Family Reactions to the Letter
The family reacts diversely: Mr. Bennet finds a promising mixture of servility and self-importance in the letter; Elizabeth is struck by Collins’s extraordinary deference to Lady…
Mr. Collins’s Arrival
Mr. Collins arrives punctually at four o’clock and is received with great politeness. He is described as a tall, heavy-looking young man of five-and-twenty, with a grave and state…
Compliments at Dinner
Before dinner, Mr. Collins compliments Mrs. Bennet on her fine family of daughters, claiming fame has fallen short of their beauty, and expresses confidence they will all be well…
CHAPITRE XIV.
Chapter XIV centers on dinner at Longbourn with Mr. Collins as a guest, where Mr. Bennet deliberately draws his obsequious cousin into praising his patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Collins eagerly recounts the condescension he has received, while Mrs. Bennet, Mr.…
Dinner Conversation About Lady Catherine
Once the servants have withdrawn from dinner, Mr. Bennet, who has scarcely spoken during the meal, opens a conversation with his guest by remarking on Collins’s good fortune in ha…
Mr. Collins Praises His Patroness
Collins becomes eloquent in praising Lady Catherine, his manner growing unusually solemn as he protests he has never in his life witnessed such affability and condescension in a p…
Lady Catherine’s Condescension and Advice
Collins recounts that Lady Catherine approved both of his sermons, invited him twice to dine at Rosings, summoned him to make up a card party, spoke to him as an equal, made no ob…
Mrs. Bennet Inquires About Lady Catherine
Mrs. Bennet, declaring this all very proper and civil and lamenting that great ladies are not generally more like Lady Catherine, asks whether she lives nearby.
The Garden Near Rosings Park
Collins replies that the garden in which his humble abode stands is separated only by a lane from Rosings Park, Lady Catherine’s residence.
Miss de Bourgh’s Beauty and Health
In answer to Mrs. Bennet’s questions, Collins describes Lady Catherine’s daughter as the heiress of Rosings and of very extensive property.…
Question of Whether Miss de Bourgh Has Been Presented
When asked whether Miss de Bourgh has been presented at court, Collins explains that her indifferent health has kept her from town, and he tells how he remarked to Lady Catherine…
Collins’s Customary Flattery to Lady Catherine
Collins explains that he is happy on every occasion to offer those little delicate compliments acceptable to ladies.…
Mr. Bennet Questions the Source of Flattery
Mr. Bennet commends Collins’s judgment and talent for flattering with delicacy, and asks whether these pleasing attentions arise from the impulse of the moment or from previous st…
Collins Claims His Compliments Are Unstudied
Collins replies that his compliments arise chiefly from what is passing at the time, though he sometimes amuses himself with suggesting and arranging elegant compliments for ordin…
Mr. Bennet’s Quiet Enjoyment of His Cousin
Mr. Bennet’s expectations are fully answered: he finds his cousin as absurd as he had hoped and listens with the keenest enjoyment, maintaining the most resolute composure of coun…
Tea Time and Reading Aloud
By tea-time Mr. Bennet has had enough of the dose and is glad to take his guest into the drawing-room; once tea is over he invites Collins to read aloud to the ladies.
Collins Refuses to Read Novels
Collins readily agrees, but on seeing that the book produced is from a circulating library he starts back, begs pardon, and protests that he never reads novels.…
Lydia Interrupts the Reading
Before Collins has read three pages with monotonous solemnity, Lydia interrupts him with chatter about her uncle Philips possibly turning away Richard, Colonel Forster’s hiring hi…
Collins Resents Lydia’s Behaviour
After Lydia’s two eldest sisters bid her hold her tongue, Collins, much offended, lays aside his book.…
Backgammon with Mr. Bennet
Collins then offers himself as Mr. Bennet’s antagonist at backgammon. Mr. Bennet accepts, praising Collins for wisely leaving the girls to their trifling amusements. Mrs.…
The original text of this work is in the public domain. This page offers a compressed quick-read summary for educational purposes.