... already seems a tangle of relationships, right from the outset. With lively, contrasting characters, and a theme of marriage, one can already see the misunderstandings that could arise, before even opening the book. Walter Scott, one of Emma's first critics, found the novel to have "even less of a story" than Sense and Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice, yet still admired her "knowledge of the world, and the peculiar tact with which she presents characters that ... the readers cannot fail to recognize." True, the storyline has a seeming lack of action, but ... ...

• Word Count: 817
• Approx Pages: 3

... she did not publish until 1811, when Sense and Sensibility appeared anonymously, followed by Pride and Prejudice (1813) and Mansfield Park (1814). Emma, which appeared in 1816, was the last novel published during Austen's lifetime. (Northanger Abbey and Persuasion appeared posthumously.) Austen's identity as a novelist was not revealed until after her death, and her novels received little critical or popular recognition ... in early-nineteenth-century rural England. Emma possesses a great deal of intelligence and energy, but the best use she can find to make of these is to attempt to gui...

• Word Count: 4896
• Approx Pages: 20