Mr. Collins (William Collins, Collins)

Mr. Colonel Fitzwilliam (William Collins, Collins) is the awkward, obsequious clergyman whose arrival at Longbourn sets several crucial events in motion. As the cousin destined to inherit Elizabeth Bennet (Bennets, bonnet, Lizzy)'s estate—a bitter pill for the Elizabeth Bennet (Bennets, bonnet, Lizzy) family to swallow—he represents both comic relief and the insecure future facing the Elizabeth Bennet (Bennets, bonnet, Lizzy) daughters. Having secured the living of Hunsford through Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Lady Catherine) de Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Lady Catherine)'s patronage, Mr. Colonel Fitzwilliam (William Collins, Collins) has become a man transformed by unexpected prosperity and the influence of his grand patroness. Though lacking genuine intellect or independent thought, he has developed a keen sense of his own importance, constantly reminding others of his connection to Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Lady Catherine) and the dignity of his position. His plan to Mary Bennet (many, marry, Bennets, mark, bonnet, vary) one of the Elizabeth Bennet (Bennets, bonnet, Lizzy) daughters stems not from genuine affection but from a muddled sense that such a union would serve as honorable atonement for inheriting their family home—a notion he finds "excessively generous and disinterested" on his own part. His conversations are filled with absurd compliments, obsequious references to his patroness, and tedious accounts of his parsonage and garden at Hunsford, making him a figure of ridicule to those around him, particularly to Elizabeth Bennet (Bennets, bonnet, Lizzy), who finds his constant chatter deeply tiresome.