First off, I have always been a fan of Jane Austen and was very excited to read Emma. The novel so far is what I expected and is very interesting, and thank god for that because otherwise, it would take much longer to read. As much as I love this nool, I do not feel the same way about the main character, Emma.
She is nothing like most protagonists I've encountered. Emma is very controlling and projects herself onto others. Afraid of falling in love, she places the responsibilities of love and marriage onto Harriet, an orphan she recently met. Immature and irresponsible in her own life, she fails to be realistic in her goals for Harriet. With only thoughts of romance and high social status, she readily throws away guaranteed love and happiness for Harriet and Mr. Martin because she wants Harriet to marry a more well known "gentlemen". She fails to take into account Harriet's status as well as her feelings and only acts on her own.
Besides that, the novel is very interesting and is definitely not as simple as some think. I, too, love Clueless and can associate characters in the book with those in the movie while reading and enjoy seeing the difference between the novel and movie adaptation.
Noelle,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. As much as I was excited to read a Jane Austen novel, I have found that I really don't like Emma. She's manipulative and believes the mean-spirited things she does are for the good of others. She doesn't take into account anyone else's opinions and believes she is always right, even about others' emotions and feelings. She's not very likable, but I think that's one of the things that makes her interesting. It's not that often that you read a book where you don't like the main character. As frustrating and infuriating as Emma is, she's really interesting to read about and I'm looking forward to watching her journey throughout this novel.