<b>Emma by Jane Austen</b>&nbsp;is a novel about youthful&nbsp;hubris&nbsp;and romantic misunderstandings, written by&nbsp;Jane Austen. It is set in the fictional country village of Highbury and the surrounding estates of Hartfield, Randalls and Donwell Abbey, and involves the relationships among people from a small number of families.<br /><br />The novel was first published in December 1815, with its title page listing a publication date of 1816. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in&nbsp;Georgian&ndash;Regency&nbsp;England.&nbsp;<i>Emma</i>&nbsp;is a&nbsp;comedy of manners, and depicts issues of&nbsp;marriage,&nbsp;sex,&nbsp;age, and&nbsp;social status.<br /><br />Before she began the novel, Austen wrote, &quot;I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.&quot; In the first sentence, she introduces the title character as &quot;Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and a happy disposition... had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.&quot;<br /><br />Emma is spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfied; she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities; she is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people&#39;s lives; and her imagination and perceptions often lead her astray.<br /><br /><i>Emma</i>, written after Austen&#39;s move to&nbsp;Chawton, was her last novel to be published during her lifetime, while&nbsp;<i>Persuasion</i>, the last complete novel Austen wrote, was published posthumously.