Listen to co-curator Juliette Wells discuss readers’ initial reactions to Emma.
READERS’ REVIEWS
Jane Austen’s concern with what her readers thought of her novels is evident from the responses she collected for both Mansfield Park and Emma. Visible on this page are comments on Emma from Captain Austen (Francis) and his wife; Anne Sharp, the friend who was formerly governess to Edward Knight’s children; Cassandra; Fanny Knight; Jane’s mother; and Martha Lloyd. Most compared Emma to Jane’s two previous novels, though they disagreed on which of the three they preferred.
Their views still provide food for thought: Do you concur with Fanny, who could not “bear Emma herself”? Are you, like Anne Sharp, “delighted with Mr. K[nightley]”? Perhaps, like Francis Austen, you appreciate Emma’s “air of Nature”: that is, its realism.
Jane Austen (1775–1817)
Opinions of Emma
Autograph manuscript, ca. 1816
British Library, London; Add MSS 41253A, fol. 9
Emma marks a turning point in Austen’s authorial career, as she chose a prestigious new publisher. Among John Murray’s distinguished authors were the bestselling novelist and poet Walter Scott and the notorious poet Lord Byron. At Murray’s prompting, Scott reviewed Emma (anonymously) for Murray’s periodical The Quarterly Review. Scott praised Austen for creating absorbing novels out of everyday events. You’ll see a quotation from that review later in this exhibition, excerpted on the Philadelphia publisher Mathew Carey’s “Advertisement” for his unauthorized reprint edition of Emma. No other review in Austen’s lifetime acknowledged the literary importance of her works. Instead, reviewers commended her for writing novels that provided useful moral instruction.
In the absence of much professional criticism, and lacking the acquaintance of other published novelists, Austen sought responses directly from readers whom she knew. Since no commentary from her survives regarding the range of opinions expressed here, we don’t know how useful this feedback actually was to her. In many cases, the responses chiefly reveal each individual reader’s tastes and preferences, much as reviews on social media sites do today.