Emma: First Reaction

In the beginning chapters of the novel, Emma seems incredibly spoiled and elitist, but not stupid. Emma seems to come by some of this self-centeredness naturally: her father, Mr. Woodhouse thinks his daughter  is perfect, and he seems to have weird views on proper behavior that he believes everyone else should follow (like not eating wedding cake), and does not always fully understand what people around him are saying or thinking. 

So far, I am finding it hard to like Emma that much. She seems pretty shallow. For instance, she likes Harriet Smith because she is beautiful, and cares a lot about status and how much money people have. I can't tell if Austen is creating Emma as a caricature of what people in the time imagined elite women to be like, because Emma definitely doesn't seem realistic or a complex person. Emma seems to think that she should control everyone around her. One positive is that she seems to be able to care about others. She is tolerant of her father's idiosyncrasies, and although she is sad for herself, she seems happy that her governess/friend Miss Taylor got married.

I didn't know anything about Jane Austen, so didn't have many expectations. I don't think I expected there to be so many chapters about so little. This definitely isn't like Othello, which had lots of action and less introspection.