Lizzy and Mr. Collins

     Out of all the relationships in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, I would have to say that the relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Collins was the strangest. After knowing each other only a matter of days, Mr. Collins proposes to Lizzy in one of the most humorous scenes in the book. While Lizzy is looking to marry someone that she truly loves, Mr. Collins wishes to marry Lizzy simply because it seems like the right thing to do.

     One way that Austen illustrates the humor of this strange relationship is through her use of irony. When Elizabeth realizes that Mr. Collins is about to make his proposal, she does her best to stop it from happening by telling her mother to stay because it couldn,t be that important. At that moment, it was obvious how much Lizzy disliked Mr. Collins, but he had absolutely no idea how she felt. Elizabeth was unable to avoid the time alone with Collins, so she forced to sit through the most ridiculous proposal you could possibly imagine. The speech that Mr. Collins made was full of irony. In his proposal, he brought up the subject of both of her parents eventual deaths, which is not the best topic in a marriage proposal. After all of this, he says, "nothing remains for me but to assure you in the most animated language of the violence of my affection." (93) How could she possibly believe that he loves her after he spent so much time talking about her parents dying in his marriage proposal? Mr. Collins is completely blind to the meaning of love and the feelings of others, so he just proposes to the first woman that he thinks will marry him and says the things that he believes he is supposed to say.

     There are two different types of people in this novel: those who believe that marriage is about love and those who believe that marriage is simply a business arrangement. Lizzy and Mr. Collins relationship never could have gone anywhere because they were on oppostite sides of this spectrum. The tones of these two characters shows which side they are on. Mr. Collins believes that marriage is a business arrangement, and Austen shows this through the tone that she makes him speak in. When Collins speaks, it is always very straightforward with a lack of true emotion, especially during his proposal to Lizzy. In his proposal, he says, "My reasons for marrying are, first, that I think it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances (like myself) to set the example of matrimony in his parish." (92) This statement shows absolutely no emotion. Rather than talking about his love for her, he talks about setting an example for other people. Clearly marriage is not about love for Mr. Collins.

     When Lizzy talks to Mr. Collins, there is always emotion. Usually there is a sarcastic tone when she talks to him, but this shows that she is not willing to marry him for money because she believes in love. As Lizzy attempts to express to Collins that she honestly doesn't wish to marry him she cries, "Really, Mr. Collins, you puzzle me exceedingly. If what I have hitherto said can appear to you in the form of encouragement, I know not how to express my refusal in such a way as may convince you of its being one." (95) She is baffled by how little Collins understands her that she becomes sarcastic and cries out this statement rather than keeping her usual calm tone. She can't express any further the fact that she won't just amrry a man in the hopes of a stable financial future. She wants to marry someone that she loves so that she will be happy in the future, not just stable.

     The relationship between Mr. Collins and Lizzy was doomed from the beginning, if it ever even really started. Their relationship was so crazy and humorous based on the fact that it was very one sided. Mr. Collins wished to marry Lizzy because it seemed like the right thing to do, but he was blind to the fact that Lizzy didn't like him at all. Jane Austen shows how ridiculous this relationship is through her use of irony and tone.