Plot Summary
Chapter 13 of Pride and Prejudice introduces Mr. Collins, the distant cousin who will inherit the Bennet family estate of Longbourn through the legal mechanism of entailment. At breakfast, Mr. Bennet teases his wife and daughters by announcing the arrival of an unknown gentleman. After provoking their curiosity, he reveals a letter from Mr. Collins, a recently ordained clergyman who has secured the patronage of the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Collins writes to propose a visit of reconciliation, seeking to heal a long-standing family rift that existed between Mr. Bennet and Collins's late father. He arrives punctually at four o'clock and proves to be a tall, heavy-looking young man of twenty-five with grave manners and a remarkable talent for flattery and apology.
Character Development
The chapter introduces Mr. Collins through his letter before he appears in person, and uses both modes to establish his character as pompous, obsequious, and absurd. Each Bennet family member responds to the letter differently, revealing their own natures: Mr. Bennet relishes the prospect of entertainment from a fool; Jane charitably credits Collins's good intentions; Elizabeth detects his pomposity and deference to Lady Catherine; Mary praises the letter's composition; and Catherine and Lydia dismiss him entirely because he is unlikely to wear a red coat. Mrs. Bennet's shift from hostility to composure upon sensing Collins may "make amends" to her daughters foreshadows the marriage plot to come.
Themes and Motifs
The chapter foregrounds the theme of inheritance and entailment, the legal mechanism that excludes the five Bennet daughters from inheriting their own home and places them in financial dependence on marriage. Collins's promise to "make them every possible amends" introduces the motif of marriage as economic transaction rather than romantic union. The theme of social class and patronage emerges through Collins's excessive veneration of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, which Elizabeth immediately identifies as absurd.
Literary Devices
Austen employs dramatic irony throughout, allowing readers to perceive Collins's foolishness while he remains oblivious. The letter itself functions as a masterful piece of indirect characterization, its convoluted syntax and self-congratulatory tone revealing Collins before he speaks a word in person. Mr. Bennet's deadpan commentary provides verbal irony, as when he declares Collins "a most conscientious and polite young man" while clearly anticipating comic absurdity. The chapter also demonstrates Austen's characteristic free indirect discourse, blending narrator and character perspectives to comic effect.