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Jane AustenA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Summary
Volume 1, Chapters 1-3
Volume 1, Chapters 4-6
Volume 1, Chapters 7-10
Volume 1, Chapters 11-15
Volume 1, Chapters 16-18
Volume 1, Chapters 19-23
Volume 2, Chapters 1-6
Volume 2, Chapters 7-11
Volume 2, Chapters 12-15
Volume 2, Chapters 16-19
Volume 3, Chapters 1-3
Volume 3, Chapters 4-10
Volume 3, Chapters 11-14
Volume 3, Chapters 15-19
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Mr. Collins asks Mrs. Bennet if he can speak privately with Elizabeth. She readily agrees, despite Elizabeth’s pleas that she not leave. Once alone, Mr. Collins commends Elizabeth’s modesty. He tells her he has chosen her to be his wife and proceeds to list his reasons for marrying. First, clergymen in “easy circumstances” should “set the example of matrimony in his parish” (101). Second, marriage will make him happy. Finally, Lady Catherine has graciously offered her opinion that he should marry a “useful” woman who was “not brought up high” (102). He assures her that her “wit and vivacity” will be “acceptable” to Lady Catherine “when tempered with the silence and respect which her rank will inevitably excite” (102). He notes there is no shortage of women in his neighborhood but that he has chosen to marry one of the Bennets to alleviate their financial burden.
Elizabeth interrupts to thank him and decline his proposal. Mr. Collins brushes off this rejection, stating women often decline proposals they intend to accept. Elizabeth promises she is sincere and that she would not jeopardize her happiness by rejecting a man she wanted to marry. She informs him he could never make her happy, nor she him, adding that Lady Catherine would not approve of her either.
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