Knightley Vs Emma

Mr. Knightley and Emma are opposites for most of the book in many ways. Emma is fake happy and thinks she does nothing wrong. “The real evils indeed of Emma's situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself; these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments.” (Austen 2). Emma thinks she can be truly happy by doing whatever she pleases. She also has no awareness of where social bounds are and often crosses them as Mr. Knightley points out, “How could you be so unfeeling toward Miss. Bates?” (Austen 201). Mr. Knightley is very conscious of these social bounds that Emma continuously crosses and he calls her out on it more than just when she hurt Miss.
Mr. Knightley is also quite gloomy and always thinks the worst possible outcome will result from Emma’s meddling. After he hears about Emma persuading Harriet to refuse Mr. Martin's proposal he tells Emma what he thinks will become of Harriet, “...till she grow desperate, and is glad to catch at the old writing-master’s son” (Austen 34). Lastly Emma loves to control every situation she can instead of letting other people decide for themselves, such as when Mr. Martian proposes to Harriet for the first time. Emma does not let Harriet say yes even though it is clear that Harriet wants to. Emma instead convinces her that she should wait for someone better like Mr. Elton. Mr. Knightley is the opposite in the sense that he lets people talk to him but he never tries to persuade them. He listens to Mr. Martin tell him about wanting to propose to Harriet, but never does he try to persuade him to propose or not to propose. He is a listener and does not try to control the situation like Emma