the thing that makes emma and knightley my all time favorite austen couple is that they are best friends
knightley thinks emma is hilarious, they hang every single day, they are delighted to be in each other’s company, he has a chair in her house because he’s always there, emma walks unaccompanied with him which is textually insane in 1813
they could never ever marry other people because they’d never be able to, or want to, stop hanging out together and alone. their relationship, by all accounts, is absolutely scandalous. but everyone is so used to them together that they just accept it and move on and think that’s normal
NOTHING matters to me as much as when in BBC Emma they're about to tell her dad about the proposal and Knightleys hand reaches out to hold hers behind her back
Portrayed by: Romola Garai
Book | Film: Jane Austen’s Emma and BBC Emma 2009
“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.” Jane Austen’s opening lines remain unparalleled, and as a novel, Emma will forever reign as my personal favorite. And if we’re getting specific, Romola Garai’s embodiment of Emma Woodhouse will be a standard for the finest variety in an adaptation.
I was fortunate enough to do some extensive research on the character in grad school, and some of my findings continue to cement precisely why she’s always been so complex to analyze. Emma is brilliantly written in such a way that her traits mirror many women, and the lengths they’re willing to go through to ensure that lives are better than what they can be. And yes, while a large part of Emma’s doings are to a degree selfish and out of boredom, it’s essential to take in the matter of how lonely she feels once Miss Taylor marries. It’s why she loves picking on Knightley when he comes over. It’s why she stays with her father and never wants to leave him because, from a very age, Emma Woodhouse has understood what missing someone is like.
Emma Woodhouse is a complex, multifaceted character who can be a tough pill to swallow for some, and while it may not be vital for her to be likable, the fact that Austen believed that she would not be is a detail that’s worth noting. Thus, while Emma might not be everyone’s favorite Jane Austen’s heroine, her complexity, intentions, and growth make her likable where perhaps definition is concerned.
I watched the new film adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma yesterday and it was so good! BBC's 2009 series adaptation is still my favourite Emma adaption, but Miranda Hart as Mrs Bates and Johnny Flynn's yearning soft boi Mr Knightley is next level. Also Rupert Graves as Mr Weston *chef's kiss*. And the aesthetic. Damn, the aesthetic.
Plus, Autumn De Wilde, the director, brought humour into a period piece, which is what I always miss and I loved it!! Most of these characters are hilarious dumbasses, they just hide it under a lot of English repression
