“The disagreement subsisting between yourself and my father always gave me much uneasiness … I have frequently wished to heal the breach”
This shows the readers that Mr Collins believes himself to be very generous in forgiving the Bennett’s and him also mentions that in his appreciation he will trespass on their hospitality. Mr Collins reveals himself to be a stupid man which will not be forgotten throughout the novel by the reader as Jane Austen has included reminders of his stupidity throughout the novel. We also realize that his not very intelligent because throughout the letter he uses very long sentences without a full stop in sight. He uses Hyperbole English. He is very conscious about using words but he does tend to use pompous words. The language he uses is not seemed to be of that which was used by a well educated and intelligent man in the nineteenth century (when the book was written).
By inviting himself to the Bennett’s he shows us that he has no value of what the other person thinks. In the letter there is a sense that he will not just be visiting the Bennett’s to make amends fort the past, and that he has other things planned, which are not deeply revealed in the letter. Mr Collins also states that “my being the nest in the entail … will be over looked on your side” this confuses the reader as why would a man apologise for being next in the entail, as he cannot help this. After the reader has read the letter and not yet come across the stupidity of Mr Collins, we are told by Jane Austen through Mr Bennett and his daughters, what we are meant to think.
“What does he mean by apologising for being next in the entail? – We cannot suppose he would help it if he could. – Can he be a sensible man? Elizabeth asked.
Elizabeth’s comment receives a reply from Mr Bennet who says “No, my dear; I think not…”
This tells us that the characters also think that Mr Collins is a very stupid character. This complies with Jane Austen’s style of showing us first (in the form of a letter) and then telling us (through the eyes if the characters). Due to this letter we are now aware of Mr Collins personality and his stupidity. But there is one character who seems to appear to be flattered by the letter; Mrs Bennett’ who herself is a very obtuse character. This further more convinces us of Mr Collins’ Stupidity. All this makes us feel that we are obliged to agree with the observations made by Mr Bennet he (Mr Collins) is man full of “servility and self-importance!”
The next letter we receive is from Mr Darcy this is the most important letter in the book as it reveals a lot about Darcy which has not been discovered. The letter also reveals the other side of a man bursting with pride. It contrasts to the first letter as it deeply reveals Darcy’s character. Unlike the language in the first letter, in this it is a well written piece and the language was one a well educated person would be expected to use during the time this novel was written, which is the early nineteenth century.
Prior to the letter we feel that we know Darcy very well but we have only known Darcy until this point through the eyes of Elizabeth, so we have not been able to see how he is with friends and not strangers, we have only heard. Seeing Darcy just through the eyes of Elizabeth does not reveal the full personality of Darcy’s character although there is no denying that he is man full of pride but contrastingly Elizabeth is the Prejudice of the title. Until the letter Darcy has not been given a fair chance to justify himself without Elizabeth interrupting with what she thought of him. This is his opportunity to directly express his thoughts, feelings and his character with no interruption. Many of his aspects as a character are revealed in the language he uses in the letter, especially of him being a proud man, but there is nothing wrong with being proud, he is a rich and well educated man and has a right to be proud, although he is not very active in the presence of strangers. But in the letter he is able to present the sense of reason which is important to his character. Darcy mentions;
“The situation of your mother’s family, though objectionable, was nothing in uniformly betrayed by herself, by your three younger sisters and occasionally even by you’re farther. Pardon me.”
This shows us that as we know him he is not afraid to speak his mind and he has also criticised Elizabeth’s family in the letter as he did before in person. So there is still some arrogance there. He also ends the letter with politeness; this through Elizabeth’s eyes was a rare sight “I will only add. God bless you.” This shows that he is not arrogant and he does have manners and can be polite and is not always too proud to talk to someone below his level of society. This letter by Darcy has a grave impact on Elizabeth as she has misjudged both Mr Darcy and Mr Wickham completely. She feels, she rarely misjudges characters. Her judgement has let her down this time, also she had formed an opinion of both characters the first time she met them. She was not moved by Darcy saying how well he had thought he had done separating Jane from Mr Bingley.
She refused to acknowledge Darcy’s view of Mr Wickham as she could not believe him to be such and evil man as in her eyes he was a kind and generous man the opposite of Darcy, but the readers now know that she was wrong about Wickham being nice and Darcy being evil. She says “This must be false! This cannot be! This must be the grossest falsehood!” after reading about Wickham as she is shocked at what Darcy has written. She read the letter again and again to make more sense of it recalling every moment with Wickham but it all pointed against Wickham. She had been misled by a man with no heart. It is felt like she is in a world of torture, one she cannot leave, her emotions are all over the place. She doesn’t even know what to think. Furthermore what adds to the pain is that she was slowly falling for Mr Wickham, her senses had been unable to detect any strangeness about Mr Wickham due to the fact she had believed everything told to her by him.
Slowly as Elizabeth grasped every aspect of the letter she became ashamed of herself. Unable to think of either Darcy or Wickham without feeling she had been blind, partial, prejudiced and absurd. Her image of herself disintegrated with the feelings towards herself. She had let herself so easily be deceived by what can be called a dangerous man, Mr Wickham.
“How despicably have I acted!” “I, who prided myself on discernment! I, who valued myself on my abilities!”
This shows how disgusted and ashamed of herself Elizabeth is, noticing the fact she says this aloud to herself.
“Till this moment I never knew myself”
Only know has she realized how wrong she was and that is she is very prejudiced. This makes the reader feel the Elizabeth’s Character will change dramatically, which can also be said for the character of Darcy. Going back to the letter a lot of emotive words were used by Mr Darcy showing that he is serious and this letter is not false.
The final of three letters is the one we receive from Lydia; this letter is different from the first two. Darcy and Collins letter reveal the character itself but we already know Lydia’s Character as well as we can and all this letter does is confirms her stupidity and Inferiority.
It is a grave shock to both Lizzy and Jane as only they know the real Wickham. Although it is a very brief letter it arrives at the heart of the scandal. There are no hidden depths revealed in this letter unlike Darcy’s. As Mr Collins’ she uses the pronoun ‘I’ rather a lot and also uses very short and basic sentences. This confirms what we already know about her intelligence that she is not very clever. “What a good joke it will be” this shows she is not taking the matter seriously and that she has rushed into it as she is not even 18 years old yet. Then once again if the letter has not confirmed the stupidity of Lydia in the readers mind then we are told by other characters such as Elizabeth who shouts” oh thoughtless, thoughtless Lydia” Everyone was shocked even the father who could not speak for a full ten minutes.
It also confirms that what Darcy has said about her younger sisters to be extremely stupid and Elizabeth can now not blame him for that as he was and had been right. To confirm this one of her younger sisters Lydia has decided to marry a man like Mr Wickham, without consulting her family.
I think the letter Written by Darcy is the most important/significant for the reader in terms of perceptions and expectations to follow. As the letter gives a sense that maybe Elizabeth might finally break down the barrier she had built to distance herself from Darcy and that there might be something between the characters in some point in the novel, in the near future. But for Elizabeth to receive a third proposal she must first face a lot of difficulties. On the other hand the letter shows the goodness in Darcy and how Wickham only has the appearance of goodness. As well as that Wickham has failed in his revenge, and makes the reader feel about what he will be plotting next against Darcy or even against the Bennett’s.
