He also won’t accept the fact that Lizzie refuses him and tries to make out that that is the normal thing for a woman to do and that it was very fashionable. He tries to act like he knows all about what woman do and act but just by doing this it shows that he doesn’t. He has obviously researched their financial status as he knows how much money he will get when Mrs Bennett dies or how much money he will just get for marrying her, this shows that he does not have genuine feelings for Lizzie as if he did he wouldn’t care about their financial status. He is very patronising towards her by saying that after they are married he wouldn’t talk about her. Lizzie tells he that Lady Catherine wouldn’t like her but he then contradicts himself as earlier he said that Lady Catherine wouldn’t like her. I think that the only reason he wanted to propose to a Bennett girl is that when he occupies Longbourn he can occupy it with a clear conscience knowing that he had at least asked a Bennett girls for her hand in marriage. Mr Collins also tries to play a mind game on Lizzie telling her that she will say yes next time he asks her. Mr Collins won’t leave and he is very rude to Lizzie when he does by saying that this is probably the last proposal that she will get and that she should accept it while she can. When he does leave he still won’t accept the fact that she has refused him twice, so he tells Lizzie that her parents will make her marry him, when Lizzie knows that her father won’t make her marry Mr Collins. He tells her that her refusals are very flattering and that he knows that she really does want to marry him. He has a change of heart overnight and he makes out that he is the one who decided not to go through with the marriage to keep his pride. He tells Lizzie that she has a defect of temper and that she is too headstrong and speaks her mind but these are the qualities that we like best in Lizzie.
In general I think that Mr Collins’ proposal is a forced by himself and Lady Catherine and that there are no feelings in it. Mr Darcy’s proposal I think is the complete opposite and that he has genuine feelings for Lizzie but he hides these very well as Lizzie is very shocked when he proposes to her. He has always seemed to have a dislike for Lizzie but then he bursts in and tells her that he has always admired and loved her. He gets straight to the point unlike Mr Collins who makes up a list of reason why he wanted to marry her. He makes it clear from the start that he knew that he came across arrogant and rude but these were to hide his love for her. He tells her exactly how he split up Jane and Mr Bingley. He also offends her and her family but he tells her the truth in a brutal way unlike Mr Collins who tries to cover up the truth. But Mr Darcy makes it very clear that he knows Lizzie’s financial status but that he doesn’t care about this even though they are very much below him financially, unlike Mr Collins who seemed to care about this.
He also is very quick to leave after Lizzie refuses him, this is probably very embarrassed and he doesn’t want to wait around any longer as his pride has been hurt, he was probably very upset as well as Lizzie was very hash with some of the things that she said by telling him that she would never consider marrying him and that he is rude and arrogant. But then he loses some more of his pride by writing a letter to her telling on a very difficult subject about his sister and Mr Wickham. This would have been very difficult as he would have probably never told anyone about this and then he had to write it down in a letter just to explain himself to Lizzie when he knew that it probably wouldn’t even make a difference to the way she felt about him. He tells Lizzie that his pride will help him get over her but that it will be a very hard thing to do. This would have been very hard for Darcy as he is not open about his feelings like Mr Collins and he had to open up and tell Lizzie everything when he was just refused. But he doesn’t really accept the fact that she says no to him as if he did he wouldn’t have written her the letter to explain himself. Both Mr Collins cannot accept the refusal to them, but Mr Collins just asks again but Mr Darcy leaves. Both men are very conflicting in their proposals but they both have the same plan, not deliberately but they both are very offensive to Lizzie, and her family.
In conclusion, Mr Darcy’s, proposal is extremely romantic, the setting is very romantic the situation etc. whereas Mr Collins’ proposal is completely devoid of romance. Mr Collins is deceitful and dishonest all the way through his proposal but Mr Darcy is very honest, almost brutally honest. Mr Collins’ proposal shows that he is completely reliant on convention and tradition, by going through Lizzie’s parents asking them first then asking to speak to Lizzie alone and asking Lady Catherine de Bourghs permission. Darcy does not care about tradition and just bursts in on Lizzie and asks her without asking her parents or anything, he doesn’t really care what anyone will say about the marriage he just wants to marry Lizzie whereas Mr Collins does and makes sure that everyone concerned approves before he asks Lizzie. Both proposals are aiming for the same result but they have different ways of going about getting there.
