Matchmaking classic 'Emma' is up next

Austen

In the 1995 film "Clueless," moviegoers saw the adorable and slightly obnoxious Cher (played by Alicia Silverstone) flit around her father's luxurious Beverly Hills mansion, make over a frumpy classmate, and engage in various matchmaking plans that weren't always successful. Silverstone's character was thoroughly over-the-top at times, and yet there was something endearing about her that kept audiences watching.

Who would have thought the inspiration for this Hollywood blockbuster came from a novel penned in the English countryside almost 200 years ago.

Yep, believe it, "Clueless" is only one of several films based on Jane Austen's classic novel "Emma," the Sunday Book Club's October selection.

" Emma," the 19th-century version, is what is referred to in literary circles as a "novel of manners." It is the story of Emma Woodhouse, an affluent young woman whose chief concern is the importance of a proper marriage, both for herself and her friends. The novel is a lighthearted tale of romantic mishaps, social observation and English society.

Austen herself provides the best description of her heroine in the novel's opening sentence:

" Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessing of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her."

Coincidentally, Austen's masterpiece was published the same year Charlotte Bronte, the author of "Jane Eyre," was born. And the romance and comedy of "Emma" is far removed from the gothic passion of Bronte's Rochester and Jane. Yet both novels are considered among the best in English literature. The contrasts (and maybe similarities) between the two will surely generate a great deal of discussion for book club members.

To contact Regina C. Davis, use e-mail or call 348-7936.