Mr. Bennet’s expectations were fully answered. His cousin was as absurd as he had hoped, and he listened to him with the keenest enjoyment, maintaining at the same time the most resolute composure of countenance, and except in an occasional glance at Elizabeth, requiring no partner in his pleasure.
– Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 14. Austen’s descriptions of the pompous and conceited Mr. Collins, as she savagely satirizes the ridiculous clergyman, are almost mockeries. A good example is in this passage where Mr. Bennet derives much amusement from observing his absurd cousin’s manners and way of going on during a visit to Longbourn. And we laugh with him.