Emma Woodhouse Trivia Quiz

Answer: 20

From the very start of the book: "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich ... had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her."

Answer: False

Emma's mother had died when she was young, but her father was still alive. Mr Woodhouse was elderly and a hypochondriac, but adored Emma. They lived at Hartfield, a large house near the village of Highbury.

Answer: Isabella Knightley

Isabella is Emma's elder sister. She is married to Mr John Knightley, and lives in London. Because of this she rarely sees her sister, and plays a relatively minor part in the book. She is a pleasant character, though she is somewhat of a hypochondriac, much like her father.

Answer: Harriet Smith

Emma admires Harriet's pretty looks, and takes her under her wing. Mr Knightley disapproves of the friendship to begin with, as Harriet is "the natural daughter of nobody knew who" and was far too impressionable to have a good effect on Emma.

Answer: Miss Taylor

Miss Taylor had been Emma's governess for sixteen years. Their relationship was more one of sisters than one of governess and pupil. Emma is described as "highly esteeming Miss Taylor's judgment, but directed chiefly by her own." At the start of the novel she is celebrating her marriage to Mr Weston. She remained one of Emma's dearest friends.

Answer: Mr Elton

Emma wants to find a wife for the vicar. She thinks Harriet would be a good match, and convices her friend to fall in love with him. However, she misjudges Mr Elton's response, and makes Harriet unhappy.

Answer: Mr Elton

Mr Elton proposes to Emma in a most ungentlemanly way, after the Westons' Christmas party. Emma, believing him to be the admirer of her friend, is shocked and disgusted. Mr Elton's true character becomes more evident after this incident, and he is revealed to be a selfish, vain man.

Answer: music

After the party at the Coles', Emma "did unequivocally regret the inferiority of her own playing and singing... and practised vigorously an hour and a half." Jane Fairfax caused Emma to experience jealousy, though she would never have admitted it.

Answer: Emma did not want any of these matches

Emma boasted of having brought Mr and Mrs Weston together. She tried unsuccessfully to unite Harriet and Mr Elton, after disappoving of Harriet's fondness for Robert Martin. She then aimed to bring together Harriet and Mr Churchill. Jane and Frank were in love, unbeknown to Emma.

She was shocked by Mrs Weston's suggestion that Mr Knightley cared for Jane Fairfax, and even more so when Harriet told her that she was in love with Mr Knightley. This revelation made Emma realise the true extent of her own feelings for her oldest and dearest friend.

Answer: without speaking, in the garden at Hartfield

Emma has known Mr Knightley since she was a small child. Their relationship was always extremely close. He was devastated when he believed her to be in love with Frank Churchill, but eventually realised his error, and returned to Hartfield to propose.

At the crucial moment "he stopped in his earnestness to look the question, and the expression of his eyes overpowered her." Emma was almost overcome with emotion, and "was his own Emma, by hand and word, when they returned into the house." I love Jane Austen's understatement and low-key descriptions here.