In the novel Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Collins is a major character who shows Jane Austen’s ideas about marriage and the status of women. He helps show that women should marry for love and not for money, class, or family. Mr. Colins is the cousin to the Bennets and he proposes to Elizabeth in being his wife. This character does not appear frequently but is nevertheless critical in the expressing of Jane Austen’s beliefs.

Mr. Collins idea that marriage is just another business to be attended to shows Jane Austen’s point of view on marriage. She believes marriage should occur between a couple who can love and mutually respect each other as intellectual equals- Mr. Collins is not a husband Elizabeth would respect as an intellectual equal. In fact, Elizabeth thinks Mr. Collins is a “fool” and believes that she could not ever be happy if she was married to Mr. Collins. Mr. Collins confronted Elizabeth as a female who needed a dependable husband- he thought Elizabeth would definitely accept him- but he was very surprised when she declined his proposal. Mr. Collins could not believe that she did not accept him, he thought himself very eligible to marry her since he had a stable job and good estate. He then decided that she was being an elegant lady and was “increasing [his] love by suspense…” which was not true, but Mr. Collins could not understand why she would refuse him. After some time, Mr. Collins realized Elizabeth was serious. After that realization, he moved on easily and proposed to Charlotte, Elizabeth’s close friend, the very next day. This is an example of a belief Jane Austen was trying to portray to the reader that women should not marry just for security and advantage. Mr. Collins, unlike other men, was oblivious to any emotional pain during and after when Elizabeth rejects him. This shows that Mr. Collins is a “fool” and he doesn’t actually have any real emotional attachment to the women he proposes to. This reinforces his belief that marriage is not important emotionally, but is another thing he needs to do that is a necessity to have a good life. As if these examples were not enough, Jane Austen shows Mr. Collin’s indifference to Elizabeth when she visited his dwelling. Elizabeth expected Mr. Collins to feel resentment towards her since she refused marry him. This was not the case; instead, Mr. Collins was very welcoming towards her and didn’t show even a hint of resentment. He treated her no differently than the other guests that visited him. This behavior exemplifies Mr. Collins real feelings toward Elizabeth, nothing. He didn’t care if she loved him. Mr. Collins just wanted a decent wife to take care of the children and home.

Jane Austen’s idea in the status of women was prominent in the novel. She believed that women should not marry a man just because he was an eligible bachelor. If Elizabeth had married Mr. Collins, Mrs. Bennet would have been very happy since their estate won’t be entailed away to another family after Mr. Bennet’s death. Class, money, and appearance should not be the only factors in choosing a spouse. Mr. Collins did not understand this and believed he was completely qualified to marry nearly any girl he chose. This is why Mr. Collins proposed to Elizabeth- in anticipation that she would accept his hand in marriage. Elizabeth’s firm refusal to Mr. Collins proposal and Mrs. Bennet’s recommendation shows Jane Austen’s view that women need not marry by what their family thinks is most economical. In this time period, a woman’s status was lower than that of a man. An accomplished woman was expected to be able to “net purses”,”paint tables”, and have a “thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages”. Elizabeth was considered “undistinguished” by those standards. Women during Jane Austen time were to hope they could find a wealthy husband or one with a decent and stable income. Jane Austen’s choosing of Elizabeth as the main character shows that she didn’t believe in those ideas.

Marriage should be based on many factors, not just economical. Love, respect, and pride should be taken into consideration as well. These are some of the ideas that Jane Austen had tried to portray through the novel.