Mr. William Collins

Mr. William Collins is a fictional character in the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. He is the cousin of Mr. Bennet, and is the clergyman at the Hunsford parsonage near Rosing’s Park, the estate of his patroness Lady Catherine De Bourgh. Since Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have no sons, Mr. Collins is the current heir presumptive to the Bennet's family estate of Longbourn House. Mr. Collins is first introduced during his visit to Longbourn, Mr. Bennet's estate.

Mr. William Collins, aged 25-years-old as the novel begins, is Mr Bennet's distant second cousin, a clergyman, and the current heir presumptive to his estate of Longbourn House. While he is the current heir presumptive to Longbourn, the estate of his distant, gentry cousin, Mr Bennet, as Mr Bennet has no sons to inherit Longbourn; but if, before his death, one of Mr Bennet's daughters should be able to present him with a grandson, said-grandson would then become the new heir presumptive of the entailment, a grandson taking precedence over a distant cousin, by virtue of being his closest living male blood relative. This is likely why Mr Collins' late father, Mr Collins Sr, before his death, urged his son to "mend the rift" with the Bennets; for if his son were to be the husband of one of Mr Bennet's daughters, it would reinforce Collins' claim to Longbourn (making Collins' inheriting Longbourn less objectionable to the Bennets), and furthermore if he were to be the father of said-grandson.

Born to a father, Mr. Collins Sr., who is described as an "illiterate and miserly father", the son, William Collins is not much better (sans the miser part)', the greatest part of his life having been spent under his father's guidance, the younger Collins is "not a sensible man, and the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or society", further described as although having "belonged to one of the universities" (either Oxford or Cambridge), and that he'd "merely kept the necessary terms, without forming at it any useful acquaintance", nor accomplishments; he is an insensible man, obsequious and lacking in common sense, and all too easily defers and kowtows to his social superiors. His father passes away some point not too long prior to events at the beginning of the novel. His physical appearance is described as being "tall, heavy looking young man of five and twenty. His air was grave and stately, and his manners were very formal".

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