Not long ago, Mary Patricia and I saw a movie based on the Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. The scenes in which Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy proposed to Elizabeth Bennet made us cringe with disgust.

This is what Mr. Collins says in a boorish preamble:

“Almost as soon as I entered the house I singled you out as the companion of my future life. But before I am run away with by my feelings on this subject, perhaps it will advisable for me to state my reasons for marrying-and moreover for coming into Hertfordshire with the design of selecting a wife, as I certainly did.”

Next he offers his reasons:

“My reasons for marrying are, first, that I think it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances (like myself) to set the example of matrimony in his parish. Secondly, that I am convinced it will add very greatly to my happiness; and thirdly-which perhaps I ought to have mentioned earlier, that it is the particular advice and recommendation of the very noble lady whom I have the honour or calling patroness.”

One can understand that Mr. Collins is a ridiculous character whose actions and speech are deliberately inserted in the novel to bring about the much needed comic relief. But Mr. Collins isn’t joking-he is quite serious!

And speaking of seriousness, we find that the most serious character of the entire cast, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, uses the same boorish and unromantic marriage proposal; a proposal even more despicable than that of the loathsome Mr. Collins.

How Mr. Darcy proposed to Elizabeth Bennet

Again, a boorish preamble:

“In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire you.”

Next he offers his reasons. The exact words may have been too painful for the readership of the times; and in good sense the author has the narrator to intimate them only. Instead the narrator tells us about Darcy’s expectations:

“He [Mr. Darcy] concluded with representing to her the strength of that attachment which, in spite of all his endeavors, he had found impossible to conquer; and with expressing his hope that it would now be rewarded by her acceptance of his hand. As he said this, she could easily see that he had no doubt of a favourable answer. He spoke of apprehension and anxiety, but his countenance expressed real security.”

When Elizabeth rebuffs him with a scathing speech of which the most memorable line is “…and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed to married,” Mr. Darcy instead of making a graceful exit, insists by remarking on his superiority of status, his superiority of connections, and by the vulgarity of Elizabeth’s family members.

Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy’s proposal were insults and affronts rather than honor and homage to the beloved.

Nothing in their speech projects love but coldness and arrogance.

Although I was not quite eighteen years of age when I proposed, I instinctively knew that it is the man’s role to woo the beloved and win her hand in a way that is warm and loving. The man’s speech (proposal) I was sure would have to be clear and filled with ‘you’ and not with ‘me’ or ‘I.’

How I proposed to Mary Patricia:

When we were in between classes Mary Patricia and I would meet either at the sun dial or by the sycamore tree in front of Lewisohn Hall. Without any experience in amorous proposals, and fearful that my nervousness would botch up what could be the most momentous occasion of my life, one afternoon sitting under the old tree I scribbled a few notes on an index card.

Then as if under the spell of a guiding force, as we stood under the sycamore tree, this is what I read to her:

“Since we met, you’ve made me a better student, a better person: kinder and nobler. And I now have a burning desire to succeed in life; not because of me, not because of my family, but because I want you to think of me as a worthy person.

“If I always feel compelled to hold your hand and to put my arms around you, it is because I want to make sure you are human, that you aren’t an angel or a goddess. I cannot imagine the rest of my life without you by my side, for you and your music are everything to me now: when I’m awake I think of you, when I sleep I dream of you, and in my dreams you are my hypnosis, my delirium, and my peace.

Having read my scribbling, and as I got down on one knee, I asked Mary Patricia:

“Will you marry me-will you marry this poor boy from the Andes who was born to love you forever?”

About the Author:

Retired. Former investment banker, Columbia University-educated, Vietnam Vet (67-68).
For the writing techniques I use, see Mary Duffy’s e-book: Sentence Openers.
To read my book reviews of the Classics visit my blog: Writing To Live

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice – Marriage Proposals Or Insults?

Jane Austen’s “Emma” part 1(Kate Beckinsale and Mark Strong )

jake t austen

The Hitcher 2 – I’ve Been Waiting [VHS] $9.98 Jake Busey steps into Rutger Hauer’s cowboy boots to remind viewers about the dangers of picking up hitchhikers in this sequel to the 1986 thriller. Though suggested, it’s unclear whether Busey’s black-clad hitcher is actually supposed to be Hauer, who blackmailed teen driver Jim (C. Thomas Howell) for a series of killing 17 years earlier, but he makes life miserable all the same for the grown Jim…

The Hitcher 2 – I’ve Been Waiting [VHS] $9.98 Jake Busey steps into Rutger Hauer’s cowboy boots to remind viewers about the dangers of picking up hitchhikers in this sequel to the 1986 thriller. Though suggested, it’s unclear whether Busey’s black-clad hitcher is actually supposed to be Hauer, who blackmailed teen driver Jim (C. Thomas Howell) for a series of killing 17 years earlier, but he makes life miserable all the same for the grown Jim…

The Couple $10.99 COUPLE – DVD Movie…

The Hitcher II – I’ve Been Waiting $0.99 No Description Available.Genre: MysteryRating: RRelease Date: 6-JAN-2004Media Type: DVD…

F It $16.00 Forum’s team snowboard movie ‘F It’ not only has a really awesome titleit’s got some pretty darn good snowboarding too. Featuring shredding from the likes of Cam Pierce, John Jackson, Stevie Bell, Pat Moore, and way more.Product FeaturesRecommended Use: Getting hyped…

Flying Saucers Rock ‘n’ Roll: Conversations with Unjustly Obscure Rock ‘n’ Soul Eccentrics (Refiguring American Music) $24.94 For nearly twenty years, the much-beloved music magazine Roctober has featured work by some of the best underground cartoonists, exhaustive examinations of made-up genres such as “robot rock,” and an ongoing exploration of everything Sammy Davis Jr. ever sang, said, or did. But the heart of the magazine has always been the lengthy conversations with overlooked or forgotten artists. Fly…

Persuading Annie $0.01 After years as a sweet, good-natured pushover, Annie Markham has had to face up to three hard truths: You’ve got to be tough to succeed in business and romance. Sometimes your meddling loved ones are right about your worthless, no-good boyfriend being worthless and no good. The only reliable thing about men is that they’re totally unreliable. Okay, she’s been persuaded. So now, seven years after…

Jake Austen …

Thomas Hardy uses alot of imagery in Return of the Native. It is tedius sometimes to get through, but he paints beautiful, very detailed pictures for his readers. Also, poets such as Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg use tons of imagery, even in short poems. In poetry every word counts, so the shorter the poem, the more important each word is. You can always know that the poet very meaningfully chose each word. Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow” for example is probably the most well known poem in the USA today. It is only 16 words long. Each word is descriptive in some way. The “red” wheelbarrow indicates a new shiny red. He doesn’t say, “rusted” or something like that. If someone says that have a red car, you don’t think old, beat up rusted. You think RED! Same with the “white” chickens. The line, “glazed with rain water.” Listen to that word. “Glazed.” you can almost hear your fingers running through the drops of water sitting on the red wheelbarrow. And you can certainly see it in your mind. Just a thought…

King of the Hill – The Complete Fourth Season $9.89 KING OF THE HILL SEASON 4 – DVD Movie…

Tripping the Rift – The Complete First Season $10.73 Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 10/25/2005 Run time: 286 minutes Rating: Nr…

Tripping the Rift – Season Two $12.99 Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 04/04/2006 Run time: 285 minutes Rating: Nr…

Like Warm Sun on Nekkid Bottoms $0.99 A clothing executive, a stripper, a comic book collector and a minister are stuck in a nudist colony! A screwball comedy in the P.G. Wodehouse tradition, if Wodehouse had had a libido. Without meaning to, Corky Wopplesdown has just gotten sexy lingerie model, Wisper Nuckeby, fired. In an effort to somehow make things right he sets off on a wild journey to find her while in the unlikely company of …

Pride and Nakedness, Book One $0.99 The long-awaited sequel to ‘Like Warm Sun on Nekkid Bottoms’, ‘Pride and Nakedness, Book One’ is a contemporary re-telling of the first book in the classic novel, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.Petal Nuckeby is a talkative, witty, charmer; a middle child in the rather extensive Nuckeby clan, a family of nudists who live and work in a clothing optional resort by the sea. Life has been hard for …

Witchblade Compendium Volume 2 (v. 2) $35.83 The Witchblade Compendium Volume 2 brings readers into the world of NYPD detective Sara Pezzini and the mysterious mystical gauntlet the Witchblade! Superstar writer Ron Marz (The Darkness) brings readers what they are looking for with revelations about the nature and origin of the Witchblade itself! For fans of the series this is a must have for any collection!…