Emma
Mr. Knightley
Emma's honest friend
The owner of Donwell Abbey and the one person who tells Emma the plain truth. He is steady, fair and kinder than he first appears.
George Knightley is the master of Donwell Abbey, the older brother of John Knightley, and a long-standing friend of the Woodhouse family. He is honorable, sensible and frank, and he visits Hartfield often. He is the only person in Highbury willing to tell Emma when she is wrong, which he does with a mix of teasing and real concern.
He is also generous in practical ways. He supports Robert Martin, his tenant, respects honest work, and is patient with Mr. Woodhouse's fears. Knightley says what he thinks and does what is right, whether anyone notices or not, and he cares about Emma's character more than her cleverness. His friendship with the Woodhouses goes back so far that he can tease Emma about almost anything.
“Badly done, Emma! Badly done! She is poor; she has known better days; her situation should secure your compassion.”
In the story
Contains spoilers.
Knightley warns Emma against matchmaking, and he is angry when she talks Harriet out of marrying Robert Martin. He tells her that Mr. Elton will not marry without money, and he is proved right. At the Crown Inn ball, when Mr. Elton refuses to dance with Harriet, Knightley steps forward and asks her himself, then dances the last set with Emma. He also sees the secret signs between Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax.
At Box Hill he tells Emma privately that she was cruel to Miss Bates. After he sees how she has made amends, he leaves for London. When he returns and learns Emma never loved Frank, he tells her he has loved her blindly but truly since she was thirteen. He agrees to move into Hartfield so that Emma does not have to leave her father.
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