Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

Had Mr. Bennet removed the entail before he married,
it is also very possible that Mrs. Bennetfs "lack of
economy" could have run Longbourn into the ground long
before the entail could have. Free of conditions,
portions of the land could have been sold to pay debts, a
fate that critics fail to evoke in the diatribe against
Mr. Bennet and the entail. Longbourn could have been lost
piece by piece to pay debts, a fate perhaps more
reprehensible and unthinkable. Austen's portrayal of the
Bennetfs estate problems is realistic and probably far
more common than we would expect.
Mr. Collins becomes the repository of the lawf s
settlement once Mr. Bennet made the decision not to
remove the entail before he married. The Bennet estate,
unfortunately, will devolve to him. Collinsf s luck
depends on the distant past, when Mr. Bennet and Mr.
Bennet's father both made the decision to leave the
entail in place until the birth of the next male Bennet.
Collins's great good luck does everything to enhance his
position, but nothing to temper his personality or low
breeding. The enlargement of his estate serves only to
magnify his shortcomings.
Most dangerous, however, is Mr. Wickham. Like many
who sit close to great wealth, Mr. Wickham is sure that