First published in December, 1815, Emma is, on its surface, a story about the perils of misconstrued romance, Underlying that plot, author Jane Austen deals with the concerns and difficulties of women's lives in Georgian-Regency England. This comedy of manners, an austen favorite, plays out among her characters, each of whom would justify himself or herself as adhering to the highest standards of polite manners -- even when, for some, their actual behaviors miss those standards by an English country mile..