Mr. Knightley Quotes

“Were she prosperous, I could allow much for the occasional prevalence of the ridiculous over the good. Were she a woman of fortune, I would leave every harmless absurdity to take its chance, I would not quarrel with you for any liberties of manner. Were she your equal in situation – but, Emma, consider how far this is from being the case. She is poor; she has sunk from the comforts she was born to; and, if she live to old age, must probably sink more. Her situation should secure your compassion. It was badly done, indeed!…This is not pleasant to you, Emma – and it is very far from pleasant to me; but I must, I will, – I will tell you truths while I can; satisfied with proving myself your friend by very faithful counsel, and trusting that you will some time or other do me greater justice than you can do now.”

– Jane Austen

Emma, Chapter 43. Mr. Knightley delivers a strong but necessary reprimand to Emma for her sarcastic joke at the expense of Miss Bates. He points out how wrong it is for a person of privilege and wealth to use her wit to target a poor and helpless spinster. Serving as Emma’s moral compass, Mr. Knightley is known for his directness and honesty. A great deal older than her, he is not afraid to point out her flaws. He often acts as her guide and a moderator of the rash and impetuous side of her nature. The quote also highlights the precarious economic situation of women in the author’s time. Miss Bates has “sunk from the comforts she was born to” because she lost her financial security and social position after the death of her vicar father.

“It has sunk him, I cannot say how it has sunk him in my opinion. So unlike what a man should be! – None of that upright integrity, that strict adherence to truth and principle, that disdain of trick and littleness, which a man should display in every transaction of his life.”

– Jane Austen

Emma, Chapter 46. Emma expresses her profound disappointment in Frank Churchill, on learning of his secret engagement to Jane Fairfax and keeping the news from everyone including their families. When this news is delivered by Mrs. Weston at Randalls, Emma is shocked by Frank’s deceitfulness. But while she is talking about Frank in telling us what a man should be, she is actually describing Mr. Knightley. She is disparaging Frank because he is the polar opposite of Mr. Knightley, a man of integrity who disdains “trick and littleness.”

“Time, my dearest Emma, time will heal the wound. – Your own excellent sense – your exertions for your father’s sake – I know you will not allow yourself – .” Her arm was pressed again, as he added, in a more broken and subdued accent, “The feelings of the warmest friendship – Indignation – Abominable scoundrel!” – And in a louder, steadier tone, he concluded with, “He will soon be gone. They will soon be in Yorkshire. I am sorry for her. She deserves a better fate.”

– Jane Austen

Emma, Chapter 49. Almost all the conversation between Mr. Knightley and Emma in this chapter involves them misreading and misinterpreting one another. In this speech he consoles Emma over the news of Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax’s secret engagement. Mistakenly believing Emma to be romantically attached to Frank, he thinks the news is painful for her. What he doesn’t realize is that he is the one she loves.

“You will not ask me what is the point of envy. – You are determined, I see, to have no curiosity. – You are wise – but I cannot be wise. Emma, I must tell you what you will not ask, though I may wish it unsaid the next moment.”
“Oh! then, don’t speak it, don’t speak it,” she eagerly cried.

– Jane Austen

Emma, Chapter 49. Nearly everything that Emma and Mr. Knightley say to one another in this chapter is misinterpreted. Here she wrongly thinks that he is about to confide his affection for Harriet and tries to silence him. And he starts out believing Emma to be pained at the loss of Frank Churchill until she says she was never attached to him. The reality is that Mr. Knightley is about to change both of their lives by proposing to Emma.

“As a friend!” – repeated Mr. Knightley. – “Emma, that I fear is a word – No, I have no wish – Stay, yes, why should I hesitate? – I have gone too far already for concealment. – Emma, I accept your offer – Extraordinary as it may seem, I accept it, and refer myself to you as a friend. – Tell me, then, have I no chance of ever succeeding?” He stopped in his earnestness to look the question, and the expression of his eyes overpowered her.

– Jane Austen

Emma, Chapter 49. When Emma invites Mr. Knightley to speak to her openly as a friend, wrongly thinking he has affections for Harriet, it brings this emotional response from him. It is the beginning of Mr. Knightley’s declaration of love and proposal to Emma. He pleads with her on whether he has no chance of succeeding with her. Overwhelmed by the intensity of his words and gaze, she is rendered speechless, having completely misread him. Mr. Knightley struggling with words, the dashes, the unfinished sentences indicate a nervousness on his part. But they also convey the depth of his passion and sincerity of his affections for Emma.

“My dearest Emma,” said he, “for dearest you will always be, whatever the event of this hour’s conversation, my dearest, most beloved Emma – tell me at once. Say ‘No,’ if it is to be said.” – She could really say nothing. – “You are silent,” he cried, with great animation; “absolutely silent! at present I ask no more.” Emma was almost ready to sink under the agitation of this moment. The dread of being awakened from the happiest dream, was perhaps the most prominent feeling.

– Jane Austen

Emma, Chapter 49. Mr. Knightley overcomes his hesitation about sharing his feelings with Emma to declare his love for her. While hoping that she returns his feelings, he is met with a shocked Emma, who is stunned into silence by a mixture of joy and fear. As her “happiest dream” is realized, she is fearful that she might wake up and find that dream destroyed by reality. Mr. Knightley, not realizing Emma is in love with him, is expecting a negative response from her.

“I cannot make speeches, Emma…If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. – You hear nothing but truth from me. – I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it. – Bear with the truths I would tell you now, dearest Emma, as well as you have borne with them. The manner, perhaps, may have as little to recommend them. God knows, I have been a very indifferent lover. – But you understand me. – Yes, you see, you understand my feelings – and will return them if you can. At present, I ask only to hear, once to hear your voice.”

– Jane Austen

Emma, Chapter 49. The story reaches its romantic climax with Mr. Knightley’s declaration of love and proposal to Emma. His speech features some of the most romantic lines in the novel. A man of action rather than an eloquent master of words, Mr. Knightley is not given to dramatic gestures, verbose speech or ornate language. He has a reputation for being reserved and not openly expressing his feelings. But he overcomes these obstacles to convey his profound and unwavering love for Emma in language that is direct, sincere and honest. Mr. Knightley’s growth as a character is shown as he bares his heart to Emma. He admits his flaws, being an “indifferent lover” and not making his feelings known, while lecturing and blaming Emma on her faults.

“Mystery; Finesse – how they pervert the understanding! My Emma, does not every thing serve to prove more and more the beauty of truth and sincerity in all our dealings with each other?”

– Jane Austen

Emma, Chapter 51. Mr. Knightley’s comments to Emma could sum up the lesson of the novel. He believes in being honest and upfront. His remarks come as he reads Frank Churchill’s letter on his secret engagement to Jane Fairfax. He views Churchill as acting like a boy and playing a dangerous game.

“Playing a most dangerous game…no judge of his own manners…Always deceived in fact by his own wishes, and regardless of little besides his own convenience…boyish…I perfectly agreed with you sir…you did behave very shamefully. You never wrote a truer line.”

– Jane Austen

Emma, Chapter 51. These are Mr. Knightley’s critical reactions as he reads Frank Churchill’s letter on keeping his engagement to Jane Fairfax a secret. He believes Churchill to be dishonest, deceptive and immature in his behavior.

But the plan which had arisen on the sacrifice of this, he trusted his dearest Emma would not find in any respect objectionable; it was, that he should be received at Hartfield; that so long as her father’s happiness in other words his life – required Hartfield to continue her home, it should be his likewise.

– Jane Austen

Emma, Chapter 51. Showing how much he truly loves Emma, Mr. Knightley proposes that when they marry he leave his home in Dunwell Abbey and move into the Woodhouse residence of Hartfield. This is so that Emma’s father Mr. Woodhouse will not be disturbed by their marriage.
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