Character

A kind and compassionate person, Mr. Knightley exhibits good judgement, high moral character
and maturity in contrast to Emma's still-maturing character: as a hero, he also has presence and
authority, and a natural lifelike quality.[2] The most hard-working of Austen's heroes, he is also
the least grand and ostentatious, not even keeping a pair of carriage horses. As the owner of the
largest estate in the area (Donwell Abbey) this makes his down to earth manners all the more
remarkable.[3] Despite a certain sharpness of tongue,[4] his genuine qualities are revealed for
example by his disappointment when he sees Emma insult Miss Bates, a spinster of modest
means. Mr. Knightley's reprimand of Emma for this insult also demonstrates his affection and
esteem for her as a friend. Another revealing incident is his anger with Emma for persuading
Harriet Smith to refuse Robert Martin's proposal of marriage, Martin being in Knightley's eyes
an eminently suitable husband for Harriet: the row that follows leaves the pair estranged for a
time.[5] But while in some respects serving as a conduct book mentor for Emma,[6] Knightley
learns from his own desire for Emma and his jealousy-fuelled blunders[7] - which brings the
characters into a more realistic, egalitarian relationship, just as in their marriage her money will
complement his role as the leading local landowner.[8]

Role in narrative

In the course of the story, Emma believes that she falls briefly in love with a young, handsome
man named Frank Churchill. Mr. Knightley's jealousy of the latter is gradually uncovered:[9] he
makes several negative remarks about Churchill, and is concerned that Frank has had a negative
influence on Emma, but later admits that, because of jealousy, "I was not quite impartial in my
judgement...My Emma".[10] Frank Churchill's guardian—his aunt—dies, and he is now free to
publicise his engagement to Jane Fairfax, which had been kept secret to avoid his aunt's
disapproval. Emma is shocked, but realises she had never really had romantic sentiments towards
Frank Churchill. Nevertheless, she worries that Harriet has feelings for Frank, but soon discovers
that Harriet has become infatuated with Mr. Knightley.

Emma becomes very unhappy; finally it dawns on her that she loves Mr. Knightley—and has for
a time, apparently unconsciously[11]—and is distressed as she believes Mr. Knightley and Harriet
to be on the verge of marriage. Mr. Knightley is in London, visiting his brother and sister-in-law
John and Isabella Knightley, when he is apprised of Churchill's clandestine engagement. He
decided to return to Hartfield to offer support to Emma, whom he believes to be in love with Mr.
Churchill. On the spur of the moment, after finding this to be untrue, he declares his love to
Emma and asks her to marry him, and she accepts. Harriet and Robert Martin marry; Jane
Fairfax and Frank Churchill plan a November wedding. Within a month, Emma and Mr.
Knightley marry and, because Mr. Woodhouse cannot face life without his daughter, Mr.
Knightley gallantly moves in with Emma and her father at the Woodhouse estate, Hartfield.[12]

MR. KNIGHTLEY

Mr. Knightley is introduced as a "a sensible man" (p. 31), good sense being a positive quality in
Austen. He obviously served as Emma's mentor and moral guide, being "one of the few people
who could see faults in Emma Woodhouse, and the only one who ever told her of them" (p. 32).
He bluntly told her she had drawn Harriet too tall, a charge she knew to be true but refused to
acknowledge. Throughout the novel, he pointed out her lapses, like her neglect of Jane Fairfax
and Miss Bates and her cruel treatment of Miss Bates at Box Hill. How effective a mentor and
moral guide was he? Did he significantly affect Emma's behavior and her attitudes? Emma
acknowledged his influence in counteracting "the indulgence of other people" and confessed that
"I was very often influenced by you—oftener than I would own at the time. I am very sure you
did me good" (p. 394). He, however, seemed to have doubts about his guidance:

"My interference was quite as likely to do harm as to do good. It was very natural for you to say,
'What right has he to lecture me?' and I am afraid very natural for you to feel that it was done in a
disagreeable manner. I do not believe I did you any good. The good was all to myself, by making
you an object of the tenderest affection to me. I could not think about you so much without
doting on you, faults and all, and by dint of fancying so many errors, have been in love with you
ever since you were thirteen at least." (p. 394)

Despite such misgivings, many readers see him as perfect or infallible; he is, for them, Austen's
spokesman and the embodiment of her social ideal. Living up to his name, he was consistently
kind and considerate toward the Bates family, sending his last apples for Jane, using his carriage
to bring Jane and Miss Bates to the Coles' dinner, and offering to run errands for Miss Bates. He
chivalrously danced with Harriet to rescue her from the Eltons' malice.

Other readers see him as fallible because he is not necessarily or consistently guided by reason.
Their most compelling evidence is his jealousy of Frank Churchill:

 When Emma and he discussed Frank's deferred visits, the principles by which he
condemned Frank were valid, "There is one thing, Emma, which a man can always do if
he chooses, and that is his duty; not by manoeuvring and finessing, but by vigour and
resolution" (p. 141) and "Respect for right conduct is felt by everybody" (p. 142). These
are fundamental principles for Austen. Frank's subsequent behavior justified Knightley's
disapproval. On the surface, Mr. Knightley's objections to Frank appeared to be
reasonable.

However, his vehement condemnation of Frank suggested that he was guided by some
intense emotion rather than just reason. He became so annoyed that Emma changed the
subject and was surprised that his high opinion of himself "could make him unjust to the
merit of another" (p. 145). Later he himself acknowledged his initial bias and jealousy, "I
was not quite impartial in my judgement, Emma; but yet, I think, had you not been in the
case, I should still have distrusted him" (pp. 380-81). And the narrator is explicit about
his "long-standing jealousy, old as the arrival or even the expectation of Frank Churchill"
(370), suggesting that his realization of his jealousy might have enlightened him about his
love for Emma.

 He disagreed with Mrs. Weston and Emma about Frank's handwriting, which he found
feminine.
 He was prepared to accept Miss Bates' invitation to come up and join Emma and Mrs.
Weston—until he heard that Frank was also present.
 Once he knew Emma loved him, his opinion of Frank immediately became more
favorable, even though Frank's character had the same flaws and much of Frank's
behavior was still reprehensible.
Critics of Mr. Knightey also cite, as proof of his fallibility, his initial rejection of Harriet, which
they claim was hasty and based on insufficient evidence. As a result of taking the time to talk to
her, he discovered that she was "an artless, amiable girl, with very good notions, very seriously
good principles, and placing her happiness in the affections and utilty of domestic life" (p. 404).
Some minor examples of his faulty reasoning may perhaps be attributed to his love for Emma: he
ascribed many of Harriet's good traits to Emma's influence, and he regarded Emma as "faultless
in spite of all her faults" (p. 371).