“I have no idea that she has yet ever seen a man she cared for. It would not be a bad thing for her to be very much in love with a proper object. I should like to see Emma in love, and in some doubt of a return; it would do her good.”
Mr. Knightley
Emma, volume 1, chapter 5
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Filed under Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Mr. Knightley, Uncertainty in love
[Mrs. Weston] “She is loveliness itself. Mr. Knightley, is not she?”
“I have not a fault to find with her person,” he replied. “I think her all you describe. I love to look at her; and I will add this praise, that I do not think her personally vain. Considering how handsome she is, she appears to be little occupied with it; her vanity lies another way.”
Mrs. Weston and Mr. Knightley on Emma’s beauty and faults
Emma, volume 1, chapter 5
Filed under Beauty, Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Miss Taylor - Mrs. Weston, Mr. Knightley, Pride
I love this little bit:
“Emma has been meaning to read more ever since she was twelve years old. I have seen a great many lists of her drawing up at various times of books that she meant to read regularly through-and very good lists they were-very well chosen and very neatly arranged-sometimes alphabetically and sometimes by some other rule. The list she drew up when only fourteen-I remember thinking it did her judgement so much credit that I preserved it some time; and I dare say she may have made out a very good list now. But I have done with expecting any course of steady reading from Emma. She will never submit to anything requiring industry and patience and a subjection of the fancy to the understanding.”
Mr. Knightley discussing Emma’s faults with Mrs. Weston, who will not admit them
Emma, volume 1, chapter 5
I think I have made various reading lists of my own over the years…
Filed under Education, Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Miss Taylor - Mrs. Weston, Mr. Knightley, Patience, Reading
“Emma knows I never flatter her.”
Mr. Knightley, to Mr. Woodhouse
Emma, volume 1, chapter 1
I’m just re-reading chapter 1 in Emma and realizing how many hints Austen gave us.
Filed under Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Flattery, Mr. Knightley
“Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised or a little mistaken . . .”
Of Emma’s conversation with Mr. Knightley as he proposes, when she cuts him off and then suggests they “take another turn” in the garden. Knightley was ready to forgive any sort of awkwardness, because he understood Emma’s heart.
Emma, volume 3, chapter 13
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Filed under Conversation, Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Mr. Knightley, Proposals, Truth
"What did she say? Just what she ought, of course. A lady always does."
Of Emma’s reply to Mr. Knightley, when he proposes
Emma, volume 3, chapter 13
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Filed under Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Mr. Knightley, On being a lady, Proposals
Happy Valentine’s Day, dear readers! One of my favorites…
Here is Knightley echoing Darcy’s thoughts of the other day:
“I cannot make speeches, Emma . . . If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.”
Emma, volume 3, chapter 13
Filed under Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Love, Mr. Knightley, Proposals
“Oh! to be sure,” cried Emma, “it is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage. A man always imagines a woman to be ready for anybody who asks her.”
Emma discussing with Mr. Knightley the face that Harriet Smith has refused Robert Martin
Emma, volume 1, chapter 8
Filed under Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Harriet Smith, Marriage, Mr. Knightley, Proposals
“It was badly done, indeed! You, whom she had known from an infant, whom she had seen grow up from a period when her notice was an honour, to have you now, in thoughtless spirits, and the pride of the moment, laugh at her, humble her-and before her niece, too-and before others, many of whom (certainly some,) would be entirely guided by your treatment of her.-This is not pleasant to you, Emma-and it is very far from pleasant to me; but I must, I will,-I will tell you truths while I can.”
Dear Mr. Knightley chastising Emma for her ill treatment of Miss Bates
Emma, volume 3, chapter 7
Filed under Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Miss Bates, Morality, Mr. Knightley, Pride
“Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief.”
Mr. Knightley, on Emma’s encouraging Harriet Smith to raise her sights too high
Emma, volume 1, chapter 8
Filed under Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Harriet Smith, Mr. Knightley, Pride
The Jane Austen Guide to Life: Thoughtful Lessons for the Modern Woman (May, 2012)
A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love, and Faith