Emma Woodhouse has the world at her fingertips. Sheâs young, pretty, and smart; she also happens to be the reigning queen of her villageâs social scene. Emma lives in Highbury, a small town about sixteen miles outside of London, with her aging father. Mr. Woodhouse loves Emma, but heâs utterly unable to offer her any guidanceâwhich is perhaps why Emma doesnât seem to have any sense of her own limitations. Life seems pretty sweetâif a bit boringâand so Emma decides to spice things up by taking on a protĂ©gĂ©, Harriet Smith. Even though Emmaâs determined never to marry herself, she immediately decides to find Harriet a husband.
Before she began the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like." In the very first sentence she introduces the title character as "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich." Emma, however, is also rather spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfied; she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities; she is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people's lives, and her imagination and perceptions often lead her astray.