Emma Woodhouse, an intelligent young woman, believes she can manage other people's lives better than she does her own. In an attempt at matchmaking, she interferes in the affairs of her young protégée, Harriet Smith, a pretty and foolish orphan. However, Emma's meddling and lack of foresight creates complications in her own life.A comedy of manners and a critique of the social structure of eighteenth-century England, Emma was Austen's fourth published novel.