This begins to convey Austen’s great respect for Mr. Knightly. The reader thinks well of him, not only because Austen clearly does but through their own deductions. The mere fact that he has chosen to visit Emma and her father that night rather than wait for the morning, which would probably have been more convenient for him is admirable. He obviously cares deeply for the family and is intuitively sympathetic to their feelings. He knows that this will be a bad time for them, the first night in a very long time without Ms Taylor and has gone out of his way to keep them company. His kindness is clearly appreciated, both by Austen and the Woodhouse’s. Austen says “it was a happy circumstance and animated Mr. Woodhouse for some time.”
It is also in the first chapter that the reader is given a taste of the relationship between Mr Knightly and Emma. They are clearly great friends and on the same intellectual level, one that is, rather amusingly, considerably higher than that of Mr Woodhouse. They tease each other playfully, however they both know that the other is joking and no offence is taken. The humour is somewhat lost on Mr Woodhouse. This is an example of their friendship because, ordinarily, dialogues such as that between two unmarried people of opposite genders would not have taken place at that point in history. The pair in question would have to be extremely closely connected.
As the novel progresses, we get more idea of exactly how close Emma and Mr Knightly are. From the outset, it is clear that they are honest with each other, Mr Knightly more so, but in chapter eight, Mr Knightly openly scolds Emma for medalling in Harriet’s affairs regarding the proposal of Robert Martin. He says “you have been no friend to Harriet Smith, Emma” which, although is quite possibly very true, is extremely harsh, especially to somebody as naïve as Emma. It also becomes apparent that Mr Knightly knows Emma so well that he can anticipate what she is about to tell him, or rather, in this case, what she is trying to hide. When they are discussing Harriet’s refusal of Robert Martin, Emma says “I saw her answer – nothing could be clearer”. As a direct consequence of Emma saying this one sentence, Mr Knightly is able to see the whole situation for what it really is. He says “You saw her answer! – You wrote her answer too. Emma, this is your doing. You persuaded her to refuse him.” Not is this an amazing deduction on the part of Mr Knightly but he must also be sure of its accuracy otherwise he wouldn’t have accused Emma. Naturally, he is completely right.
Austen continues to develop Mr Knightly’s character throughout the novel. There are numerous instances, the outcomes of which prove that Mr Knightly’s judgement is to be trusted. He, and his brother John, astutely perceive the true object of Mr Elton’s affection before Emma does and guesses that Mr Elton has proposed even though he is the only character in the novel to do so. He also has a good measure of Frank Churchill’s true colours long before anybody else picks up on them calling him a “puppy” and being rather unsympathetic to him as a character in general, though especially to his family circumstances.
With regard to whether or not Mr Knightly is a straightforward character, I would beg to agree. He is clearly highly intelligent. This means that he can’t be completely straightforward. If he were a simpleton, he would be very straightforward, predictable and quite frankly, boring. The fact that he can think for himself means that he does not follow a regular pattern but changes his opinion and reactions in accordance with the given situation – which he is perfectly at liberty to do so. I do no think that Mr Knightly is a man of mystery, more a voice of reason. He is open about his opinions, even though he displays certain character traits only in certain situations. For example, it is clear that he is capable of showing empathy as on more than one occasion, he sends food over for the Bates’s, which he is not at all obliged to do. This shows both sympathy and generosity yet when Frank Churchill arrives, even before he does, Mr Knightly displays none of these character traits. In fact, he has no time for Mr Churchill. As it turns out, Mr Knightly was right not to have time for Mr Churchill and his sympathies are well placed with Mrs and Ms Bates proving that although, on the surface, Mr Knightly can appear confusing, he is always right.