Wednesday, September 29, 2010
DW Harding- Is Collins Funny or a Nightmare?
In Pride and Prejudice, the character of Mr. Collins is a nightmare if he were a part of real life, however in the context of the novel, he a comedic character. DW Harding states that Jane Austen utilizes the situation of Mr. Collins' proposal to Elizabeth to espouse how "economic and social institutions have such a power over the value of personal relationship." Jane Austen satirizes her society by commenting on the importance of financial status with regards to marriage. According to DW Harding, Mr. Collins is portrayed as a "caricature" in the novel in order to provide the reader with comedic relief. Everything that Mr. Collins says is exaggerated and intended to be humorous to the readers in order the attack society without upsetting the reader. If the proposal had taken place in real life and Elizabeth had to go through with the marriage this would without a doubt be a nightmare. Jane Austen effectively twists the situation to make the circumstances comedic in the eyes of the reader.
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I believe that some of the evidence you support in this argument is good evidence, but I have to disagree with you believing Mr. Collins is a comedic character. I believe that Austen might have intended to have Mr. Collins be the comedic character in the novel, but his actions and the way she presents Mr. Collins is not in the least bit funny. Yes, Austen does exaggerate Mr. Collins and his actions, but I believe not many readers will find this exaggeration funny, because his treatment towards female society and his attempt to fit into the social norm of the 1800's, is basically despicable in my view. And also about the proposal; the proposal was still a nightmare even though Elizabeth did not go through with the marriage. It wasn't funny for Mr. Collins to tell reasons of why he wanted to marry Elizabeth, and none of the reasons being because he had an affection for her. All of the reasons were out of haughty arrogance, and I believed that Mr. Collins being an arrogant jerk is not exactly funny to a reader.
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