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.
Bates feelings.
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
does.
Emma is only truly happy once she and Mr. Knightley are together because no matter how much she said that she did not want to marry she did need a husband. A husband, like Mr. Knightley, that would challenge her to be a more accepting of the things she should not try to control, such as when Mr. Martin and Harriet get engaged at the end of the book. Emma was happy for Harriet and Mr. Martin instead of trying to break them apart and find Harriet someone better like she did in the first time. Mr. Knightley was also happier when he and Emma get together because he needed someone to show him the good in society and for him to love. He and Emma are having a conversation and he was joking around with her about why she could not call him by his first name George. Mr. Knightley never joked around before that point. They needed to be opposites to push one another to be better, happier versions of themselves and after they got engaged they balanced each other out. “What had she wished for? Nothing, But to grow more worthy of him…” thinks Emma after she gets engaged to Mr. Knightley (Austen 254). Emma even admits in this quote that she wants to become better for Mr. Knightley and it shows in her actions when she was happy about Mr. Martin and Harriet’s engagement and did not intrude on anyone else’s life after that point.