Emma

• "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich" — and convinced she's a brilliant matchmaker. She's wrong about almost everything • Emma decides Harriet Smith (a pretty, dim, lower-class girl) should marry Mr. Elton (the vicar). She sabotages Harriet's genuine match with Robert Martin • Mr. Elton doesn't want Harriet — he proposes to EMMA in a carriage. Humiliation for everyone • Frank Churchill arrives: charming, flattering, apparently interested in Emma. She thinks she's in love • Jane Fairfax also arrives: talented, reserved, and everything Emma should be but isn't. Emma dislikes her out of jealousy • Emma suspects Jane is having an affair with Mr. Dixon (a married man). She gossips about it with Frank Churchill • Box Hill picnic: Emma publicly insults Miss Bates (a good-natured, impoverished spinster who talks too much). Mr. Knightley rebukes her: "Were she your equal in situation — but, Emma, consider how far this is from being the case" • THE twist: Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax have been secretly engaged the entire time. Frank was using Emma as cover • Emma realizes: she doesn't love Frank. She loves MR. KNIGHTLEY — and always has. But she's pushed Harriet toward him • Harriet reveals she thinks Knightley loves HER. Emma is devastated — and finally sees what her meddling has wrought • Knightley proposes. He's loved Emma all along. Harriet marries Robert Martin (who she should have married from the start) • The novel's moral: knowing yourself is harder than knowing others. Emma is wrong about everyone because she's wrong about herself