emma becomes more and more aware of how close error and accuracy can be in charades in social interaction. This can be seen in her self-talk about the conclusion of her efforts to pair Harriet and Mr. Eliot: “A thousand tormenting thoughts would come again. Compliments, charades and terrible mistakes (...) ”.

Only through her understanding of her mistakes, which Emma learns through her love for Mr Knightley, does she achieve a higher level of maturity and find her place in the community. In this sense, Emma is the representation of a " Felix culpa ", a happy guilt in which the main character experiences happiness and an understanding with society through the grace of love.

Publication and reception history

First edition

John Murray, the most renowned British publisher of his time, published the book on December 29, 1815, printed in 1816, and at the same time acquired the rights to the following and all new editions of her works. Emma was the last novel published during her lifetime, Jane Austen died in 1817, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion was published posthumously. Jane Austen dedicated the book to the Prince Regent and later King George IV, who had invited her on November 13, 1815 to a tour of his library in Carlton House.

Murray published the novel in three separate volumes. As was customary at the time, the final binding of the uncut books was done by external bookbinders, who bound the book according to the buyer's wishes: in leather or only with a leather back, with valuable endpaper , with gold embossing, with gilt edging, etc. Jane Austen herself had already sent the Prince Regent out published a red morocco leather edition for his library. These elaborately bound first editions by Emma are priced up to $ 40,000 in the book market today. No further reprints followed, and it was not until 1833 that the novel was published again by Richard Bentley in London.

The American first edition was published by Mathew Carey in Philadelphia in 1816 . The edition of this edition is unknown, only very few copies have been documented. The first - very free - translation into French came out under the title La Nouvelle Emma, ​​ou, Les Caractères anglais du siècle in Paris in the same year, followed by a partial print in Vienna in 1817. The first German edition, albeit in English, was published by Bernhard Tauchnitz published the works of Jane Austen from 1864 in his Leipzig edition, with Emma (1877) as the last volume.

In March 1816 the Quaterly Review published an anonymous detailed review by Walter Scott , in which he praised the liveliness and originality, the liveliness and accuracy, "which delights the reader".

In Germany, the reception of Jane Austen's novels began with a delay compared to Great Britain and some other countries on the continent. Emma was translated for the first time by Charlotte von Klinkowstroem in 1939 and was reprinted in a slightly revised version after the war. In 1964 a translation by Horst Höckendorf appeared in the East Berlin construction publishing house , which was followed by a new edition with annotations only after 12 years. The actual reception of the novel in Germany only began with the translation of Austen's complete works by Ursula and Christian Grawe with Emma (1981) as the last volume.

The trigger for a real Jane Austen boom was the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice in a multi-part series on the BBC . Due to the international success of the film, not only in Great Britain but also in Hollywood turned their gaze to Jane Austen as a successful supplier of material for the cinema. As early as 1995, an updated version of the Emma material, moved to the United States of today, was released under the title Clueless - What Else! in the cinemas. In 1996, an American film with Gwyneth Paltrow in the title role and a British television film with Kate Beckinsale as Emma followed. In 2009 the BBC released a mini-series with Romola Garai as Emma. The worldwide distribution of Emma films, especially the adaptation by Douglas McGrath , resulted in a series of translations in Asia. As a result of the film, 13 translations appeared in China alone. Gillian Dow lists another 5 Japanese versions after 1996 after a first translation from 1965. With a version of the manga artist Yōko Hanabusa from 2011, Emma moved into Japanese pop culture.

expenditure

Original editions
  • Emma . A Novel in Three Volumes. By the Author of 'Pride and Prejudice'. Murray, London 1816. [First published 1815]
  • The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Jane Austen . General Editor: Janet Todd . 9 volumes. Univ. Press, Cambridge
Emma . Ed. by Richard Cronin and Dorothy McMillan. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2005, ISBN 0-521-82437-0 .
German translations
  • Emma . From the English by Charlotte von Klinckowstroem. [First edition 1939]. With illustrations by Hugh Thompson . Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt 1979, ISBN 3-458-04962-2 .
Several revised editions.
  • Emma . German by Horst Höckendorf. [First edition 1964]. 2nd Edition. with an afterword by Klaus Udo Szudra. Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin / Weimar 1976, DNB 770233368 .
Several new editions and reprints in other publishers.
Several new editions
Audio book
  • Emma . Read by Moria Fogarty. August 2, 2010. Libri Vox, Free download, youtube
  • Emma : audio CD, audiobook. Read by Marie Bäumer. Patmos, ISBN 3-491-91201-6 [6 CDs] 439 min
  • Emma : audio CD, audiobook. Translated by Ursula and Christian Grawe . Unabridged edition. Read by Eva Mattes . Argon-Verlag, Berlin 2011. [14 CDs] ISBN 3-8398-1106-6 .

Adaptations

  • Jane Austen: Emma . Graphic novel by Nancy Butler (text), Janet Lee (drawing), Marvel Comics, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-7851-5686-4 .

Film adaptations

literature

  • Annika Bautz: The Reception of Jane Austen in Germany. In: Anthony Mandal, Brian Southam (Eds.): The Reception of Jane Austen in Europe. Continuum, London 2007, ISBN 978-0-8264-6932-8 , pp. 93-116.
  • Sue Birtwistle , Susie Conclin: The Making of Jane Austen's Emma. Penguin books, London 1996, ISBN 0-14-026141-9 .
  • John Dissinger: Desire. Emma in love. In: Jane Austen's Emma. A casebook. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-517531-8 , pp. 169-181.
  • Peter Sabor (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to 'Emma'. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2015, ISBN 978-1-107-44299-3 .
  • John Sutherland: The Connell Guide to Jane Austen's Emma. Ed. by Jolyon Connell. Connell Guides, London 2012, ISBN 978-1-907776-13-7 .
  • Lionel Trilling : 'Emma' and the Legend of Jane Austen. In: Jane Austen's Emma. A casebook. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-517531-8 , pp. 83-100.

Web links

Commons : Emma  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Emma  - Sources and full texts (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like". J. E. Austen-Leigh in A Memoir of Jane Austen . He was Jane Austen's nephew and knew her as a child. The memories of Jane Austen were written fifty years after her death. David M. Shapard: The Annotated Emma . New York 2012, pp. Xxiv.
  2. ↑ Emma 1,1,1.
  3. ↑ Emma 1,16,289. According to current conversions, this corresponds to a sum between 3 and 4½ million pounds. See: Robert D. Hume: Money in Jane Austen. In: Review of English Studies. No. 64, 2013, pp. 189-310.
  4. ↑ Emma 1,10,177−179.
  5. ↑ "Emma never thinks of herself, if she can do good to others [...]". Emma 1, 1, 20. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 20.
  6. ↑ "[...] but since we have parted, I can never remember Emma's omitting to do any thing I wished." Emma 1,5,73. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 47.
  7. ^ "Upon my word, Emma, ​​to hear you abusing the reason you have, is almost enough to make me think so too. Better be without sense, than misapply it as you do. "Emma 1,8,132. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 78.
  8. ↑ "[...] fund of every body that he was used to, and hating to part with them; hating change of every kind. "Emma 1,1,7. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 14.
  9. ↑ "Mr. Woodhouse was rather agitated by such harsh reflections on his friend Perry, to whom he had, in fact, though unconsciously, been attributing many of his own feelings and expressions; "Emma 1,12,226. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 127.
  10. ↑ "that she would not have him really suspect such a circumstance as her not being thought perfect by every body." Emma 1,1,14. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 17.
  11. ↑ Emma 1, 1, 11.
  12. ↑ "Mr. Knightley, in fact, was one of the few people who could see faults in Emma Woodhouse, and the only one who ever told her of them [...] ". Emma 1,1,14. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 17.
  13. ↑ He "was a tall, gentleman-like, and very clever man [...]." Emma 1,11,196. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 111.
  14. ^ "Nothing wrong in him escaped her. She was quick in feeling the little injuries to Isabella, which Isabella never felt herself. […] But hardly any degree of personal compliment could have made her regardless of that greatest fault of all in her eyes which he sometimes fell into, the want of respectful forbearance towards her father. "Emma 1,11,197. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 112.
  15. ↑ Emma 1, 11, 194-195.
  16. ↑ Emma 2,8,156.
  17. ↑ Militias were local military units outside the regular army that were stationed mainly on the south coast of England during the Napoleonic Wars .
  18. ^ "[...] very fit for a wife, but not at all for a governess." Emma 1,5,74. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 48.
  19. ↑ Emma 1, 1, 25. and 1,1,28.
  20. ↑ "[...] he was a very good looking young man; height, air, address, all were unexceptionable, […] he looked quick and sensible. "Emma 2,5,82. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 221.
  21. ↑ "Hum! just the trifling, silly fellow I took him for. "Emma 2,7,118. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 239.
  22. ↑ She “was a very old lady, almost past every thing but tea and quadrille. She lived in a very small way, and was considered with all the regard and respect which a harmless old lady, under such untoward circumstances, can excite. "Emma 1,3,36. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 29.
  23. ↑ She “enjoyed a most uncommon degree of popularity for a woman neither young, handsome, rich, nor married. Miss Bates stood in the very worst predicament in the world for having much of the public favor; and she had no intellectual superiority to make atonement to herself, or frighten those who might hate her, into outward respect. "Emma 1,3,36. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 29.
  24. ↑ "The simplicity and cheerfulness of her nature, her contented and grateful spirit, were a recommendation to every body and a mine of felicity to herself." Emma 1,3,37. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 29.
  25. ^ "And if I thought I should ever be like Miss Bates! so silly — so satisfied — so smiling — so prosing — so undistinguishing and unfastidious — and so apt to tell every thing relative to every body about me, I would marry to-morrow. "Emma 1,10,179.
  26. ↑ Emma 2,8,159.
  27. ↑ Emma 2, 2, 1–26.
  28. ↑ Emma 2, 8, 160 and 163.
  29. ↑ “Why she did not like Jane Fairfax might be a difficult question to answer; Mr. Knightley had once told her it was because she saw in her the really accomplished young woman, which she wanted to be thought herself [...]. "Emma 2,2,28. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 193.
  30. ↑ “Elton is a very good sort of man, and a very respectable vicar of Highbury, but not at all likely to make an imprudent match. He knows the value of a good income as well as any body. Elton may talk sentimentally, but he will act rationally. "Emma 1,8,137.
  31. ↑ "[...] but you will do well to consider whether it is so or not, and to regulate your behavior accordingly. I think your manners to encourage him. I speak as a friend, Emma. You had better look about you, and ascertain what you do, and what you mean to do. "Emma 1,13,236. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 132.
  32. ^ "The natural daughter of somebody." Emma 1, 3, 40. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 31.
  33. ↑ "Harriet certainly was not clever, but she had a sweet, docile, grateful disposition; was totally free from conceit; and only desiring to be guided by any one she looked up to. "Emma 1,4,48. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 35.
  34. ↑ "She would notice her; she would improve her; she would detach her from her bad acquaintance, and introduce her into good society; she would form her opinions and her manners. It would be an interesting, and certainly a very kind undertaking; highly becoming her own situation in life, her leisure, and powers. ”Emma 1,3,42–43. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 32.
  35. ↑ "I think her the very worst sort of companion that Emma could possibly have. She knows nothing herself, and looks upon Emma as knowing every thing. She is a flatterer in all her ways; and so much the worse, because undesigned. Her ignorance is hourly flattery. How can Emma imagine she has any thing to learn herself, while Harriet is presenting such a delightful inferiority? [...] Hartfield will only put her out of concept with all the other places she belongs to. "Emma 1,5,76. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 49.
  36. ^ "I never hear better sense from any one than Robert Martin. He always speaks to the purpose; open, straightforward, and very well judging. "Emma 1,8,123.
  37. ^ "Robert Martin's manners have sense, sincerity, and good-humor to recommend them; and his mind has more true gentility than Harriet Smith could understand. "Emma 1,8,136.
  38. ↑ "It [the letter of Robert Martin] was short, but expressed good sense, warm attachment, liberality, propriety, even delicacy of feeling." Emma 1,7,103.
  39. ↑ “What! think a farmer, (and with all his sense and all his merit Mr. Martin is nothing more,) a good match for my intimate friend! Not regret her leaving Highbury for the sake of marrying a man whom I could never admit as an acquaintance of my own! "Emma 1,8,128.
  40. ↑ Emma 1.8.
  41. ↑ "handsome, clever, and rich", Emma 1,1,1. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 11.
  42. ↑ “most affectionate, indulgent”, Emma 1,1,2. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 11.
  43. ↑ "the mildness of her temper," Emma 1,1,2. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 11.
  44. ↑ Jan Wilm : Only mistakes make a woman perfect. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 4th January 2020.
  45. ↑ “the greatest amusement in the world!” Emma 1,1,17. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 19.
  46. ↑ "Success Supposes endeavor. Your time has been properly and delicately spent, if you have been endeavoring for the last four years to bring about this marriage. […] But if, which I rather imagine, your making the match, as you call it, means only your planning it, […], why do you talk of success? […] You made a lucky guess; and that is all that can be said. ". Emma 1, 1, 18-19. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, pp. 19-20.
  47. ^ "Invite him to dinner, Emma, ​​and help him to the best of the fish and the chicken, but leave him to chuse his own wife. Depend upon it, a man of six or seven-and-twenty can take care of himself. "Emma 1,1,21. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 21.
  48. ↑ Jan Wilm: Only mistakes make a woman perfect. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 4th January 2020.
  49. ↑ "[...] whom were Mrs. and Miss Bates and Mrs. Goddard, three ladies almost always at the service of an invitation from Hartfield, and who were fetched and carried home so often that Mr. Woodhouse thought it no hardship for either James or the horses. Had it taken place only once a year, it would have been a grievance. "Emma 1,3,36. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, pp. 28–29.
  50. ↑ "[…] and where young ladies for enormous pay might be screwed out of health and into vanity — but a real, honest, old-fashioned boarding school, where a reasonable quantity of accomplishments were sold at a reasonable price, and where girls might be sent to be out of the way and scramble themselves into a little education, without any danger of coming back prodigies. "Emma 1,3,38. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 30.
  51. ↑ John Mullan: How Jane Austen's Emma changed the face of fiction. In: The Guardian. 5th December 2012.
  52. ↑ John Mullan: How Jane Austen's Emma changed the face of fiction. In: The Guardian. 5th December 2012.
  53. ↑ Jan Fergus : Composition and publication. In: Peter Sabor (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to 'Emma'. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2015, p. 11.
  54. ↑ Jan Fergus: Composition and publication. In: Peter Sabor (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to 'Emma'. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2015, pp. 11-12.
  55. ↑ La fine raillerie est une épine qui a conservé un peu de parfum de la fleur. Adolphe d'Houdetot : Dix Epines pour une fleur. Paris 1853, p. 83
  56. ↑ Jonathan Sachs: The historical context. In: Peter Sabor (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to 'Emma'. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2015, pp. 44-45.
  57. ↑ Emma 2,11,221.
  58. ↑ Jonathan Sachs: The historical context. In: Peter Sabor (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to 'Emma'. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2015, pp. 36-37 .; David M. Shapard: The Annotated Emma. New York 2012, p. 447.
  59. ↑ Emma 1,10,180.
  60. ↑ Jonathan Sachs: The historical context. In: Peter Sabor (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to 'Emma'. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2015, pp. 37-38.
  61. ↑ Jonathan Sachs: The historical context. In: Peter Sabor (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to 'Emma'. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2015, p. 48.
  62. ^ Jillian Heydt-Stevenson: Games, riddles and charades. In: Peter Sabor (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to 'Emma'. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2015, p. 151.
  63. ^ Jillian Heydt-Stevenson: Games, riddles and charades. In: Peter Sabor (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to 'Emma'. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2015, p. 150.
  64. ^ Jillian Heydt-Stevenson: Games, riddles and charades. In: Peter Sabor (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to 'Emma'. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2015, pp. 152-153.
  65. ↑ Emma 1,9,145.
  66. ↑ "In this age of literature, such collections on a very grand scale are not uncommon". Emma 1,9,145. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 85.
  67. ^ Jillian Heydt-Stevenson: Games, riddles and charades. In: Peter Sabor (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to 'Emma'. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2015, pp. 155-157.
  68. ↑ "A thousand vexatious thoughts would recur. Compliments, charades, and horrible blunders (...) ”. Emma 2,14,255. Translation: Jane Austen: Emma. Newly translated by Manfred Allié and Gabriele Kempf-Allié. Frankfurt 2019, p. 310.
  69. ^ Jillian Heydt-Stevenson: Games, riddles and charades. In: Peter Sabor (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to 'Emma'. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2015, p. 150.
  70. ^ Christian Grawe: Afterword. In: Jane Austen: Emma. Stuttgart 2016, p. 584.
  71. ^ Heritage Book Shop, ABAA, Tarzana, Ca, USA. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  72. ↑ Janet Todd : General Editor's Preface. In: Jane Austen: Emma . Cambridge Univ. Press, 2005. S. XXVIII.
  73. ↑ Paperback Revolution. Jane Austen in Tauchnitz Editions. Retrieved on August 15, 2017.
  74. ^ Christian Grawe: Afterword. In: Jane Austen: Emma. Stuttgart 2016, p. 585.
  75. ^ Gillian Dow: Translations. In: Peter Sabor (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to Emma. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2015, pp. 166-187.
  76. ↑ Emma (Youko Hanabusa) accessed September 4, 2017.