Life of a Clergyman in Victorian Society

¶ … life of a clergyman in Victorian society as presented in the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The paper explains how the society of those days perceived Church and focuses on the negative portrayal of clergymen by Austen.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: LIFE OF A CLERGYMAN

Pride and prejudice is undoubtedly the most important work of Jane Austen and one, which presents Victorian society in its true light. The novel sheds light on the society of those days and shows how various characters evolved under restriction posed by societal rules and regulations. This is probably one reason why we find Austen's clergymen to be repressed figures who were more inclined to serve themselves than others. The negative portrayal of the life of a clergyman in Pride and prejudice is closely linked with the fact that Victorian society was a highly class conscious society where people of humble professions were not given attention. Williams Collins is also shunned by the high society but instead of ignoring the elite, he makes use of flattery to be in their good books. In her lighthearted manner, Austen has tried to attack the clergymen of Victorian society as she felt they were not the holy figures they claimed to be. This shows that while Church itself played an important role in the affairs of the state, it was not seen in a positive light by many. This is clear from the way Jane Austen has portrayed Collins in Pride and prejudice.

In other words, while the Church was significant, its clergies were not respected by the nineteenth century society. People would either ridicule them or shun them completely as it appears from this novel. William Collins is made fun in almost every scene in which he makes an appearance. Anthony Trollope has this to say about Austen's art and her views on clergymen, "Miss Austen was surely a great novelist. What she did, she did perfectly. Her work, as far as it goes, is faultless. She wrote of the times in which she lived, of the class of people with which she associated, and in the language, which was usual to her as an educated lady... The letters of Mr. Collins, a clergyman in Pride and Prejudice, would move laughter in a low-church archbishop." (Part of a lecture the novelist Anthony Trollope gave in 1870) From one of his letters to Mr. Bennett, Collins appears to be a highly conceited flatterer who can resort to all sorts of tactics to reach his end. He writes, "As a clergyman, moreover, I feel it my duty to promote and establish the blessing of peace in all families within the reach of my influence; and on these grounds I flatter myself that my present overtures of good-will are highly commendable, and that the circumstance of my being next in the entail of Longbourn estate will be kindly overlooked on your side, and not lead you to reject the offered olive branch. I cannot be otherwise than concerned at being the means of injuring your amiable daughters, and beg leave to apologize for it, as well as to assure you of my readiness to make them every possible amends, -- but of this hereafter." (Chapter 13)

In Austen's novel we notice that characters are always very well crafted. This is the reason why we are able ot learn valuable things about the society of her times through closer study of her characters. The same holds true for Church and clergymen and we notice that through closer examination of Mr. Collins' character, we can learn a great deal about the way society perceived clergymen. It is true that author's own views on the subject may have been a little more negative than the general public opinion of her times, but still it is clear that Church in nineteenth century was not a respected institution. People were of the view that Church and its clergy were not sincere with the public and their actions were thus viewed with skepticism. For example it was felt clergymen were the ones who stood to benefit from donations and not the church itself.

The way Collins changed his opinion on important subjects would on the one hand generate spontaneous laughter, while on the other it made one wonder if clergymen were indeed considered flighty indecisive men who were not to be respected by the society. Collins would also resort to flattery because he genuinely lacked sincerity and the only purpose of his compliments was to achieve his goals and ends. For example in his decision to marry one of the Bennett sisters, he turns from Jane to Elizabeth, ultimately settling for Charlotte as the first two rejected him off hand. The way Elizabeth makes fun of him makes it clear that the real intent of Austen is not entirely to entertain her readers but to show them what clergymen were like in her times. Collins' character and Elizabeth's attitude towards him are enough to clearly show us what nineteenth century society thought of clergymen and how was their life like. They appear to be masters of the art of flattery as this was the one tactic that helped them come closer to the elite. In Mr. Collins' case for example, we see how he flatters Lady Catherine to win her favors. This is the reason why Austen chose to ridicule clergymen throughout this book. We must pay attention to the language used by Austen to get a better of the life of clergymen in Victorian age.