When Mr Collins turns up at the Bennet household he is there to propose, not to Elizabeth, but to Jane. Elizabeth is his second choice and so when he finds out that Jane does not like him he decides to ask for Elizabeth’s hand in marriage instead.
He starts his proposal with “Almost as soon as I entered the house I singled you out as the companion of my future life.” Here he is obviously lying, as Elizabeth knows she was not his first choice, her sister Jane was. He carries his speech out as a sermon and constantly tells Lizzy that he knows she is not well to do and that him proposing is the best thing that could happen to her, he offends her intensely. At the beginning of his speech he states his reasons for marrying. He thinks it right to set a good example as a clergyman, he thinks it would make him happy and that it would also please his patroness greatly. He is also very materialistic, “since I am well aware that it could not be complied with, and that of one thousand pounds in the four per cents, which will not be yours till your mother deceases, is all that you may be entitled to”. He is more concerned about her money than actually pointing out her good points and making her feel good about herself.
There is no romance or passion what so ever involved within his speech, as he feels nothing towards Elizabeth. He also assumes straight away that Elizabeth will take his hand in marriage and accept it. When she turns him down he laughs and says, “it is usual with young ladies to reject the address of the man whom they secretly mean to accept!” Here he is saying that she is only turning him down because she wants him to propose again. Elizabeth then tells him again very politely and calmly that she does not want to take his hand in marriage, she thanks him for his time and thoughtfulness but she would rather not marry him. Collins then tries to flatter her by saying that Lady Catherine would like me to find a wife that is not overly wealthy but has some standards. Lady Catherine will like you. This does not flatter Elizabeth at all because she is indifferent to what Lady Catherine thought. Elizabeth then explains why they would not make each other happy but still Mr Collins refuses to listen, at this point Elizabeth wants to walk out the door and leave as she has heard enough. He then insults her by saying; “it is by no means certain that another offer of marriage may ever be made to you”. This then obviously angers Lizzy and so she has a go at him. She is very annoyed with him because he has just said that she should be lucky and grateful that he is proposing to her and that she should accept the offer because it is unlikely that she’ll get one again.
She tells him, “My feelings in every respect forbid it. Can I speak plainer?”
Mr Collins then really does hurt Lizzy as he says, “I am persuaded that, when sanctioned by the express authority of both your excellent parents, my proposals will not fail of being acceptable.” He basically says here that no matter what you say Lizzy I have the authority by your parents to marry you and so they shall make you marry me! Lizzy then walks out the door.
Mr Collins’ overall proposal was based upon self-flattery and self-importance; he had no real feelings for Lizzy and had no real intention of marrying her for the right reasons. Mr Collins doesn’t take the rejection well, he expected Lizzy to say yes to his proposal. He therefore then storms out of the house and goes off to find another wife. The next time Lizzy talks with him she finds out that he proposed to her good friend Charlotte Lucas, and she accepted the offer. They were soon married.
Mr Darcy is a very well to do man, of very good wealth and importance. He is a caring, proud and very private man; he has his own estate and is very well known within the first class. The first time he met Elizabeth was at a local ball. He would not dance with her because she was not pretty enough; Elizabeth overheard him say this to Mr Bingley and so does not like him. She also doesn’t like Darcy because of what he did to her sister Jane (tried to break Jane and Bingley up) and because of what Whickham has said about him.
Mr Darcy soon changes his views on Elizabeth after their second meeting at Mr and Mrs Collins’ house when he realises he actually loves her and that she has a good personality and is intelligent unlike the other girls around him. He wants to tell her how much he admires and loves her and also to ask her hand in marriage as he feels so strongly about her.
He is very direct with his speech and so when he tells Elizabeth that he loves her she is astonished and shocked. She doesn’t know how to cope with the idea of him loving her, as he is being so contradictory to himself because the last time he saw her, he said that she wasn’t pretty enough to dance with. Mr Darcy goes on to say that in spite of your family and in spite of your wealth I would still like to marry you. He is concerned here about her family and money; just like Mr Collins did and Elizabeth doesn’t like it. She tells him no, she would not like to marry him. He says, “And this is all the reply which I am to have the honour of expecting! I might, perhaps, wish to be informed why, with so little endeavour at civility, I am thus rejected. But it is of small importance”.
Darcy here unlike Mr Collins asks why she does not want to marry him, Mr Collins wouldn’t listen when Lizzy tried to tell him her reasons for not accepting his marriage proposal but instead Darcy is asking for them. This shows he cares about what she thinks. Mr Darcy really hopes that Elizabeth understands why he loves her, he wants her to realise that they would be great together. Him asking what she thinks and feels reveals to us that Mr Darcy is a very caring, kind, open-minded man that appreciates different opinions and views. He listens to Elizabeth when she is speaking and does not interrupt her when she is talking, something which Mr Collins could not resist doing. When Elizabeth tells Mr Darcy her final answer is no he rises from his chair, thanks her for her time and storms out of the house. Straight away Elizabeth collapses into a nearby chair, shaken and upset. This type of reaction given by Elizabeth obviously proves that she feels something for Mr Darcy, and Mr Darcy must have feelings for Elizabeth if he has just asked her to spend the rest of his life with him.
Meanwhile Darcy writes Elizabeth a letter answering her charges. He explains how Whickham got his fair share of money from the will and that he had gone to great lengths to help him. Darcy delivers the letter and Elizabeth is once again shocked and astounded. Her long held prejudice toward her adversary is shaken.
I think Mr Collins handled rejection better than how Mr Darcy did. I think this was because Mr Darcy actually had feelings for Elizabeth and so cared at what she thought. Mr Collins however just forgot about it and went and proposed to her best friend
Both men however are very similar in the way they both presumed that Elizabeth would say yes and accept their hands in marriage. Both were upset and angry when they got refused but both handled the rejection in different ways. Elizabeth is courteous, direct and honest with both men and doesn’t hide her feelings in showing what she really thinks of them both. She is very frank with Darcy however I think this is because she likes him much more than she does with Mr Collins.
The next time Darcy and Elizabeth meet is when she is on vacation with her Aunt and Uncle. Their eyes instantly meet across the room and both are extremely embarrassed. Both of them must have some love feelings for each other otherwise they would not have these reactions. Darcy and Elizabeth’s time together is cut short however as news is brought in that Lydia and Whickham have run away together. This is awful because if Whickman doesn’t marry Lydia she will be left alone and penny less and so when Darcy hears this he finds their whereabouts and pays Whickham to marry Lydia.
When Darcy and Lizzy meet up again this time they take a walk alone and Darcy asks did his letter help in explaining things? Lizzy says that it did and that once she had read the letter her prejudices gradually faded away. Mr Darcy then repeats his proposal and asks Elizabeth to marry him. She says yes! This is because Darcy has disposed of all his prejudices and his stubborn pride and in him doing this it has made Lizzy realise that she isn’t all perfect and so she decided not to be prejudiced against him, this made her realise that she actually loves him.
Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage is one that turns out happy and strong, her sister Jane eventually marries Bingley and they too are also happy. Lydia and Mr Whickham stay married, as do Charlotte and Mr Collins. Elizabeth learnt a lot about marriage, as there were prime examples around to learn from e.g. her mother and fathers marriage was not a perfect one and so she realised she shouldn’t marry just because of somebody’s looks but their personality. Her overall judgement was very good, you should never settle for second best and you shouldn’t let your pride or prejudices stand in the way.
Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage is very different to the Collinses as Charlotte has to put a lot of effort into keeping her husband happy, she of course has to visit and please his patroness, and keep up with the housework. Lizzy however doesn’t need to do any of that as she can stand to be around Darcy. Charlotte is very crafty in how she deals with her husband e.g. Mr Collins offered her a any room in the house, she chose a small room at the back of the house instead of the large living room at the front of the house that he recommended her to have, why? Well she figured out that Mr Collins would be constantly on the look out for Lady Catherine and so would be in the Front room all the time looking out of the window, pestering her and so if she takes the small room at the back she can have the peace and quiet she needs instead of him pestering her. This is how Mr and Mrs Collins actually stay married, Charlotte knows how to handle her husband whereas Lizzy doesn’t need to worry about that as she genuinely loves Darcy, they actually have things in common. Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage lasts long and is happy because they have learnt from the failures of others.