| Emma Woodhouse | |
|---|---|
| Emma character | |
%27_(11299328635)_(cropped).jpg) Emma in an illustration by Hugh Thomson from an 1896 edition of the novel | |
| In-universe information | |
| Family | Mr Woodhouse (father) Mrs Woodhouse (mother) |
| Spouse | Mr George Knightley |
| Relatives | Isabella (sister) |
| Home | Hartfield |
Emma Woodhouse is the 21-year-old titular protagonist of Jane Austen's 1815 novel Emma. She is described in the novel's opening sentence as "handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and a happy disposition... and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her." Jane Austen, while writing the novel, called Emma, "a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like."
Emma is an independent, wealthy woman who lives with her father in their home Hartfield in the English countryside near the Surrey village of Highbury. The novel concerns her attempts to be a matchmaker among her acquaintances, and her own romantic misadventures.
Emma professes that she does not ever wish to marry (unless she falls very much in love); she has no financial need to because she has a large inheritance, and does not wish to leave her father alone. After a series of new engagements, visits at Highbury, and much miscommunication, Emma finds herself in love with her neighbour and sister's brother-in-law George Knightley.