Mr Collins’s proposal is written almost entirely in direct speech. We are able to read every word of his enduring plea for Elizabeth’s hand in marriage. Throughout the proposal, Mr Collins’s arrogance shines through. Austen makes clear to us that Mr Collins does not think that Elizabeth could possibly say no to him. He talks extensively of his happiness, and virtually lists reasons for Elizabeth to marry him, possibly as far from romantic as Austen could have made it. By doing this, and dragging out his speech, the reader understands why Elizabeth wouldn’t possibly want to accept his “declaration”.
When Elizabeth says no, rather than accepting the obvious refusal, Mr. Collins follows this up with a compliment directed towards Elizabeth in a futile attempt to win her over. From a reader’s point of view, this seems pathetic and even humorous as Mr. Collins’ true character begins to surface. Even after this, he continues to have the audacity to compliment her further. He says, “It is usual for young ladies to reject the addresses of the man whom they secretly mean to accept.” He will not accept no for an answer.
If Elizabeth had agreed to Mr Collins proposal, it would have resulted in her family being able to keep their house at Longbourn, as he was to inherit it with the death of Mr Bennet. However it also might have ended disastrously as Mr Collins and Elizabeth were two very different people, that wouldn’t have moulded well together. Collins was unable to change, and that is proved in the letter he sends at the end of the book, expressing his contentment for not marrying into the Bennet family. It shows his Christianity to be dreadfully superficial. The reader, Austen, and Elizabeth can all see this, and it is totally reasonable that Elizabeth should have said no. However when Mrs Bennet finds out about it, she is utterly distraught that Elizabeth said no, especially when Charlotte Lucas marries him only a few days later. We recognize that Mrs Bennet lacks a sense of irony and takes Mr Collins at face value. The most important thing in her life is for her children to be “married off”.
It is frequently considered that the whole scene of Mr Collins’s proposal was merely written out of hilarity, as Mr Collin’s himself is a very comic character, and so much humour arises out of the embarrassment for the viewer, as they know so well that Elizabeth will not say yes. Elizabeth has already been established as the main focus of the reader’s compassion, against the droll disposition of Mr Collins, and this is an arduous and gruelling speech that she is made to sit through. He repeatedly makes things worse for himself throughout by adding that it was “almost” as soon as he had entered the house he began to like her, not immediately. He is also incessantly condescending to her and her family. His forte is certainly not flattery!
From Mr Collins’s proposal, a lot can be learnt about the characters of both him and Elizabeth. Elizabeth is polite, firm and assertive and by far the most strong-minded character featured. She knows what she wants from life and takes the correct steps in achieving her aims. Mr. Collins, however, is much less of a character. He is overtly arrogant, audacious and naïve. He is selfish, pompous and arrogant. He lacks perception and is tactless. The reason that Austen perhaps wrote it in direct speech is that it is so implausible for the reader to believe.
Later on in the book, comes the second proposal by Mr Darcy, possibly Elizabeth’s least favourite character. He began his speech in an “agitated manner”, and claimed to have struggled in “vain”. From the beginning of this proposal we can see that his reasons for marriage are substantially different to those of Mr Collins. However, reminiscent of Mr Collins, the proposal of Darcy was not romantic, more resentful. He was annoyed with himself for getting himself into a situation where he couldn’t imagine himself without Elizabeth, and he hated himself for it. He, like Mr Collins, doesn’t realise that it is unrequited love.
When he tells Elizabeth how much he admires and loves her, this is certainly emotional turmoil, as Elizabeth so fervently dislikes him. We are told, unsurprisingly, “Elizabeth’s astonishment was beyond expression”. Elizabeth’s anger towards Darcy had started to diminish at this point in the novel, until Fitzwilliam had told her that it was Darcy that “saved a friend [Bingley] from the inconveniences of a most imprudent marriage”, presumably that of her sisters, Jane. At this moment, the misunderstandings between Darcy and Elizabeth couldn’t have been anymore complete. Elizabeth had not liked him since their very first meeting, when she overheard him say that there wasn’t another woman at the Netherfield Ball “whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with”. She had also heard of the ill treatment of Darcy to Wickham, a story she accepted only because of her previous prejudice against him. She felt wholly antagonistic towards him.
Conversely, unlike Mr Collins’s proposal, Mr Darcy is proposing out of pure love, not for the need of a wife. He is defying the unspoken rule of marrying someone in his own social class. The proposal from Darcy is more evocative of modern day proposals of love and the first time reader shares the astonishment of Elizabeth when he asks for the “acceptance of his hand”, as this was such a controversial action for Darcy to take.
Her family often embarrassed Elizabeth, as Mrs Bennet was discourteous and presumptuous, and Lydia and Kitty didn’t know how to act in society. At some point Elizabeth is embarrassed about every member of her family, apart from Jane. Jane Austen knew a lot about embarrassment in society. We know this from letters from her nieces and nephews. The book is full of rudeness, for that period in time, and is not for the genteel readership. In spite of this boorishness of her family, and difference in rank in society, Darcy still proposes to Elizabeth.
The proposal itself is written in indirect speech, we hear the proposal through Elizabeth, and are able to hear her reactions throughout. Austen’s writing is so dramatic, that it has effectively stage directions. Even though Darcy’s proposal might have been out of love, we don’t feel it is actually anymore romantic than Mr Collins’s. He is trying to convince himself that even though he is making this declaration of his love for her, he shouldn’t be, and he doesn’t actually love her.
At the time of both men’s proposals, Elizabeth’s opinions of them were very low. This contributed greatly to her decisions. It was very rare that a young girl in Elizabeth’s position would turn down two offers of marriage, especially to men of such good financial backgrounds, but in the end it actually works out better for her that she did say no. Charlotte Lucas told Elizabeth “I ask only a comfortable home”. And in truth the majority of people would have been content with this, but Elizabeth is a very determined character who wanted to marry for real love.
Elizabeth was insulted by both offers of marriage, and had her pride wounded by both, mainly because these are two men, in a different social-class to her, reinforcing the fact to her repeatedly. Elizabeth also knows that Mr Collins is proposing to her, not for love, but to satisfy someone else’s request, another woman, who would always play a bigger part in his life, something she certainly didn’t want. Mr Darcy had also hurt her pride, as the people of Meryton and she had already marked him as “the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world”, and this was an insult for him to propose to her, especially after he had ruined her sister’s marriage.
Elizabeth does not hesitate to judge Darcy on the deficient evidence that she has against him, and does not vacillate to accuse him and judge him on the most unpretentious terms. In fact this is a very good example of the title, “Pride and Prejudice”, or the working title of the novel, “First Impressions”. This title is helpful because it alerts us to the dangers of making crude judgment about people without knowing enough about them. Throughout the book this is done frequently, even by Elizabeth, something the first time reader doesn’t often notice. In view of this we are able to start to identify how Jane Austen is able to convince the reader to endorse Elizabeth’s decisions and utterly agree with her. We empathise and have compassion with Elizabeth all the way through the novel, as she is clearly Austen’s favourite character, and the one through whom she speaks her thoughts.
I think that these proposals, and in fact the whole novel itself are written with great skill by Austen, one of the reasons the novel is still so popular today, nearly 200 years later. It is a timeless piece of English Literature.
