Mr Collins vs E&D
I read the oddest essay today. It's rather old, dating (I think) from the 1880s. The basic point of the essay was that, in terms of characterisation, the best character in Pride and Prejudice is Mr Collins. The author went on to detail his many delightful quirks and foibles. I have seen it argued that the relationship at the heart of the novel is that between Elizabeth and Jane, Elizabeth and Mr Bennet, Elizabeth and Elizabeth, and even (by a few brave souls) Elizabeth and Darcy. This person insisted that the author's focus was on Mr Collins.
It was very entertaining, I confess. Mr Collins is undoubtedly a work of comic genius. I never laugh so much as when he is on the scene. I personally think Mr Elton is a better example of "realistic" characterisation, but Mr Collins is simply funnier and more contemptible, and therefore his marriage to Charlotte Lucas looms much larger than the Mr Elton/Augusta Hawkins match. That said, I find it patently ridiculous to suggest that he is any way the focus of the novel. This author not only does so, but goes on to explain why he is infinitely superior (again, in terms of characterisation) to Elizabeth and Darcy. They are, apparently, quite unoriginal and bland. She is a run-of-the-mill Spunky Young Thing, Darcy a run-of-the-mill Haughty Aristocrat.
I think I could argue both if I felt like it. (I don't.) Personally, I think Elizabeth and Darcy are respectively Jane Austen's best and most enduring heroine and hero. They are without doubt the most popular. There are few things more appealing than a fairy-tale one can believe. It is not that Elizabeth and Darcy are a particularly romantic pair in and of themselves; the romance comes more from what they represent. This author felt that there was something intrinsically unlovable about them individually and as a pair. Apparently Elizabeth's delight in being freed of her family and Darcy's inconsistent snobbishness rendered both of them deeply unlovable as characters.
Ah, well. The poor thing couldn't help not knowing that a century would make them one of English literature's most beloved couples. Still, when she, or he, postulates that Jane Austen lacked perception in thinking that her protagonists were at the centre of her book, it can't help but seem as ridiculous as Mr Collins himself.
It was very entertaining, I confess. Mr Collins is undoubtedly a work of comic genius. I never laugh so much as when he is on the scene. I personally think Mr Elton is a better example of "realistic" characterisation, but Mr Collins is simply funnier and more contemptible, and therefore his marriage to Charlotte Lucas looms much larger than the Mr Elton/Augusta Hawkins match. That said, I find it patently ridiculous to suggest that he is any way the focus of the novel. This author not only does so, but goes on to explain why he is infinitely superior (again, in terms of characterisation) to Elizabeth and Darcy. They are, apparently, quite unoriginal and bland. She is a run-of-the-mill Spunky Young Thing, Darcy a run-of-the-mill Haughty Aristocrat.
I think I could argue both if I felt like it. (I don't.) Personally, I think Elizabeth and Darcy are respectively Jane Austen's best and most enduring heroine and hero. They are without doubt the most popular. There are few things more appealing than a fairy-tale one can believe. It is not that Elizabeth and Darcy are a particularly romantic pair in and of themselves; the romance comes more from what they represent. This author felt that there was something intrinsically unlovable about them individually and as a pair. Apparently Elizabeth's delight in being freed of her family and Darcy's inconsistent snobbishness rendered both of them deeply unlovable as characters.
Ah, well. The poor thing couldn't help not knowing that a century would make them one of English literature's most beloved couples. Still, when she, or he, postulates that Jane Austen lacked perception in thinking that her protagonists were at the centre of her book, it can't help but seem as ridiculous as Mr Collins himself.