Emma
(Jane Austen)

Short Synopsis

Emma Woodhouse, a young gentlewoman living with her father in Highbury, has always managed to get her own way. She prides herself on matching people for future marriage and spending time with those she wants to. When she makes friends with Harriet Smith, an orphan with no idea who her parents were, Emma sees a new project and begins to improve her. Over the course of the novel, Emma is concerned with finding a good match in marriage for Harriet while other secrets and schemes unfold around her, including one that will lead Emma to her own marriage.

Detailed Synopsis

Emma Woodhouse is a young, attractive, witty and rich woman living with her father, who is always concerned about his and his loved ones' health. Emma's old governess, Miss Taylor, has just married and become Mrs. Weston, which Mr. Woodhouse and Emma are upset about. Emma wonders who she will be able to spend time with now that her friend has left Hartfield. When Mr. Knightley, a family friend, comes to visit, Emma announces that she was responsible for the marriage match between Miss Taylor and Mr. Weston. Mr. Knightley does not believe she was responsible for anything—she may have thought it was a good idea, but she did not actually do anything. Emma decides she likes match-making and considers she will do it again. Mr. Knightley advises her against it.

Emma finds a new friend in Harriet Smith, an orphan who does not know who her parents were. Emma believes that Harriet must be the daughter of a gentleman and takes her on as her new project. She advises Harriet against accepting a marriage proposal from Mr. Robert Martin, who is a farmer Harriet spent time with during the Summer. Although Harriet wants to accept the proposal, she follows Emma's advice and refuses him. Mr. Knightley is sorry that Emma has manipulated Harriet—he thought they would make a splendid couple.

Emma decides that Mr. Elton, the Vicar, would be a perfect candidate for Harriet and manipulates the two into spending time together. Emma is pleased that Mr. Elton has started to show affection for Harriet and is sure that a proposal will be coming soon. During both a painting session and when Mr. Elton hands them a riddle, Emma can see that he is in love with Harriet. However, when Harriet is sick and cannot attend a party, Emma is left alone with him in a carriage on the way home. The suspicions of others that Mr. Elton is, in fact, in love with Emma are made a reality when Mr. Elton asks Emma to marry him. Disgusted, Emma refuses him. She tells him she thought he would ask Harriet to marry him. Mr. Elton is insulted that she thinks he would stoop so low in marriage—Harriet is his social inferior. Mr. Elton leaves Highbury, and Harriet is heartbroken. Emma decides to take a step back from influencing and match-making in people's lives and has to take care of Harriet, who is still in love with Mr. Elton.

Frank Churchill, Mr. Weston's son from his first marriage, finally arrives in Highbury to pay his respects to his father and new wife. The entire neighbourhood buzzes with talk of him, and Emma is sure that most, including the Westons, consider Emma and Frank to be a good match. While Mr. Knightley takes an instant dislike to him, Emma fancies she might be in love with Frank. She is pleased by his attention to her and encourages him. Jane Fairfax has also arrived in Highbury. Emma has known her since they were young and dislikes her because she is better accomplished than Emma despite her inferior standing. Jane is at Highbury because she has refused to go to Ireland with the Campbell family, who she has been living and studying to become a governess with, and Emma suspects that something else is going on. When a pianoforte for Jane arrives, Emma believes that Mr. Dixon, whom one of the Campbell sisters had just married, is in love with Jane and has sent the pianoforte and endeavours to find out for herself. When she suggests that this is her theory to Frank, he teases her out in the open to try and make her blush. Emma and Jane play the piano at a party, and Emma is surprised to see that Frank and Jane not only know one another, but have also sung together before. They end the party with a few dances. Emma and Frank dance with one another and Emma is more positive than ever that he is in love with her.

Frank suggests that they should hold a dance, which Emma and the others all agree to. While initial plans are to hold it at Randalls, with the Westons hosting, they find that there is not enough room for all the couples they want to invite. The Crown Inn is then suggested as a possible location and after persuading Mr. Woodhouse that it would be far better for his health to be there than at Randalls, everyone agrees to it. Emma is worried that Frank will be called back by Mrs. Churchill, his controlling Aunt, before the dance can occur, and her worst fears come true. Frank has to leave for Enscombe, and the dance is forgotten.

Mr. Elton returns from Bath with a wife, the former Miss Hawkins, who is not from a family of good standing, but has a fortune behind her. Emma dislikes her immediately because she is self important and has no manners and the two do not get along well. Mrs. Elton decides to take Jane under her wing because she does not feel it is fair for a woman as accomplished as her to not be a governess in a great home.

News that Frank is to return to Highbury reaches Emma. She decides that she is no longer in love with him and that she must not encourage him when he returns if he appears to still be in love with her. She is still determined to never marry, particularly for her father's sake. Emma is pleased that Frank does not seem so attracted to her, and—especially later, after he rescues Harriet from a group of gypsies—believes he might be a good match for Harriet. Frank begs them to hold the dance again now that he and the Churchills are much closer geographically, and the date is set. Mrs. Elton expects to begin the dancing, but Mrs. Weston had wanted to give the honour to Emma. Emma dances with Frank. While dancing, Emma watches Mr. Elton insult Harriet by asking others to dance and then claiming he did not dance when it was suggested he do so with Harriet. Mrs. Elton, clearly in on the scheme, was delighted with his behaviour. Mr. Knightley, who disliked dancing a great deal, asked Harriet to dance with him. Emma is grateful to him.

Harriet tells Emma she is not in love with Mr. Elton anymore and burns things she had kept that had reminded her of him. Emma wondered when her relationship with Frank might start, especially after the rescue from the gypsies. Later, after going for a walk, most of Highbury society end up at Hartfield playing a game of unscrambling letters. Frank and Emma delight in the creation of “Dixon” and “blunder” and Jane is upset. Mr. Knightley suggests that Frank and Jane might have an understanding, but Emma denies it. Harriet hints that she is in love with someone else who has helped her in the past and made her happy. Emma tells her not to mention his name, assuming they are both talking about the same person and tells her to watch for his behaviour to see how he truly feels about her. Emma is hopeful that Frank and Harriet will end up together, especially as it will outdo her match between Mr. and Mrs. Weston.

Mrs. Elton, disappointed that her sister and brother-in-law have put off their visit, decides to go and explore Box Hill, a nearby area in Surrey. Emma also wants to go, having never been herself, but when it is suggested by the Westons that they go as one group, Emma is upset. She accepts, however, and plans are made. A horse becomes lame, which delays their journey, and Mr. Knightley jokingly suggests that they all come to his home to pick strawberries. Everyone agrees that it is a good idea, and Mrs. Elton tries to take over the planning for the event. Mr. Knightley puts her in her place. The horse recovers quickly, and they decide to go to Box Hill on the following day. The day at Donwell with Mr. Knightley is a nice one, but Frank has not arrived. Emma overhears Mrs. Elton pushing Jane to accept a governesses position with a family friend of hers, but Jane is determined not to take employment until the Campbells have returned. Emma feels sorry for her. While taking care of her father so that Mrs. Weston could wander around the gardens, Jane asks her to give her goodbyes to everyone. She wants to escape Mrs. Elton's clutches while she can. Emma agrees to do so. Shortly after, Frank arrives. Mrs. Churchill was sick and kept him late. He is hot and angry because of the heat, and Emma has to send him away to cool down. She asks him to come to Box Hill with them the next day, and while he refuses to at first, he finally agrees to it. Emma is considering falling in love and marrying him after all, as this is what is expected of her.

The day at Box Hill is not a success as everyone is grumpy and tired and splits into separate groups of friends. Emma has noticed Mr. Knightley is taking considerable care with Harriet as well as Jane, and she is pleased Knightley has changed his impression of Harriet. Emma and Frank tease and flirt with one another in front of the group, and Emma insults Miss Bates with a cruel comment about her never-ending discussions. Although Miss Bates continues to think of Emma as a kind, gentle lady, Mr. Knightley tells her off. Emma is suitably ashamed and cries the whole way home to Hartfield. Frank leaves Highbury the next day because his Aunt, Mrs. Churchill, demands him to, and Emma finds that she is not in love with him as she thought. She is determined to make a match between Harriet and Frank when he returns.

In the meantime, Mrs. Weston suggests that Mr. Knightley and Jane are in love, but Emma denies it. She does not want Mr. Knightley to marry so that her nephew, Henry, will inherit, but she cannot say she has not noticed his attentions to Jane. He has even suggested on several occasions that she should be nicer to Jane, particularly because she is not as lucky as Emma is. Emma decides to visit Miss Bates the following morning to apologize for her behaviour. During this visit, Emma discovers that Jane is ill and has agreed to take a position as governess at a Mrs. Smallridge's. Mrs. Elton was pivotal in securing the position, but it was a surprise that Jane agreed to it. While Emma is happier for having done so, Mr. Knightley does not seem to have forgiven her. He respects her for the visit, but does not talk to her for more than five minutes before leaving for London.

News that Frank's Aunt has died reaches Highbury. Emma is secretly hopeful that this will pave the way for Frank's engagement to Harriet not that no one in his family could stop him. Emma tries to help Jane by encouraging her to go for a walk and sends her things to help her health. Jane rejects all of her attempts and Emma is at a loss for what to do. The next day, Mr. and Mrs. Weston reveal that Frank is engaged to Jane and has been secretly engaged to her since before he came to Highbury. They are relieved to discover there was no agreement between Emma and Frank, and that she was not in love with him. She is, however, angry that he flirted with her so openly if he was engaged. Frank has promised to explain everything to them in a letter but had to comfort his newly widowed father first. Emma was also sorry to have persuaded Harriet into falling for and hoping for Frank's interest. She dreads Harriet's visit but is surprised to find that Harriet is not upset at all. Emma pushes for reasons why Frank's engagement has not upset her, and Harriet is surprised and insulted that Emma thought the man she was thinking of was Frank. She is in love with a far superior man: Mr. Knightley. She is sure that Mr. Knightley cares for her too, and provides evidence from the dance, paying more attention to her, asking her if she had anyone she cared about and staying half an hour with her at Hartfield but only five minutes with Emma. Emma is shocked—more shocked than she has ever been that Harriet would reach so high above her station, but knows that this is her own doing. Harriet leaves Emma alone, who suddenly realizes that she has been in love with Mr. Knightley all along! Emma hopes that Mr. Knightley will never marry—even if he asks her, she will have to refuse him so that her father is not left alone. It would be better if they stayed the way they are.

In the meantime, Mrs. Weston talks to Jane about the engagement. She sends her thanks to Emma for her kindness, and Emma is afraid that she has caused Jane a lot of pain in the past. She considers that if she had sought Jane out as a friend instead of Harriet then she wouldn't be in this mess. Mr. Knightley returns to Highbury and walks in the garden with Emma. Emma thinks he is plucking up the courage to announce his intention to marry Harriet, and she cannot stand it. Mr. Knightley asks her if she is disappointed by Frank's engagement and suggests that time will heal her wounds. Emma insists she never loved Frank. Mr. Knightley asks Emma to marry him, which she agrees to. He has been in love with her for a long time and reveals his fear that she would marry Frank sent him away to London. When he heard that Frank and Jane were engaged, his hope returned, and he rode home through the rain. Emma decides not to tell her father until the time is right to prevent him from getting upset.

The much awaited letter from Frank arrives and details everything that he had had to keep a secret. He apologizes for the pain he has caused Jane and Emma, and explains that he was sure Emma did not love him which is why he used her to hide his engagement from Jane. Jane had broken off the engagement after Frank continued to flirt with Emma in front of her, and this is why she pushed Emma way and took the governess position. Although this does not excuse his behaviour, Emma thinks the letter is a well written one and understands why Frank did what he did. Emma writes to Harriet to tell her about her engagement to Mr. Knightley and suggests that she go to stay with her sister, Isabella, in London for a few weeks. Harriet agrees to do so under the guise of a trip to the dentists, and Emma is happy to not have her in Highbury. Emma announces she will not marry Mr. Knightley until after her father has died to prevent causing him pain or moving him. Mr. Knightley suggests that he move to Hartfield so that they can all stay together.

Emma pays a visit to Jane to see how she is and finds Mrs. Elton there thinking she is the only one who knows Jane's secret. Jane and Emma start to make friends, and Emma discovers that Jane has refused Mrs. Smallridge's governess position. After the mourning period, Frank will take Jane back to Enscombe, and they will be married. Mrs. Weston safely gives birth to a little girl, and Emma decides to announce her engagement to Mr. Knightley to her father. They both comfort him and insist that they will not be leaving Hartfield, and although Mr. Woodhouse is upset to begin with, he soon warms up to the idea. Everyone aside from the Eltons thought the match was a good one, and wished the couple well.

Mr. Knightley received word from his brother that Mr. Martin had asked Harriet to marry him again, and this time she had accepted. Emma tries not to show her happiness too much so he won't suspect her, but she is overjoyed that she will not have to deal with Harriet longing for Mr. Knightley. Mr. Knightley is surprised that Emma's opinion of the match has changed, and she admits that she didnot judge Mr. Martin or Harriet correctly. Mr. Knightley admits he misjudged Harriet—he had made a concerted effort to get to know her recently and congratulated Emma on transforming her into a fairly accomplished and reasonable girl. Emma is pleased by his compliments. Frank returns to Highbury, and he and Emma talk about their past tricks and manipulations. All is forgiven between them.

Harriet and Mr. Martin were the first to be married, and Emma knew that she would not be able to spend much time with her anymore because of her social status. Her past is discovered: Harriet is the daughter of a tradesman, and Emma is pleased that none of her match-making plots actually worked. Jane and Frank left for Enscombe to be married. Emma and Mr. Knightley finally married after persuading Mr. Woodhouse into letting them do so, and everyone was happy for the couple.