Charlotte Lucas Quotes

"You began the evening well, Charlotte," said Mrs. Bennet with civil self-command to Miss Lucas. "You were Mr. Bingley’s first choice."
"Yes; but he seemed to like his second better."
"Oh! you mean Jane, I suppose, because he danced with her twice. To be sure that did seem as if he admired her – indeed I rather believe he did – I heard something about it – but I hardly know what."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 5. Mrs. Bennet damns Charlotte Lucas with faint praise when she remarks how she was Mr. Bingley’s first choice of dance partner at the ball. Then the conversation turns to how Bingley danced twice with Jane Bennet and seemed to admire her.

I beg you would not put it into Lizzy’s head to be vexed by such ill treatment; for he is such a disagreeable man that it would be quite a misfortune to be liked by him. Mrs. Long told me last night that he sat close to her for half-an-hour without once opening his lips.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 5. Mrs. Bennet says this of Mr. Darcy, when Charlotte Lucas comments on Darcy’s reason for refusing to ask Elizabeth to dance – "poor Eliza! – to be only just tolerable," says Charlotte.

"His pride," said Miss Lucas, "does not offend me so much as pride often does, because there is an excuse for it. One cannot wonder that so very fine a young man, with family, fortune, everything in his favour, should think highly of himself. If I may so express it, he has a right to be proud."
"That is very true," replied Elizabeth, "and I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 5. Charlotte Lucas and Elizabeth are discussing Mr. Darcy’s pride. Charlotte thinks that if you have everything going for you in life, including family and fortune, you have a right to be proud. However, Elizabeth accuses Darcy of mortifying her pride after overhearing him saying she was not "handsome enough."

It is sometimes a disadvantage to be so very guarded. If a woman conceals her affection with the same skill from the object of it, she may lose the opportunity of fixing him; and it will then be but poor consolation to believe the world equally in the dark. There is so much of gratitude or vanity in almost every attachment, that it is not safe to leave any to itself. We can all begin freely – a slight preference is natural enough; but there are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement. In nine cases out of ten a women had better show more affection than she feels.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6. Charlotte has a very pragmatic view of love, born of necessity from the patriarchal society that the women of the novel live in. If a woman remains single, especially one of modest means, then she could face an uncertain financial future. So Charlotte’s philosophy on love is that a woman must show more affection than she feels and use manipulation to get a husband. Charlotte is speaking to Elizabeth here about her sister Jane’s attraction to Charles Bingley, advising that Jane should not conceal her affection for Bingley but display it more openly to him.

When she is secure of him, there will be leisure for falling in love as much as she chooses.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6. Charlotte says this to Elizabeth, when advising how Jane should behave if she wishes to end up being married to Charles Bingley. Charlotte believes you don’t need to love someone in order to marry them. She feels Jane is being too reserved and should simply work at winning Bingley’s attention and getting him to marry her. There will be plenty of time for love after that, as much as she chooses. This is foreshadowing Charlotte’s later decision to marry, not for love, but for security and a home.

"Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life."
"You make me laugh, Charlotte; but it is not sound. You know it is not sound, and that you would never act in this way yourself."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6. Charlotte Lucas and Elizabeth discuss the idea of Jane marrying Charles Bingley, and on the subject of marriage the two women disagree. As becomes apparent later when she weds, Charlotte has a pragmatic view of marriage, it is a business transaction to enable a woman have financial security and comfort and status. During this exchange with Elizabeth, she is dismissive of the idea of marriage being about love and intimacy and getting to know the other person. Happiness in marriage is a roll of the dice, she believes, and it’s better to know as little as possible about the other’s faults beforehand. Elizabeth disagrees and laughs off what Charlotte says, predicting that her friend would never act in this way herself. Later events prove Elizabeth wrong in this, an example of how poor Elizabeth’s judgment of other people is sometimes. Charlotte lack of response to Elizabeth’s comment is forecasting of the transactional and loveless marriage she will enter with Mr. Collins.

Charlotte’s kindness extended farther than Elizabeth had any conception of; – its object was nothing else than to secure her from any return of Mr. Collins’s addresses, by engaging them towards herself. Such was Miss Lucas’s scheme.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 22. Elizabeth appreciates the kindness of her friend Charlotte who deflects the attentions of Mr. Collins away from her and towards Charlotte herself. But Charlotte is being calculating here in attending to Mr. Collins and keeping him occupied. This is foreshadowing of Charlotte’s engagement to Mr. Collins soon after this.

In as short a time as Mr. Collins’ long speeches would allow, everything was settled between them to the satisfaction of both; and as they entered the house he earnestly entreated her to name the day that was to make him the happiest of men; and though such a solicitation must be waived for the present, the lady felt no inclination to trifle with his happiness. The stupidity with which he was favoured by nature must guard his courtship from any charm that could make a woman wish for its continuance; and Miss Lucas, who accepted him solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment, cared not how soon that establishment were gained.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 22. Charlotte Lucas accepts Mr. Collins’s proposal in a passage that satirizes marriage and is dripping with sarcasm and irony. We are told Collins makes a "long speech" of it and the deal gets "settled." Because nature "favours" Collins with stupidity (irony), there is no charm to make a woman wish for a long courtship. So Charlotte accepts him from the "pure and disinterested" desire for marriage, and doesn’t care how soon that marriage is. She marries, not for love, but for a home and security.

Mr. Collins, to be sure, was neither sensible nor agreeable; his society was irksome, and his attachment to her must be imaginary. But still he would be her husband. Without thinking highly either of men or matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 22. Charlotte Lucas has a very business-like attitude to marriage. Here she reflects on her marriage of convenience to Mr. Collins. While Elizabeth turned Collins’s proposal down, Charlotte accepts when he proposes to her. She is aware that he is not husband of the year material, being annoying and disagreeable. But she had always wanted to marry, as it was the only way educated women of small income could be provided for. Marriages like this, born not out of love but from the benefits it bestowed on both partners, were commonplace in Jane Austen’s time. Austen is using Charlotte to satirize how marriage was a necessary career move for many women of small means at the time.

I am not romantic, you know; I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins’s character, connection, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 22. Charlotte speaks about her expectations from marriage to Elizabeth, who has expressed surprise at her engagement to Mr. Collins. Charlotte is certainly going into marriage with her eyes wide open, not interested in romance or love, but seeking only a comfortable home and "fair" chance of happiness.

She had always felt that Charlotte’s opinion of matrimony was not exactly like her own, but she could not have supposed it possible that, when called into action, she would have sacrificed every better feeling to worldly advantage.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 22. Elizabeth is shocked that her friend Charlotte Lucas is engaged to be married to Mr. Collins. While they didn’t quite share the same views on marriage, the horrified Elizabeth never believed that Charlotte would sacrifice all her better feelings for financial security and status. Elizabeth’s own strong sense of integrity would never allow her to sell out her values in the same way Charlotte has done. Elizabeth has a more romantic and idealized view of marriage being about love and mutual respect.

The very mention of anything concerning the match threw her into an agony of ill-humour, and wherever she went she was sure of hearing it talked of. The sight of Miss Lucas was odious to her. As her successor in that house, she regarded her with jealous abhorrence.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 23. Mrs. Bennet is said to be in a "most pitiable state" over Charlotte Lucas’s engagement to Mr. Collins. Had Mr. Collins married one of her daughters, the Bennets home Longbourn would at least have remained in the family after Mr. Bennet’s death. But with Charlotte to marry the man who will inherit Longbourn, Mrs. Bennet cannot stand the sight of her.

"Indeed, Mr. Bennet," said she, "it is very hard to think that Charlotte Lucas should ever be mistress of this house, that I should be forced to make way for her, and live to see her take her place in it!"
"My dear, do not give way to such gloomy thoughts. Let us hope for better things. Let us flatter ourselves that I may be the survivor."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 23. Mrs. Bennet is enraged that Charlotte Lucas has accepted Mr. Collins’s proposal of marriage, not for love but for security, and that Charlotte will one day displace the Bennets at Longbourn. Mr. Bennet tries to comfort his desolate wife by suggesting that he may survive Collins, who is meant to inherit the Bennets’ home when Mr.Bennet passes away.

My dear Lizzy, do not give way to such feelings as these. They will ruin your happiness. You do not make allowance enough for difference of situation and temper. Consider Mr. Collins’s respectability, and Charlotte’s steady, prudent character. Remember that she is one of a large family; that as to fortune, it is a most eligible match; and be ready to believe, for everybody’s sake, that she may feel something like regard and esteem for our cousin.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 24. Jane says to Elizabeth, when her sister expresses disbelief at her friend Charlotte entering a loveless marriage with Mr. Collins. Jane, who likes to see the good in everyone and everything, says that Mr. Collins is respectable and Charlotte sensible. From the point of view of Charlotte’s financial security it is a good match, she says.

You shall not, for the sake of one individual, change the meaning of principle and integrity, nor endeavour to persuade yourself or me, that selfishness is prudence, and insensibility of danger security for happiness.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 24. Elizabeth is arguing with her sister Jane about the marriage between Charlotte and Mr. Collins. She pours scorn on Jane’s attempts to defend the marriage. Elizabeth is resolved not to marry for mercenary motives and is opposed to marriage not based on love.

She wrote cheerfully, seemed surrounded with comforts, and mentioned nothing which she could not praise. The house, furniture, neighbourhood, and roads, were all to her taste, and Lady Catherine’s behaviour was most friendly and obliging. It was Mr. Collins’s picture of Hunsford and Rosings rationally softened; and Elizabeth perceived that she must wait for her own visit there to know the rest.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 26. Elizabeth receives a letter from her friend Charlotte after her marriage to Mr. Collins. Charlotte seems content with her new life at Hunsford and everything is going well there and at Rosings. Even the haughty Lady Catherine is being ever so friendly and obliging. Elizabeth plans to pay a visit to see for herself.

When Mr. Collins said anything of which his wife might reasonably be ashamed, which certainly was not unseldom, she involuntarily turned her eye on Charlotte. Once or twice she could discern a faint blush; but in general Charlotte wisely did not hear.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 28. When Elizabeth visits the parsonage home of the Collinses, she observes that Charlotte doesn’t even listen to Mr. Collins, but ignores him and carries on contentedly with her life. Charlotte’s solution to a husband who constantly says ridiculous things – she doesn’t hear them! Much is made of Charlotte’s sacrifice in marrying for practicality rather than romance. But Mr. Collins is also humiliated and degraded, with his wife having no genuine respect or affection for him.

Mr. Collins invited them to take a stroll in the garden, which was large and well laid out, and to the cultivation of which he attended himself. To work in this garden was one of his most respectable pleasures; and Elizabeth admired the command of countenance with which Charlotte talked of the healthfulness of the exercise, and owned she encouraged it as much as possible.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 28. Mr. Collins was not afraid to get his hands dirty working in his garden, Elizabeth discovers when she goes to stay with the recently married Collinses. And of course his wife Charlotte is happy to be free of his company for a few hours every day.

When Mr. Collins could be forgotten, there was really an air of great comfort throughout, and by Charlotte’s evident enjoyment of it, Elizabeth supposed he must be often forgotten.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 28. Charlotte and Mr. Collins’s marriage is not a love match but very much one of convenience. Here Elizabeth is commenting on their relationship. Charlotte is content with the comfortable life she has made for herself in the parsonage – as long as she can forget all about Mr. Collins. And judging by Charlotte’s evident enjoyment, Elizabeth says that Mr. Collins must be forgotten about often.

"Mr. Collins appears to be very fortunate in his choice of a wife."
"Yes, indeed, his friends may well rejoice in his having met with one of the very few sensible women who would have accepted him, or have made him happy if they had. My friend has an excellent understanding – though I am not certain that I consider her marrying Mr. Collins as the wisest thing she ever did. She seems perfectly happy, however, and in a prudential light it is certainly a very good match for her."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 31. Mr. Darcy believes that Mr. Collins is very lucky in his choice of a wife in Charlotte. However, Elizabeth is not so sure that her friend got the better end of the bargain. Charlotte is one of the few sensible women that would have married Mr. Collins, Elizabeth says. But she concedes that Charlotte appears happy and from the practical point of view it is a good match for her. Elizabeth is also being contradictory, describing Charlotte as sensible, but saying that her choosing Mr. Collins is not the wisest thing she ever did.

But why Mr. Darcy came so often to the Parsonage, it was more difficult to understand. It could not be for society, as he frequently sat there ten minutes together without opening his lips; and when he did speak, it seemed the effect of necessity rather than of choice – a sacrifice to propriety, not a pleasure to himself. He seldom appeared really animated. Mrs. Collins knew not what to make of him. Colonel Fitzwilliam’s occasionally laughing at his stupidity, proved that he was generally different, which her own knowledge of him could not have told her; and as she would liked to have believed this change the effect of love, and the object of that love her friend Eliza.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 32. Elizabeth is staying with her friend Charlotte and Charlotte is puzzled as to why Mr. Darcy and his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam visit them so often at the parsonage. Darcy is not giving much away as he often just sits there in dumb silence. Charlotte wants to believe that it is all because Darcy loves Elizabeth.

Only let me assure you, my dear Miss Elizabeth, that I can from my heart most cordially wish you equal felicity in marriage. My dear Charlotte and I have but one mind and one way of thinking. There is in everything a most remarkable resemblance of character and ideas between us. We seem to have been designed for each other.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 38. Mr. Collins’s bizarre and blatently untrue statement to Elizabeth when she visits his house is a wonderful example of Austen’s use of irony. After proposing to Elizabeth and being instantly rejected, Mr. Collins proposes to her close friend Charlotte Lucas, who decides to marry him out purely for a stable income and home of her own.

Poor Charlotte! it was melancholy to leave her to such society! But she had chosen it with her eyes open; and though evidently regretting that her visitors were to go, she did not seem to ask for compassion. Her home and her housekeeping, her parish and her poultry, and all their dependent concerns, had not yet lost their charms.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 38. On parting with Charlotte, Elizabeth reflects on her married life with Mr. Collins and living at close quarters to Lady Catherine. She feels sorry for her friend. But Elizabeth forgets that to Charlotte, happiness is – a comfortable home! She has sacrificed love and feelings for a better life through marriage with Mr. Collins.
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