The Olympic Sport of Marriage Proposals- Part 1

Assignment: You are to judge the new Olympic sport of marriage proposals. Evaluate Elizabeth's various marriage proposals.

1. Critique from the perspective of the man's delivery.

2. Critique from the perspective of her response.

3. For each, provide a score.

4. Provide a detailed rationale for your choosing the score you chose.

Scoring Guide: scale of 1 to 10. Examples of criteria: delivery style, content of proposal/response, attitude of delivery/response, appropriateness of delivery/response, etc.

1. Mr. Collins's proposal to Elizabeth

Proposal: Mr. Collins begins his proposal by addressing Mrs. Bennet is his typical overly formal way: "May I hope, madam, for your interest with your fair daughter Elizabeth, when I solicit for the honour of a private audience with her in the course of this morning?" (page 91) He then begins a rambling epistle, logically explaining why a marriage between himself and Elizabeth would be ideal. His reasons include: it is right for a clergyman to marry to set a good example for his parish, it would "add greatly to his happiness", Lady Catherine told him it was a good idea, and that it would mean that Longbourn would semi-stay on the Bennet side of the family. When Elizabeth turns him down, he can't take no for an answer and says "I am not now to learn that it is usual with young ladies to reject the addresses of the man whom they secretly meant to accept, when he first applies for their favour; and that sometimes the refusal is repeated a second or even a third time." (page 94)

Score: I give Mr. Collins a 4 for his proposal to Elizabeth. He tried his best, but he failed miserably. His proposal was completely lacking in romance and his formality was unbearable. I also gave him a low score because he showed that he has no understanding of women when he assumed it normal to be rejected by a lady before eventually being accepted.

Response: Elizabeth is greatly amused by his proposal, and attempts to handle it politely. She tells him that she will not make him happy, and makes it seem as if she is looking out for his welfare. Though she tries to handle Mr. Collins civilly, she becomes slightly frustrated when Mr. Collins refuses to accept rejection.

Score: I give Elizabeth a 7 for her response to Mr. Collins's proposal. She handled him extremely well, meaning that she managed to restrain herself from laughing in his face. At first, she attempted to let him down easy, but became annoyed when he could not accept her refusal. Though this behavior is understandable, she does not deserve a higher score because her politeness began to fade.