Volume 1: Chapter 13 Summary

The next morning at breakfast Mr. Bennet informs his wife and daughters that they are to receive a visitor for dinner that very night. It is his cousin, Mr. Collins, who stands to inherit Longbourn upon Mr. Bennet's death because there are no male heirs. Mrs. Bennet is shaken by the prospect of having such an unwelcome visitor in the house, but his letter is so humble and peaceable that they have no choice but to accept the fact that he will come, and stay with them a fortnight. The girls find their cousin to be overly formal to the point of ridiculous, but he is so courteous and admiring that Mrs. Bennet is soon won over by him.

Volume 1: Chapter 13 Analysis

Mr. Collins, if he is not explicit in his reasons for coming, at least makes no effort to disguise...