So, don’t get me wrong, I love Pride and Prejudice as much as the next person, but can we all stop talking about how much of a dream boat Darcy is and instead look at Austen’s arguably more romantic and better hero, Mr Knightley.
From the beginning of Emma, he is seemingly a kind hearted and charismatic gentleman, who like Darcy, is very wealthy, however he doesn’t flaunt his wealth about; he rarely uses his carriage to take him places and he is incredibly humble in working with Robert Martin.
He is also incredibly accomplished, as seen by his musical talent, and shows so much kindness it’s actually unbelievable. In fact his kindness towards Harriet is exactly the reason that she falls for him. This isn’t to say that he is incapable of sarcasm though and his constant banter with Emma is what makes him so endearing and what makes their love story so interesting. Since this is one of the most compelling reasons for peoples love of Mr Darcy, I wonder why they don’t give Knightley as much recognition. He has all of the sarcasm and banter that Darcy has, combined with true kindness and humility. An example of this would be how unashamed he is to berate Emma for her unkindness towards Miss Bates, ‘that was badly done Emma’, despite his obvious feelings for her at this point.
Let us also not forget the achingly beautiful and romantic speech he gives Emma when confessing his love to her,
“My dearest Emma, for dearest you will always be, whatever the event of this hours conversation, my dearest, most beloved Emma….. I cannot make speeches, Emma. If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. You hear nothing but truth from me. I have blamed you and lectured you and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it. Bear with the truths I would tell you now, dearest Emma, as well as you have borne with them. The manner, perhaps, may have as little to recommend them. God knows, I have been a very indifferent lover. But you understand me. Yes, you see, you understand my feelings and will return them if you can. At present, I ask only to hear your voice.”
I think that this speech would make me swoon much more than Darcy’s ‘you have bewitched me body and soul’ speech, especially considering how badly his initial proposal went down. He essentially told her that he tried to battle his feelings for her because of her status. Like don’t get me wrong I do definitely think that Darcy is great and has some epic romance speeches, but I just think that Knightley’s takes the cake, especially since he was such a kind and humble person from the beginning.
And yes, I understand the cultural impact of the 2005 hand flex, and we can all agree that it is one of the definitive best romantic gestures ever, but that doesn’t entirely make up for the fact that Knightley is just an overall better character and romantic interest.
Before anyone comes at me though, I would just like to remind you all that this is just an opinion and you can take from this what you want, whether you agree or not.