The village of Highbury provides a splendid setting for the emotional and moral education of Emma Woodhouse, a heroine who, though handsome, clever, and rich, is at fault for thinking a little too well of herself. The last novel which Jane Austen lived to see through press, Emma represents most tellingly the qualities for which Austen is admired--her wit, irony, realism, vivid characterization, moral seriousness, and faultless control of tone and narrative method.
