n the wrong side of, nevertheless part of the normal workings of society. .
The issue of giving clerical livings is another important one, since it comes up regarding both Mr. Collins and Mr. Wickham. Lords and ladies who owned large estates did not own merely their own large houses and grounds; they also owned the buildings in which their farmers lived. These farmers accordingly were called tenant farmers; even lower on the social scale were the cottagers (so called because of the often run-down cottages in which they lived). Since they owned practically the entire parish, such lords and ladies were also entitled to choose the clergymen who would serve that parish (the region of land served by one church). This position of parish priest was called a living, and once a clergyman received it (together with the house, income, and social importance that came with it), he had it for life, barring gross incompetence or negligence. Lady Catherine chose Mr. Collins for Hunsford over many other (probably more deserving) candidates - hence his self-importance !.
about his own position, yet incredible deference to her every whim. The elder Mr. Darcy, now deceased, recommended Wickham for a living in the Darcy care, but the current Mr. Darcy passed him over in favor of another - hence Wickham's resentment, for had he been "preferred to" (another technical term, meaning "chosen for") that living, his financial future would have been secure.
I.xix-xxiii Commentary.
Mr. Collins' proposal, hilarious in itself, also highlights a number of important issues in the book as a whole. First, it shows Austen's flair for very subtle comic foreshadowing. In the very first conversation of the novel, when Mr. Bennet asks his wife whether Bingley has come to the area with the intention of finding a wife, even Mrs. Bennet admits that the idea is absurd; yet Mr. Collins affirms that this is precisely what he did! Moments in the proposal-scene also foreshadow events to come later in the novel; as you continue reading, keep in mind Elizabeth's fervent avowal that her rejections of marriage proposals are permanent.