Austen's Use of the Character of Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice

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Austen's Use of the Character of Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice

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Jane Austen portrays the characters in many different ways. There is a

wide range of backgrounds and personalities of the people within the

novel and also a wide range of character development. The use of flat

characters in Pride and Prejudice is mainly to show consequences of

having a flat, undeveloped personality such as leading a dull and

boring life, being miserable throughout marriage, not getting what is

desired from life, and being a social outcast. Jane Austen's use of

flat characters is very important in Pride and Prejudice. There is a

similarity to modern life (20th century) with the use of flat

characters in this 19th century novel. Modern society portrays flat

characters as outcasts also and socially ancient.

Austen uses a variety of comic techniques to express her own view on

characters, she introduces false impressions and character foils to

further show how ridiculous a character may be. Pride and Prejudice

has many character foils to exaggerate a characters faults or traits.

Austen also uses irony quite often to inform the readers on her own

personal opinions. The comic techniques, false impressions, irony, and

satire not only helped to provide humour for Austen's readers, but

they also helped Austen to give her own personal opinion on public

matters. Austen exaggerates many of her characters and therefore makes

false impressions of them in order to emphasize their ridiculousness.

Mr. Collins is an example of an exaggerated character in ...

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...novel. There is not much said about the Collins' after

they marry. Austen's use of Mr Collins and Charlotte as flat

characters is to show that marrying just to be married can lead to an

unhappy life and to show the importance of marrying for love, this can

be linked to a variety of main themes in the novel, such as marriage

for security and perhaps reputation.

In conclusion I feel that Austen uses the character of Mr Collins very

well in a way that it is the minor characters that provide the basis

and understanding of many of the events and it is they who provide

much that is memorable in the novel. Austen's subtle characterisation,

through their own words and actions rather than authorial description,

invites readers to share her amusement and ironic understanding of

both the situations and characters she describes.

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