Emma

This year, Masterpiece Theater remade Jane's Austen's classic novel Emma. Given my love for the adaptation starring Gwyneth Paltrow and my love for Masterpiece Theater, I was intrigued to see what this new adaptation would hold. As usual, my expectations were surpassed. In fact, I was even inspired to read the book.

As for the book, I could not put it down. As expected, Austen's writing style is so enchanting and pleasant that I enjoyed every part immensely. But I was surprised by how unlikeable the title character is even from the very first page. Emma is rich, spoiled, and a know-it-all. "The real evils indeed of Emma's situation were the power of having rather too much of her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself: these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her enjoyments. The danger, however, was at present so unperceived, that they did not by any means rank as misfortunes with her" (page 3). Emma is blinded by selfishness and arrogance, and her immaturity would be unbearable in the hands of a less capable writer. Emma actually reminds me a little of a middle school girl: totally self-absorbed and frivolous and wholly unaware that this is a problem. Thankfully Emma's respect for a very reasonable man, Mr. Knightley, and his unwillingness to let her get away with being selfish and frivolous leads her to true transformation and growth in the end. Mr. Knightley's rebuke and his famous line ("It was badly done indeed!") are perfectly timely and to the point. It took the voice of reason in the form of Mr. Knightley to shake Emma out of her self-absorption and teach her compassion for others. This is a beautifully internal coming of age story. The recent adaptation perfectly captures the character of Emma, who you simultaneously do not like yet are rooting for. I have told people that the real Emma is actually much less like Gwyneth Paltrow and much more like Alicia Silverstone in Clueless.

The movie also captures the unpleasantness of all the unpleasant characters like the slimy Mr. Elton and his chatty, pretentious wife. I also loved the movie's portrayal of Mr. Woodhouse, Emma's father. Since he was not a major character in the past adaptation, I had no idea how funny and rich a character he was. Mr. Woodhouse is paranoid about his own failing health so he projects those health concerns on to others. For example, because wedding cake gives him indigestion, he stands by the wedding cake at the Taylor's wedding and tries to convince people not to eat it and tells his doctor that he tried to talk the family out of having cake at the wedding--hilarious! The only complaint I have was that I think that Miss Bates was not as awkward as she could have been.

Overall, the new Masterpiece adaptation and the book, Emma, are definitely worth your time. I give them both a 9 out of 10.