Love Isn't Valid Tender for My Heart, Sorry.

Throughout my exposure in LIT and lit, I have made the obvious observation that love can often be an afterthought when considering marriage. In Game of Thrones, Viserys Targaryen married off his own sister without a second thought in exchange for 10,000 men that were meant to aid him in taking back the Iron Throne (too bad he dies). The fact that it is acceptable to trade her off like a hunk of meat enrages my inner feminist. Likewise, the pitiful character of Mrs. Bennet in Pride & Prejudice, by Jane Austen, is fixated in marrying her daughters off; it is her sole, life purpose. When a marriage opportunity appears for her least favorite daughter, she is ecstatic. That man, however, is Mr. Collins and is literally the comic relief and one of Austen's greatest satirical devices of the novel.

Throughout Victorian literature, critiques on its own society is one of its major tenets. It is obviously not an accident that the Bennets' property is an entailment with its future heir being the pathetic Mr. Collins. This entailment forces the family into losing their property because it must be inherited by a male. The manner Austen crafts Mr. Collins, however, further showcases the absurdity of this custom. It is incredibly difficult to put into words how dense this man is. One matter that would describe his obtuseness is when Darcy is openly contemptuous to him in conversation but does not realize and mistakes it as a cordial conversation. His response to Elizabeth's response to his hand in marriage is also an A1 example:

 Mrs. Bennet's response alone to Elizabeth's refusal in the proposal can spark criticism due to her narrow goal of marrying her daughter off, despite his character and with her only filter being his status. This brings me to my next point of the role of women in Victorian society. After Elizabeth denies Mr. Collins, Ms. Charlotte Lucas, her neighbor, becomes his Plan B and accepts. She exclaims this acceptance with,

"I am not romantic, you know; I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins' character, connection, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state" (Austen 109).

Without a husband of good status, women are frowned upon in this society. It is archetypal to use marriage to benefit two parties, with those two parties not necessarily being either the groom or bride. In this instance, Jane and Elizabeth are both pressured into marrying as they continue to age and are also teased of ending up as "old maids" if they do not make themselves appear to be more desirable; this notion expresses the attitude of society's objectification of women. In my opinion, I admired Elizabeth's courage to refuse Mr. Collins even if it meant losing all ties to the Longbourn estate and less admirable with Charlotte's contentedness with "comfort". On a more worldly basis, however, this idea of marrying one of good status is practiced currently in arranged marriages which continues to divide my opinion on love induced marriages or those regarding status. In Austen's portrayal of the situation, I see the absurdity of the practice, especially with a man as pompous as Mr. Collins, but with my past research of arranged marriages, it has been proven to be effective.

All in all, Mr. Collin's obtuse dill-igence is too funny to not notice.