Emma

Jane Austen's Emma is usually described as a novel of manners; it is a manual of behaviour so as to belong and succeed in polite society. Emma, the protagonist, is a young woman who initially gives advice on how to make a good match for marriage and yet ironically learns about herself, leading her to be happily matched somewhat unexpectedly. Property, ancestry and education are the essential tokens on display and for exchange in achieving the goal of a prosperous and happy marriage in a world of codified etiquette.