Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

universal assumption that knowing a man implies knowing
his bank balance" (34-35) .
The character of Mr. Collins takes this argument to
another level, suggesting that a woman's knowledge of a
man's worth is a natural response to a man's knowing a
woman's worth as she enters the marriage market. It
implies that what a woman brings to a marriage is as
important as the wealth of a prospective husband. Rumor
and speculation haunt both parties as they negotiate
marriage, since true monetary worth is private and often
changeable with the vicissitudes of business. The only
public acknowledgement of worth comes with the offer of a
marriage settlement, and only then are the negotiated
amounts made public and provable.
Collins bombards Mr. Bennet with letters of thanks
and apology and offers not to mention Elizabeth's lack of
fortune if she were to marry him. He even boasts he is
better qualified than Elizabeth to decide the social
niceties upper-class life deserves through his education
and study.
The challenge of modern interpretation and knowledge
of the power of strict settlement and its language comes
in the perspective each man brings to Longbourn. For Mr.
Bennet, Longbourn is the culmination of generations and