#Mr. Collins

[charminglygrouped]

Mr. Collins: Doesn't how great this house is make you wish you hadn't turned me down?

Elizabeth Bennet: There is not a house on the surface of this planet that could make me regret turning a man down.

Pemberley: 🌳🌳🏛️🏛️🏛️🌳🌳

Elizabeth Bennet: 😳

Elizabeth Bennet: well...

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

possibly one of my FAV scenes from my FAV thing ever-

Elizabeth Bennet almost commits a murder, Jane just barely prevents a murder, Mary has the MOST toxic crush on her wet cat blorbo Mr. Collins, and Kitty... literally... ran off rather than sit with him. Beautiful.

<3 i love this miniseries <3

[bethanydelleman]

I feel like no one talks about how after Elizabeth refuses Collins like 6 times but he just keeps plowing ahead with his plans for marriage, she actually starts to go get her dad so he can stop Collins with the power of mansplaining:

To such perseverance in wilful self-deception Elizabeth would make no reply, and immediately and in silence withdrew; determined, that if he persisted in considering her repeated refusals as flattering encouragement, to apply to her father, whose negative might be uttered in such a manner as must be decisive, and whose behaviour at least could not be mistaken for the affectation and coquetry of an elegant female.

Jane Austen perfectly capturing the epitome of a female experience.

[duckprintspress]

Calling All Artists!

In celebration of January 1st, 2024, and Public Domain Day, Duck Prints Press is thrilled to announce that we are doing open recruitment for artists to contribute to our next fanfiction and fanart anthology A Truth Universally Acknowledged: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”!

Are you an Austenite? Do you love Regency romance but lament how, well, straight most of it is? Do you wish Mary Bennett found a partner? Are you positive Charlotte Lucas deserved better? Do you pity Miss de Bourgh? Do you dream of Darcy and Bingley OT3s? Well you are NOT ALONE! We at Duck Prints Press are right there with you, and we’re here to say: this is your moment to shine! We want your wlw pairings, your new happy endings, your P&P ot3s and ot4s, your “but what if they’re trans,” your queer art and fanart inspired by this beloved story! This story has such a lovely main and supporting cast, the possibilities for taking Pride and Prejudice and MAKING IT QUEER are endless!

This is the third in our Queer Fanworks Inspired By… series, publishing legal fanfic and fanart inspired by popular works in the public domain. It builds on the success of our first two, And Seek (Not) to Alter Me (inspired by Much Ado About Nothing) and Aim For The Heart (inspired by The Three Musketeers). This is a paid arting opportunity; artists will be asked to complete one full-page (A4/210 mm x 297 mm), full-color piece, and we may have space for some artists to complete more than one page and/or short comics. Base pay is $50 per page, with the potential for raises up to $400 per page depending on our success during the eventual crowdfunding campaign.

Want to Learn More? OF COURSE YOU DO!

A Truth Universally Acknowledged Rules and Guidelines

A Truth Universally Acknowledged FAQ

A Truth Universally Acknowledged Schedule

Sample artist contract

Ready to apply? YAY! Follow this link to the sign up form! Applications close at midnight, January 15, 2024!

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[jomiddlemarch]

in the middle before I knew that I had begun

Every visit to Rosings was a trial. As a small child, it had perhaps been most bearable, Darcy whisked away to the nursery where his cousin Dickon was often already settled, making the most of the hobbyhorse which Anne was too young to mount and which would be of little use to her as she would expected to ride side-saddle as soon as she was put upon a pony. Anne’s nurse was apt to ply them with shortbread to get them to behave properly, unlike Darcy’s nurse at Pemberley who would not have hesitated to box their ears. They were brought down to the drawing room for a quarter of an hour, standing as still as they could, Dickon having invented the game he called living statues to help pass the time. It would stand Darcy in good stead over the years, especially when he was most in company. At Rosings, they would be inspected, praised by Darcy’s mother, criticized by Aunt Catherine, and offered cakes by Dickon’s mother, who was quite plump and fussed least about crumbs and sticky fingers.

Returning every year was an obligation, one which only grew more binding after his mother’s death, though her absence was keenly felt, unblunted by time as Georgianna grew to resemble her. Her daughter was more like her in manner than in coloring, though she had her fair and unblemished complexion. Darcy could no sooner have stayed away from Rosings than gallop to the Moon upon a road of starlight, a fanciful image he’d conjured for Georgianna one night when she was recovering from a childhood illness, still fretful from her fever. If their mother had lived, perhaps he might have visited friends, stayed in London and made a wider acquaintance than that of the Bingleys, however fond he was of Charles. As it was, it was Darcy’s fondness which kept Charles from suffering more than one visit to Rosings, a boon even the sunny-natured Bingley was deeply thankful for. Darcy went, Georgianna accompanying him if her health allowed, the only argument Aunt Catherine would ever countenance, and he sat through dull afternoons and duller dinners, dull vintages and even duller volumes in the Rosings library. He listened to his cousin Anne play endless sonatas competently but without any particular feeling and he did his best to keep from striking the sycophant vicar Mr. Collins his aunt had given the Rosings living to; unlike her, Darcy was not remotely pleased by the man’s obviously intricately planned adulatory remarks, the slavering expression in his rather small eyes every time he uttered the most-esteemed Lady Catherine de Bourgh, an appellation Darcy felt did not need to be mentioned in every third sentence. 

A visit to Rosings was a trial and an obligation, a chore and a burden, until he arrived and found a stranger at the pianoforte, a vibrant, chestnut-haired young woman in a very simple muslin gown, his cousin Anne sitting beside her. Anne had never looked more sallow and sickly, her costly gown and jewels emphasizing her frailty in contrast to the bloom of the woman beside her, whose hair was held back by a plain ribbon fillet, her only adornment a modest little cross of some dark stones. She was playing the piano with more zest than accuracy and Darcy was dismayed to be unsure which aspect was pleasing Anne enough to make her pallid lips curve in a small but entirely genuine smile.

Anne stood when she saw him while the woman stopped playing but remained seated. He walked over to greet his cousin, bowing smartly while she made a gesture akin to a curtsy, the formality due their stations far outweighing any mild familial affection they might have for each other.

“Cousin Fitzwilliam, welcome. If you are here, you must have already seen Mama who have advised you to come. I hope your journey was not too taxing and that you will stay here a while and enjoy some music. My new companion, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, came just last fortnight. She is the cousin of the vicar and Mr. Collins was only too glad to discover he might have been able to in any minute way be of service to me, and by extension, my most-esteemed mother, Lady Catherine,” Anne said. She’d spoken more words than Darcy had ever heard her utter at one time, and though she was still quite pale and her curls rather lank and drooping, there was an unusual animation in her tone. She turned slightly to face Miss Bennet. “That is how he said it, wasn’t it, dear Elizabeth?”

“I believe he was only too glad and most assuredly blessed beyond measure,” Miss Bennet replied. She had the finest dark eyes Darcy had ever seen and her voice was confident and gay, far different from every other companion he’d ever encountered, women most often faded misses of indeterminate age who spoke little and softly, nearly always offering only an affirmation.

“That’s him exactly. He’d pressed his hands together as if he were about to give a homily in the pulpit and Mama gave him her falcon-sighting-prey glare and he only nodded his head several times,” Anne said. 

“He was honest though. I’ve never met someone as delighted as Mr. Collins is to render even the most insignificant service to Lady Catherine and I myself am certainly fortunate to have been offered the position as your companion,” Miss Bennet said. Darcy had never heard a companion speak so frankly to her betters about her role and felt he ought to be disgusted. Instead he was diverted, a condition he experienced rarely.

“I am the fortunate one, as you are far more lively and engaging than I could ever be. I’ve never known the days to pass so quickly,” Anne said.

“They shall pass quicker still when your strength improves and our walks about the countryside are more extensive,” Miss Bennet said, a remark which could have been cutting, as if might have been if Miss Caroline Bingley, Charles’s rather odious sister, had spoken it, but which was only imbued with a gentle, genuine warmth and kindness. “Though you risk a muddy hem three inches deep when you join me and your mother may be as disappointed in your deportment as she was in mine. I must admit, Mr. Darcy, I did not bow my head and offer an apology. Indeed, my courage rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”

“You are singular, Miss Bennet,” he said.

“And you have not even heard me attempt ‘Les deux petits savoyards,’” she countered, moving her hands back to the pianoforte’s keys.

“Oh do play, dear Elizabeth,” Anne said and Darcy inclined his head in agreement, at a loss for words. The melody began, quite spirited, much like the musician herself and Darcy realized this visit to Rosings was itself singular.

For he had fallen in love. With his Cousin Anne’s paid companion. A servant.

Somehow, he’d have to find a way to marry her.

Written for Janeuary 2025 @janeuary-month day 7, prompt: servant.

Posted in the better late than never spirit.

[applecoreart]

I want to invest more time in reading again and thought some cute reading lists would be a nice motivator. Since I want to re-read Jane Austen's novels, starting with Pride & Prejudice, that seemed like a good theme to run with (especially with all the talk about books and reading) :) Visually, they're all kind of chilling at home with a good book (except for Mr. Collins, who I threw in there as a joke-- you can rank books on his list by potatoes, rather than hearts, lol).

The lists are free to download from my Google Drive here (grouped into a '95 and '05 pack). Each pack contains the printable pdf pages, as well as the same designs on printable (6"x2") bookmarks :) Happy reading! ❤️📚

[orangechickenpillow]

Nightmare blunt rotation

[burningvelvet]

Just found out from a short clip on social media that the actor of Lord Cutler Beckett in PotC (Tom Hollander) plays Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice 2005. I've had that movie on my to-watch list for years after hearing so many rave reviews and seeing so many references to it but THAT is what has officially sold me...

[maxiemumdamage]

Haven’t read Pride and Prejudice through in a while, maybe this was addressed and I forgot, but is there ever an explanation for why, when Elizabeth rejects Mr. Collins, Mrs. Bennet doesn’t try to pawn him off on one of the other girls?

Mrs. B shielded Jane from Collins despite her being the unmarried and most eligible eldest because she thinks Jane can do better (Bingley) in the immediate future. Why not by that same logic write Elizabeth off as a spinster (which she kind of does anyway when Lizzie’s father steps in and forces Collins to back off) and try pawning it off on the next eldest daughter?

Mrs. Bennet probably wouldn’t do that to one of her favorite daughters, no, she has faith they can do better. But Elizabeth and Mary are not her favorites.

Which brings me to my actual point: obviously Mary and Mr. Collins would not have a happy marriage, because Mr. Collins is the kind of man it’s pretty much impossible to be happy with and Mary certainly isn’t mature enough to do it. But do you think they’d last long enough before realizing they’re incompatible to walk down the aisle? They’ve got surface similarities in their preachiness and attempts to appear intelligent despite their lack thereof.

Not saying I think this should’ve happened, for many reasons starting with Mrs. Bennet was forcing her kids into an absolutely miserable union for her own sake taking a turn at Charlotte Richards and her prospects and ending with Mary being way better off in canon when she waited and had sisters positioned to help her. But still, an interesting what-if, which fandom is meant for.

[adobongsiopao]

I thought this "shelves in the closet" scene from "Pride and Prejudice" 1995 version was only present in the adaptation version and it was written as some sort of in-joke between the staff of the show but it actually exist in the novel! This scene is based on Chapter 14 of the novel:

"She had even condescended to advise him to marry as soon as he could, provided he chose with discretion; and had once paid him a visit in his humble parsonage, where she had perfectly approved all the alterations he had been making, and had even vouchsafed to suggest some herself--some shelves in the closet upstairs."

Elizabeth's commentary about it was amusing as if she's the main character in a point-and-click adventure game. Happy thought, indeed!

Is there any scene from the adaptation that you thought it was made up first but turned out they actually exist from source material?

[ninjastormz]

[nora-barnacle]

Modern Mr. Collins mostly listens to old soul music.

[bethanydelleman]

Common misconception about Mr. Collins in Pride & Prejudice is that he's sucking up to Lady Catherine to retain his position in the church. This is not true, the living is his for life, he's sucking up for more, as Elizabeth observes: Very few days passed in which Mr. Collins did not walk to Rosings, and not many in which his wife did not think it necessary to go likewise; and till Elizabeth recollected that there might be other family livings to be disposed of, she could not understand the sacrifice of so many hours. (Ch 30)

It was possible at the time for a rector to hold multiple livings, they would install a curate for about £50/year and pocket the rest of the income.

Also, it was nigh impossible to remove a clergyman once he was installed at a living. This example is from the book Fashionable Goodness, Christianity in Jane Austen's England by Brenda S. Cox (TW: violence against pregnant women):

Dr. Free seduced his housekeepers, resulting in five illegitimate children; caused one of the women to miscarry; let his pigs desecrate the graveyard, and kept cattle on the church porch; sold the lead off the church roof; cut down and sold trees not belonging to him; left the parish for long periods of time; and refused to marry and bury his parishioners. Eventually, when he offended a gentry family over a burial, they lodged a complaint. This led to seven years of expensive trials, at the Bishop of Lincoln's personal expense. Finally Dr. Free was removed from his living, eventual dying as a beggar. (Ch 10)

(And now you can see why Darcy really didn't want Wickham to be given a living!)

Mr. Collins and Charlotte are not being irrational in their devotion to Lady Catherine, a second living could double their income without adding very much at all to their work. Charlotte might have the added benefit of Mr. Collins spending some time at his other living during the collection of tithes. Now I do think Jane Austen found this kind of behaviour repugnant, but it isn't ridiculous, it's highly motivated.

[lizzy-bonnet]

You cannot convince me that Mr. Collins would not happily kick a baby if advised to do so by his noble patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

[braidedriver24]

rewatched Pride and Prejudice (2005) and i realised that mr. collins and florian wirtz have something in common.. their love for boiled potatoes

✨excellent boiled potatoes auf die 1✨

[mametupa]

“ As you are aware, madam, when a certain melancholy event occurs, I shall be the involuntary means of disinheriting your daughters.   I have long felt it my duty to make such reparation as was in my power. Unfortunately, I cannot make amends to more than one. The difficulty now is one of, uh, choice.“

- Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice movie of 1940