Pride and Prejudice p. 88-183
Marriage Proposals and
Reactions:
Mr. Collins to Elisabeth: “Almost as soon as I entered the
house I singled you out as the companion of my future life. But before I run
away with by my feelings on this subject, perhaps it will be advisable for me
to state my reasons for marrying” (103)
Elisabeth
on her refusal: “Do not consider me now as an elegant female intending to
plague you, but as a rational creature speaking the truth from her heart” (106)
Mrs.
Bennett and Mr. Bennett: “From this day you must be a stranger to one of your
parents.—Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins,
and I will never see you again” (110)
Mr.
Collins: “Sometimes the refusal is repeated a second or even a third time. I am
therefore by no means discouraged by what you have just said, and shall hope to
lead you to the alter ere long” (104-105)
Charlotte and Mr. Collins: (Charlotte) “without thinking
highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it
was the only honorable provision for well-educated young women of small
fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest
preservative from want. This preservative she had now obtained; and at the age
of twenty-seven, without having ever been handsome, she felt all the good luck
of it” (120)
Elisabeth’s
reaction: “she had always felt that Charlotte’s opinion of matrimony was not
exactly like her won, but she could not have supposed it possible that when
called into action, she would have sacrificed every better feeling to worldly advantage”
(123)
Discussion Question: What
have Elisabeth and Charlotte gained and lost from their responses to Mr.
Collins’s marriage proposals?
What do we make of
Elisabeth’s opinion of marriage?
The Power of
Influence:
How have Mr. Bingley’s
sisters deceived him/ in what ways have they tried to help his future? Can
these actions be compared to any of Mrs. Bennett’s actions?
Elisabeth’s opinions on Bingley’s
sisters: “Your first position is false. They may wish many things besides his
happiness; they may wish his increase of wealth and consequence; they may wish
him to marry a girl who has all the importance of money, great connections and
pride” (134)
How does Lady Catherine
try to extend her influence on others?
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