ENGLISH PAPER 2 NOTES
Emma
1996
“Mr.
George Knightley (that is, Emma’s Mr. Knightley) has a crucially important role
as Austen’s champion of duty and truth in the novel Emma”
Discuss
this view, supporting the points you make by reference to the novel.
The novel Emma is the story of Emma
Woodhouse’s journey from being an “imaginist” to self-awareness. Mr. Knightley’s crucially important role in
the novel is as Emma’s teacher, guiding her along this journey. He is first introduced to us as “one of the
few people who could see faults in Emma Woodhouse, and the only one who ever
told her of them.” Throughout the novel
he leads her from these faults, through his own actions and words, to duty and
truth.
Primarily, Knightley’s own sense of duty leads him
to compensate for Emma’s failings. When
Emma’s attempts at making a match for Harriet and Mr. Elton lead to Harriet
being slighted by him it is Mr. Knightley who steps in to alleviate Harriet’s
embarrassment. He also provides a
carriage for Jane Fairfax out of duty to pay her “(with a reproachful smile at
Emma) ... attentions ... which nobody else pays her”. Most importantly he saves Miss Bates from humiliation at Emma’s
hands at the Box Hill party and reproaches Emma “I cannot see you acting wrong,
without a remonstrance”. Thus he is the
champion of duty towards those who suffer at Emma’s hands and to Emma herself.
Mr. Knightley, as a champion of truth provides a
balance to Emma’s imaginist excesses.
While she schemes at creating matches he warns her “You are more likely
to have done harm to yourself than good to them, by interference.” He also tries to protect her from her notion
that Frank Churchill loves her by alerting her to the relationship between
Frank and Jane Fairfax. “I have lately
imagined that I saw symptoms of an attachment between them.” He professes the reasons for his
truthfulness as “I will tell you truths while I can, satisfied with proving
myself your friend by very faithful council and trusting that you will sometime
or other de m greater justice than you can do now.” In this wish he is successful as the realisation lf Mr.
Knightley’s role as champion of truth to her leads her to become “better
acquainted with herself” and to act in a way that does him “greater justice”.
Mr. Knightley has a crucially important role in the
novel Emma. He is Emma’s
protestor, her teacher and a shining example of duty and truth for her to
follow on her journey to self-awareness.
“He had loved her, and watched over her from a girl, with the endeavour
to improve her, and an anxiety for her doing right, which no other creature had
at all shared.” His last duty in the
novel is to move into Hartfield to ensure Mr. Woodhouse’s peace of mind and
thus Emma’s happiness. To the end he is
the champion of duty and truth.
