Mr William Collins

The “conceited, pompous, narrow-minded, silly” Mr Collins is a distant cousin of Mr Bennet’s who, due to the rules of entailment, is due to inherit Longbourn after Mr Bennet’s death. He is a clergyman working in Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s estate, a fact that he wastes no time in dropping about once per minute to whatever poor soul happens to be listening. He is primarily a comic relief character because of his utter ridiculous manner of talking and thinking which clearly defies all reality. Irony is frequently used in characterising Mr Collins and creating comedy, as he is so caught up in his own version of the world that he is blind to all reality. One of the most comic scenes of the novel arises when Mr Collins proposes to Elizabeth, and refuses to believe that she is refusing him. He tells her “as I must therefore conclude that you are not serious in your rejection of me, I shall choose to attribute it to your wish of increasing my love by suspense, according to the usual practice of elegant females.” Yikes.