Jane Austen penned six perfect novels, and today Emma turns 200. In honor of the heroine’s enduring popularity, here are the Top 5 observations made by our dear Ms. Woodhouse, illustrated by images from our Digital Collections:
“I always deserve the best treatment because I never put up with any other.”
Emma is introduced to us as “handsome, clever, rich,” and she thinks being adored is her birthright. She doesn’t question her social status any more than her hair color. To her, life is a dream — and we're just living in it.
“As if.”
OK, so Alicia Silverstone wasn’t technically an Emma. But she was definitely a Betty. Clueless follows the plot of the book to a T, and Emma’s irreverent, self-absorbed attitude is captured in her catchphrase with an L.A. twist. For a translation of Cher's Valley Girl quotes into Emma's winesome prose, check out this post by Tracy O'Neal.
“Without music, life would be a blank to me.”
Emma is a girl who loves the more genteel things in life: painting, riding, and tea parties with her friends. To her, life is a series of happy, easy exchanges within Britain’s best. Which is what makes it so funny when she makes these “profound” declarations about how life should be lived.
“Wickedness is always wickedness, but folly is not always folly.”
Emma may be a busybody, an ingenue, and a silly girl, but she isn’t wicked. Even when she meddles in her friends’ business and makes a mess of their love lives, she means well. She also has the ability to recognize her own folly, which is a redeeming quality.
“If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.”
Emma has a flare for the melodramatic, but here she’s being over-the-top and surprisingly sincere. After so many pages of frivolity, it’s heartwarming to see Emma express real, deep emotion toward Mr. Knightly. And we are left rooting for their happily ever after.