Emma is an original movie.
Jane Austen 's Emma is an adaptation of the 1815 novel of the same name . It was adapted for the British television network ITV in 1996 , directed by Diarmuid Lawrence and dramatised by Andrew Davies , the same year as Miramax 's film adaptation of Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow . Emma , by Jane Austen , is a novel about youthful hubris and the perils of misconstrued romance . Emma ( or Emma : A Play in Two Acts about Emma Goldman , American Anarchist , its full title ) is a play by historian and playwright Howard Zinn ( 1922 -- 2010 ) .