Marriage

        In class, we wrote a letter of opinion to “Miss Charlotte” using two different pieces of a man proposing marriage (one from the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and the other in Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens). What surprises me is how shallow and blunt the man, Mr. Collins, in Pride and Prejudice is. He unemotionally lists the reasons for wanting to marry, and talks about another woman as well (he seems to have more passion for his “fair cousin” Lady Catherine de Bourgh than for the lady he is addressing!). How does Collins expect to woo a woman when all he talks about is himself? This unemotional declaration of his supposed “love” for the lady he is speaking to is very different from the humble attitude apparent in the excerpt from Our Mutual Friend. Unlike Mr. Collins, this unnamed character actually says “I love you” in his proposal. He also catalogues the many things the woman he is talking to draws him to (Fire, water, the gallows, any death, etc.).
        I think the man is very sincere about his love, but when reading the letters in class, I thought it was interesting that others thought otherwise. They wrote about how his use of hyperboles actually made him seem insincere and that Miss Charlotte should not marry either of the men. It’s amazing how people think about things in different ways.