Brief Comparison between Darcy and Mr. Collins’ Letters in Pride and Prejudice

Jin+xin

【Abstract】I will briefly and superficially analyze their difference through a group of examples. I do this job in hope of helping readers understand the author of Pride and Prejudice， Jane Austens style and also characters personalities.

【Key words】Darcy； Mr. Collins Letter； Pride and Prejudice

In Pride and Prejudice， Darcy Fitzwilliam once writes a letter to Elizabeth for apology. This letter is full of affection and politeness. Also in Pride and Prejudice， there is also a letter from Mr. Collins to Mr. Bennet for his visit. I collect some passages from these two letters and also their translations in Chinese.

Firstly， let me give you some background information on these two letters. Before Darcy writes the letter to Elizabeth， Darcy proposes marriage to Elizabeth but is refused. Elizabeth thinks Darcy breaks up her sister， Jane and Mr. Binleys relation， which hurts Janes heart painfully. She also believes Darcy treats Mr. Wickham cruelly an unfairly. In order to make clear the truth， Darcy writes this letter to explain the two events. We can easily find politeness and humbleness among the lines.

The second letter is based on Mr. Bennets estate. Since Mr. Bennet has no son， according to British law at that time， his property must be inherited by Mr. Collins. Mr. Collins writes this letter because， in one hand， he wants to build good connection with Mr. Bennet， and on the other hand， he wants to choose a wife from Mr. Bennets daughters. But as Mr. Collins looks stupid and conceited， his letter， compared with Darcys， is a low position.

Over reading on Darcys letter to Eliabeth for apology， we could feel a sense of humbleness. Use of words can also， to some extent， reflect Darcys high education and his honorable character of respecting women. For example：

1.“Be not alarmed.”

中文：請不要驚慌。

2.“So disgusting to you”

中文：結果使你那樣厭惡。

3.“You must， therefore， pardon the freedom with which I demand your attention.”

中文：因此我必須請求你寬恕我冒昧勞你費神。

Mr. Collins letter to Mr. Bennet for visit sounds rather awkward and a bit stupid compared with Darcys letter. According to the context， we know Mr. Collins is pedantry. He always wants to show off his knowledge， which is less and stupid， so that he can win Elizabeths favor. From following examples， we can sense his stupidity and pedant.

1.“ disagreement” 中文：齟齬。

2.“uneasiness” 中文：忐忑不安。

3.“have frequently wished to heal the breach.” 中文：屢屢想要彌合這裂痕。

4.“kept back by my own doubts” 中文：一度去心存疑慮以致裹足不前。

The first letter is from Darcy and the second is Mr. Collins. For each letter， I also add its translation in Chinese in order to help understanding the letters flavor. From the Chinese versions， we can also know the letters style. Translations， in order to explicit characters thoughts， translate some in very special way. We can feel that when translators translate Mr. Collins letter， he uses some words to demonstrate Mr. Collins stupidity and pedant， like “齟齬”， “一度卻心存疑慮以致裹足不前”and etc. From whole translation passage， we also come to the same point. Since my analysis is rather limited， it needs more correction and expansion. I do hope his analysis can help readers understanding Pride and Prejudice more clearly and deeply.

作者簡介：金鑫（1982-），女，西北工業大學本科及研究生畢業，碩士，研究方向：外國語語言學及應用語言學。