George Knightley is a principal character depicted by Jane Austen in her novel Emma, published in 1815. He is a landowner and gentleman farmer, though "having little spare money". A lifetime friend of Emma's, though nearly seventeen years older than she, he is one of the only characters willing to correct her when he believes her to be doing wrong.
George Knightley as depicted in an illustration by Hugh Thomson for an 1896 edition of Emma
1898 illustration of the wedding of George Knightley and Emma Woodhouse
Emma is a novel written by English author Jane Austen. It is set in the fictional country village of Highbury and the surrounding estates of Hartfield, Randalls and Donwell Abbey, and involves the relationships among people from a small number of families. The novel was first published in December 1815, although the title page is dated 1816. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian–Regency England. Emma is a comedy of manners.
Title page of the first edition, 1816
1898 illustration of Mr. Knightley and Emma Woodhouse, Volume III chapter XIII
Title page from 1909 edition of Emma