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Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

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Austen's ironic pairing of Collins with Lucas is<br />

two-fold. Charlotte has no dowry or portion and little<br />

hope of marrying well, though her father has a title and<br />

assumes the lifestyle of the landed gentry. Her future<br />

husband falls into an estate and a good living by being<br />

in the right place and the right time, not through merit<br />

or title. His good fortune does not work in his favor as<br />

does the accident of title on Sir William, for Collins<br />

becomes even more supercilious than he was before his<br />

inheritance. Charlotte, without a voice or future, turns<br />

to Collins for comfort and security, knowing the social<br />

consequences for herself and her family.<br />

Mr. Bennet reflects privately on the marriage of<br />

Charlotte Lucas, consoling himself that the young woman<br />

whom he used to consider sensible, "was as foolish as his<br />

wife, and more foolish than his daughter" (107). Jane<br />

Bennet, however, remarks that Charlotte's marrying<br />

Collins is a "most eligible match," since Charlotte is<br />

the oldest daughter in a large family without much of a<br />

portion (115). Elizabeth fails to see what Jane<br />

does-that the Bennet daughters are in much the same<br />

position.<br />

<strong>In</strong>heritance practice and its language bring out the<br />

worst in Collins. Ivor Morris declares that Collins's

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