Pride and Prejudice

After Elizabeth flees the room, Mrs. Bennet congratulates Mr. Collins, who cheerfully tells her what happened and says he has “every reason to be satisfied” because Elizabeth’s rejections “naturally flow from her bashful modesty” (105). Shocked, Mrs. Bennet tells him she doesn’t believe Elizabeth “meant to encourage him” but that she will “be brought to reason” (106). She remarks that Elizabeth is “a very headstrong, foolish girl,” and Mr. Collins replies that if that’s true, she may not be a good wife “to a man in my situation, who naturally looks for happiness in a marriage state” (106). Panicking, Mrs. Bennet tells her husband that he must make Elizabeth marry Mr. Collins before he changes his mind. Elizabeth is summoned. Mrs. Bennet tells her she will never see her again if she doesn’t marry Mr. Collins; Mr. Bennet says he will never see her again if she does.

Mrs. Bennet pleads with Elizabeth, who continues to refuse. Charlotte Lucas arrives, and Mrs. Bennet wails her sorrows, telling Elizabeth she is “undutiful,” that if she continues rejecting proposals no one will be able to take care of her, and that “nobody is on my side” (108).

Alone with Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins says that “[r]esignation to inevitable evils is the duty of us all” (109) and that he has begun to doubt whether he would have been happy with Elizabeth as his wife. He tells her that “resignation is never so perfect as when the blessing denied begins to lose somewhat of its value in our estimation” (109) and that he hopes she does not feel it is disrespectful for him to withdraw his proposal. He concludes with an apology for accepting the rejection from Elizabeth herself rather than allowing her parents to intervene on his behalf.

Mr. Collins does not avoid Elizabeth; rather, he exhibits his feelings with “stiffness of manner” and “resentful silence” (110). He spends the day speaking with Charlotte Lucas, and Elizabeth is grateful to Charlotte for distracting him. Mrs. Bennet continues to show her anger. Much to Elizabeth’s dismay, Mr. Collins doesn’t shorten his visit.

The girls walk to Meryton, where Wickham joins them at Mrs. Philips’s house. Wickham tells Elizabeth that he deliberately stayed away from the Netherfield ball to avoid being in the same room as Darcy, which might have led to a scene. He pays special attention to her as he walks with them back to Longbourn. Elizabeth is happy to be singled out and also to introduce him to her parents.

Jane receives an upsetting letter from Miss Bingley. She confides in Elizabeth that Miss Bingley says her brother has been called to London for business, that they’ve decided to follow him there, and that they do not intend to return the entire winter. She hopes Jane will write to her, that she enjoys her Christmas, and that her “beaux will be so numerous as to prevent your feeling the loss” (112). She adds that in London, they will have many opportunities to see Darcy’s sister Georgiana, who has no “equal for beauty, elegance, and accomplishments” (113); she confesses that she and her sister expect Miss Darcy will marry Bingley and asks if Jane feels it is wrong of her to “hope of an event which will secure the happiness of so many” (113).

Jane believes Miss Bingley thinks her brother is indifferent toward her and is trying to “most kindly” warn her. Elizabeth believes Miss Bingley sees that her brother is in love with Jane, prefers for him to marry Miss Darcy, and is trying to keep him and Jane apart. She says that Bingley’s love for Jane is obvious and that their family simply is “not rich enough or grand enough for them” (114). Jane insists Miss Bingley “is incapable of deceiving any one” and that it’s more likely that “she is deceived herself” (114). Elizabeth does not believe Bingley himself does not intend to return, that this is merely “Caroline’s interested wishes” (115).

Charlotte continues to entertain Mr. Collins when the Bennets have dinner at the Lucas’s house, and Elizabeth expresses her gratitude. She has no idea that Charlotte is attempting to earn Mr. Collins’s affection and that she’s been “tolerably encouraging” (116) toward him.

The next day, Mr. Collins sneaks away from Longbourn to propose; having been rejected once, he wants to avoid his cousins knowing of his proposal until it’s accepted. After his profuse speech, Charlotte accepts. He asks her to pick a date when she will “make him the happiest of men” (116-17); having “accepted him solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment,” Charlotte “cared not how soon” the wedding would take place (117).

Sir William and Lady Lucas eagerly give their consent and are delighted that their daughter is marrying a man who will come into wealth. Lady Lucas wonders how long Mr. Bennet will live. The other Lucas daughters are happy to be able to enter society, and the Lucas sons are pleased they won’t have to support Charlotte in her old age. Charlotte herself accepts the situation with composure. Mr. Collins’s “society is irksome,” and he is “neither sensible nor agreeable” (117); however, “marriage had always been her object,” for though it is “uncertain of giving happiness,” it is “the only honorable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune” (117). As she is already 27 and not beautiful, Charlotte feels fortunate, though she fears the marriage will affect her cherished relationship with Elizabeth. She resolves to inform Elizabeth herself after Mr. Collins has departed Longbourn.

Elizabeth is stunned by the news. Charlotte tells her she is “not romantic,” that she asks “only a comfortable home” (120),and that she has no less of a chance of happiness with him than with any other husband. Reflecting later, Elizabeth laments the “humiliating picture” of Charlotte marrying Mr. Collins; she believes her friend is “disgracing herself” by marrying him for “worldly advantage.” Doubting Charlotte will be happy, she feels Charlotte has “sunk in her esteem” (120).

Sir William visits Longbourn to announce the news. The Bennets are unbelieving; Sir William’s “good-breeding” enables him to tolerate “their impertinence” (121). Elizabeth confirms his story, and she and Jane congratulate him.

Mrs. Bennet remains mostly silent until he leaves, at which time she claims she doesn’t believe it, that Mr. Collins has been tricked, that he and Charlotte will never be happy, and that maybe they won’t get married after all. She complains that it’s Elizabeth’s fault and “that she herself [has] been barbarously used by them all” (121). She finds it difficult to speak to Elizabeth or the Lucases. Mr. Bennet is delighted to find that Charlotte, “whom he had been used to think tolerably sensible, was as foolish as his wife, and more foolish than his daughter” (122). As Mr. Collins is a mere clergyman, Kitty and Lydia see the news as gossip and nothing more. Lady Lucas, in “triumph,” comes to Longbourn more frequently than usual to talk about “the comfort of having a daughter well married” (122).

Elizabeth’s “disappointment in Charlotte” leads her to believe they will never have the same intimacy again, and she “turn[s] with fonder regard to her sister” (122). Meanwhile, Jane awaits a response from Miss Bingley, to whom she’d written after her last letter. Elizabeth fears that Bingley’s sisters will succeed in keeping him from returning. Jane prefers to hide her feelings and is tormented by Mrs. Bennet, who encourages her to confess “that if he [does] not come back she should think herself very ill used” (124).

Mr. Collins returns and is less warmly received; thankfully for the Bennets, he spends most of his time with the Lucases. Mrs. Bennet cannot tolerate the sight of Charlotte, whom “[a]s her successor in that house,” she sees “with jealous abhorrence” (124). Mrs. Bennet believes Charlotte is biding her time until she comes into possession of Longbourn and that whenever she speaks quietly with Mr. Collins, they are discussing their plans “to turn herself and her daughters out of the house” (124).