Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 13: Mr. Collins Comes to Longbourn

The Bennet family receives unexpected news when Mr. Bennet announces that a relative is coming to visit Longbourn. That guest is Mr. Collins, the clergyman who is also destined to inherit the Bennet estate because the property is entailed away from Mr. Bennet’s daughters.In Chapter 13 of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Collins arrives determined to make peace with the family and quickly reveals his formal manners, self-importance, and deep admiration for his wealthy patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. His visit introduces one of the novel’s most memorable comic characters and raises new questions about the Bennet daughters’ futures.Key topics:The arrival of Mr. CollinsThe entail of the Bennet estateMr. Collins’s relationship to the Bennet familyLady Catherine de BourghMarriage, inheritance, and social status