Emma, when first published in 1816, was written when Jane Austen was at the height of her powers. In it, we have her two greatest comic creations – the eccentric Mr. Woodhouse and that quintissential bore, Miss Bates. In it, too, we have her most profound characterization: the witty, imaginative, self-deluded Emma, a heroine the author declared no one but myself will much like,
but who has been much loved by generations of readers.