Pride and Prejudice Questions and Grade 9 Response
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Course
English
Institution
GCSE
In this file, there are three questions answered:
How does Austen present Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice:
Explore how pride is portrayed in Mr Darcy:
starting with this extract, write about how Austen presents the role of a man within marriage- this only has prompts
All of the essays ar...
How does Austen present Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice:
"MY DEAR SIR,
"I feel myself called upon, by our relationship, and my situation in life, to condole with
you on the grievous affliction you are now suffering under, of which we were
yesterday informed by a letter from Hertfordshire. Be assured, my dear sir, that Mrs.
Collins and myself sincerely sympathise with you and all your respectable family, in
your present distress, which must be of the bitterest kind, because proceeding from
a cause which no time can remove. No arguments shall be wanting on my part that
can alleviate so severe a misfortune—or that may comfort you, under a circumstance
that must be of all others the most afflicting to a parent's mind. The death of your
daughter would have been a blessing in comparison of this. And it is the more to be
lamented, because there is reason to suppose as my dear Charlotte informs me, that
this licentiousness of behaviour in your daughter has proceeded from a faulty degree
of indulgence; though, at the same time, for the consolation of yourself and Mrs.
Bennet, I am inclined to think that her own disposition must be naturally bad, or she
could not be guilty of such an enormity, at so early an age. Howsoever that may be,
you are grievously to be pitied; in which opinion I am not only joined by Mrs. Collins,
but likewise by Lady Catherine and her daughter, to whom I have related the affair.
They agree with me in apprehending that this false step in one daughter will be
injurious to the fortunes of all the others; for who, as Lady Catherine herself
condescendingly says, will connect themselves with such a family? And this
consideration leads me moreover to reflect, with augmented satisfaction, on a
certain event of last November; for had it been otherwise, I must have been involved
in all your sorrow and disgrace. Let me then advise you, dear sir, to console yourself
as much as possible, to throw off your unworthy child from your affection for ever,
and leave her to reap the fruits of her own heinous offence.
Jane Austen portrays the character of Mr Collins as a caricature of the middle class: he has
excessive pride that is constantly satirised by Austen. Mr Collins has superiority over the
Bennet family due to his entailment on the property which along with his promotion to serve
Catherine de Bourgh fuels his pride and entitlement. Austen introduces him to be foolish and
arrogant. Then, in his proposal to Elizabeth, he is pretentious and feels that he is entitled to
marry Elizabeth. Lastly, when writing to Mr Bennet about Lydia’s elopement he is insincere
and obsequious which shows that he feels superior and better than the Bennet daily and
perhaps is even glad that their reputation has been destroyed.
Austen presents Mr Collins as foolish and stubborn. In his first letter to Mr Bennet, he
pompously references the “Right honourable Lady Catherine de Bourgh”, he claims his “
earnest endeavour to demean myself with grateful respect towards her Ladyship”, which
shows he is completely submitting himself to his Lady Catherine. Mr Collins confuses the
, word “demean” as it means lowering yourself or belittling yourself. The wordplay portrays
Collins as foolish; instead of flaunting his reputation, he reduces his own decency and
belittles himself,and exposes himself for being like a leach who is only attracted to the
glitter of wealth and aristocracy. Also, this comedic exaggeration of his character shows the
extent Mr Collins reaches just to try to belong in the upper class- this misinterpretation of the
word perhaps suggests that he will never be able to fulfil the expectations as he is deficient
in education and morals. Furthermore, his character is contrasted from the confidence
radiated from the letter is contrasted with his overly formal and boring personality: “His air
was grave and stately”. The adjectives and contrast between “grave and stately” shows that
the chase for a better reputation has stripped him from his personality and he is constantly
barricading his natural dullness with the artificial shroud of luxury. This presents the
detrimental effects of him chasing a title that will never fit his true self: this depicts him as an
outcast in both the middle class as he is too “stately” and the upper class as he is too “grave”
. Overall, he is too foolish and stubborn to notice his efforts are all in vain so he is constantly
ridiculed in the novel.
Furthermore, in his proposal to Elizabeth he is presented as pretentious and too pompous.
When proposing to Elizabeth he lists reasons: “secondly, it would greatly add to my
happiness” . The connectives “firstly, secondly, thirdly” mimic someone picking objects out,
which was a common interpretation of marriage in the 19th century, but to modern day it
depicts him as pompous and he blatantly excludes her as the reader laughs at his
assumption of happiness for Elizabeth. The exclusion of Elizabeth in the marriage shows
that he feels superior and so therefore doesn’t need to cater for her. Furthermore, the short
demanding sentences shows his calm attitude, almost like he is expecting the acceptance
which shows that he feels pretentious because of the guarantees of the entailment;
Elizabeth has to marry him because it would benefit her family. The adjective “my '' shows
that he has no romantic feelings at all, which shows that the marriage is simple and perhaps
just a means of gaining a respectable reputation. Even in his proposal he references Lady
Catherine's advice which shows that he cannot stop his emasculating obsession with status
and a single member of the aristocracy and reveals his true reasons for marriage: raising his
own reputation.
In the text, Austen presents Mr Collins as condescending and obsequious.Austen uses
hyperboles and exaggerations in his speech when he claims “death of your daughter would
have been a blessing”. The juxtaposition between “death” and “blessing” shows his dark and
condescending nature- instead of sympathising he is giving unreasonable advice. Also,
Austen uses this contrast to satirise his unreasonable and foolish character who tries to act
serious but is just immature. Furthermore, this nature is further heightened by his superiority
through the entailment and the dismissive attitude towards Mr Bennet’s children, he
suggests to “throw off your unworthy child”. The long sentence and the imperative verbs
emphasises his commanding nature as he gives orders and doesn't respect the boundaries
of the family even though Mr Bennet is older than him- he only feels superior and confident
because of the given superiority. Furthermore, the mention of “Lady Catherine '' emphasises
his obsequious nature: he is so serious which perhaps hints that Mr Collins wants Lydia
thrown out of the family due to the grand impact it has on his own reputation. Mr Collins'
commanding tone represents him building a barrier and trying to distance himself from the
Bennet and inching closer to the luxuries of “Lady Catherine”. However, Jane Asuten uses
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