Jane Austen's characters add humour and richness to the novel. Consider the role in the novel of the following: Mrs Bennet, Lady Catherine deBourgh, and Mr Collins.

Rebecca Stone 11f English Coursework-Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen’s characters add humour and richness to the novel. Consider the role in the novel of the following:

Mrs Bennet

Lady Catherine deBourgh

Mr Collins

I am going to consider the roles of Mrs Bennet and Mr Collins in the novel. I will do this by looking through the novel to find relevant information and make comments on it.

Mrs Bennet

Mrs Bennet is introduced into the story when she is talking to her husband about Netherfield Park being let to

“a young man of large fortune.”

She seems excited at the prospect of a rich young man in the neighbourhood and is fixated with the idea that he will marry one of her daughters.

Social etiquette at the time dictated that the man of the household should pay a courtesy visit to the new neighbour, but when Mr Bennet refuses to go she becomes very upset.

The next day when the whole family gathers together Mrs Bennet announces that she hates Mr Bingley and is sick of talking about him because Mr Bennet will not go to visit him. When Mr Bennet announces that he has already called on Mr Bingley earlier that morning she becomes elated and calls him the best man in the world. I find this funny because one minute she is annoyed at Mr Bennet and then the next minute she calls him “my dear Mr Bennet”

Another funny event concerned with Mrs Bennet is the time when Caroline Bingley and Mrs Hurst invite Jane to Netherfield Park for dinner. Jane asks to borrow the horses and carriage to take her to Netherfield, but Mrs Bennet seeing that it is likely to rain says that Jane must not have the carriage, so hat she will have to stay at Netherfield for the night.

Little do she know that Jane will become ill because of this and will have to stay and Netherfield for almost another week. When Mrs Bennet hears that Jane is ill instead of fearing ...

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Little do she know that Jane will become ill because of this and will have to stay and Netherfield for almost another week. When Mrs Bennet hears that Jane is ill instead of fearing for her daughter’s health she is delighted that Jane has to stay there for an extended amount of time. This makes us laugh at her because of her silliness and ignorance. Any normal mother would have been concerned and taken her daughter home, but Mrs Bennet thinks Jane is best at Netherfield where her ‘prospective husband’ is.

Later in the novel when Lydia runs away with Mr Wicham, the full extent of her naivety is uncovered. Instead of worrying what will happen to Lydia’s and the family’s reputation she is insisting that Lydia must not get married until Mrs Bennet has told her the best place to buy muslin. This is a sign that Mrs Bennet is unable to take anything completely seriously.

When Mrs Bennet hears that her brother Mr Gardiner has supposedly paid for Lydia’s entire wedding, she does not see why he should not. She says that all they ever get from him is

“a few presents”. She also said that if Mr Gardiner did not have a family of his own they would have gotten all of his money. She has no sense of gratitude towards Mr Gardiner and for how much he has supposedly gone out of his way to pay for Lydia’s future.

Mr Collins

Mr Collins in introduced to the story by way of his letter to Mr Bennet seeing if he could stay at Longbourne for a week.

After Mr Bennet read this letter out to his family Elizabeth made the comments

“can he be a sensible man?” and

“he must be an oddity I think”

Elizabeth’s impressions of Mr Collins prove to be true when we meet him in person. This is proven particularly well at one point in the story. Mr Bennet asks Mr Collins if he prepares comments for Lady Catherine deBourgh in advance. Mr Collins answers saying:

“I sometimes amuse myself with suggesting and arranging such elegant little compliments as are always acceptable to ladies.”

I find this a funny prospect and personally, I can imagine Mr Collins sitting alone in a room trying to make up compliments for Lady Catherine.

Another humorous event is when Mr Collins proposes to Elizabeth, but when she turns him down instead of accepting this, he proposes and is refused a further five times before he gets the point that Elizabeth isn’t ever going to marry him. Soon after this, Mr Collins decides to propose to Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth’s close friend.

When Lydia runs off with Mr Wicham, Mr Collins writes a letter to Mr and Mrs Bennet with his opinions and his ‘condolences’ for this recent event. He writes that he thinks that Lydia dying would have ended better than whan is happening at that time. He doesn’t speak of the mercy and forgiveness of God, like you would expect of a clergyman.

I do not think that either of these characters main purpose in the story was to add humor, (although they do this well anyway.) I think the real reason they were added is to expose the type of person they are and say yes you can laugh at them but they have real problems and personality flaws.

Mrs Bennet is too simple and Mr Collins is too obstinate. If Mrs Bennet was more educated the situation where Lydia ran away would not have been very likely to happen. Mr Collins is a clergyman, but yet he condemns people when they sin instead of telling them how God will forgive them if they ask for forgiveness.For example the letter he wrote to Mr and Mrs Bennet about Lydia. Jane Austen meant to air these flaws and make us see that you should be careful what you do and what you say.