Posted by Susan on August 17, 1997 at 02:02:21:
In reply to Re: Emma and friendship posted by A-M on August 16, 1997 at 21:44:10
] ] Mr. Knightly...is my favorite JA male character.
] IMHO Knightly is wonderful, but he would be like living wih your father who corrects you all the time. Even the fact that he is lovingly correcting would be a pain.
Knightley is by far my favorite JA male character, too. I've heard before that people have trouble with the age difference between Knightley and Emma, and with the fact that Knightley seems like an older brother or father figure. This is not my impression, however -- I see him as a very wise, compassionate man who likes to look out for the people he cares about. Throughout the book, he is solicitous of the comfort and well-being of all the other characters in Highbury, and does whatever he can to help them (with the exception of Frank Churchill, obviously!). It is only in relation to Emma that I hear him referred to as the headmaster type, even though he appears to serve in a protective role to much of Highbury. I'd love some more discussion on this.