Comparing Marriage Proposals from Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice

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Comparing Marriage Proposals from Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice

The story of Pride and Prejudice revolves around a mother of five

daughters, Mrs. Bennet, whose sole purpose is to marry off her

daughters to suitable men. Jane is the eldest out of the Bennet

sisters. Jane is the closest to Elizabeth from the rest of her

sisters, this is because they stand on similar maturity levels, and

Elizabeth is the second oldest.

The main theme of the novel is based on the importance of marriage. It

is important because a woman will have to marry a suitable man who can

support her when her father passes away, it is equally important to

men because it is important for them to keep their social status, they

will do this by finding a wife at a suitable age. There are four main

marriages in the novel: Charlotte's to Mr Collins, Lydia's to Wickham,

Jane's to Mr Bingley, and Elizabeth's to Mr Darcy. The story is

follows Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Bennet the second oldest of the five daughters. Of her

sisters, she has the strongest and most outstanding personality, and

this is shown because she is the only one who wants to marry a

suitable man whom she also loves.

Mr Collins is a relative of the Bennets. Mr Bennet has no sons.

Therefore he will have to leave all his possessions to Mr Collins when

he passes away. This is why Mrs Bennet is pleased to hear he would

like to marry one of her daughters so they will keep the family

income. Mr Collins at first is most interested in Jane because of her

beauty, but when he finds out that she may be getting engaged to Mr

Bingley, he realises he has not got much of a chance with her, so then

begins to have interest in Elizabeth.

Mr Darcy is a man who comes fro...

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... both positive that Elizabeth will accept them and they therefore

present themselves in such a manner that this is made obvious. Mr

Collins verbally declares this assumption, “you may assure yourself

that no ungenerous reproach shall ever pass my lips when we are

married”. Mr Darcy does not openly mention his assurance in

Elizabeth’s acceptance but makes it obvious in his manner; she could

easily see that he had no doubt of a favourable answer. He spoke of

apprehension and anxiety, but his countenance expressed real security.

Until Mr Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, neither of them are honest about

their feelings towards each other.

The novel ends when Mr Darcy and Elizabeth get married, and Jane and

Mr Bingley get married, even though they connected from the beginning

and did not have as much time as Elizabeth and Mr Darcy did to get to

know each other.

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