<P> Born to a father, Mr Collins Sr, who is described as an "illiterate and miserly father", the son, William Collins is not much better (sans the miser part)', the greatest part of his life having been spent under his father's guidance, the younger Collins is "not a sensible man, and the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or society", further described as although having "belonged to one of the universities" (either Oxford or Cambridge), and that he'd "merely kept the necessary terms, without forming at it any useful acquaintance", nor accomplishments; he is an insensible man, obsequious and lacking in common sense, and all too easily defers and kowtows to his social superiors . His father passes away some point not too long prior to events at the beginning of the novel . His physical appearance is described as being "tall, heavy looking young man of five and twenty . His air was grave and stately, and his manners were very formal". </P> <P> Austen writes that prior to his entry into the novel, his circumstances in early life, the' subjection' in which his father had brought him up in had "originally given him great humility of manner". However, this characteristic has now been "now a good deal counteracted by the self - conceit of a weak head, living in retirement", altered greatly and been replaced with arrogance and vanity due to "early and unexpected prosperity"; this early prosperity having come by chance, at the hands of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, when a vacancy arose for the living of the Hunsford parish, "and the respect which he felt for her high rank and his veneration for her as his patroness, mingling with a very good opinion of himself, of his authority as a clergyman, and his rights as a rector, made him altogether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness, self - importance and humility". He has a ridiculously high regard for Lady Catherine de Bourgh and her daughter, of whom he is "eloquent in their praise". </P> <P> Elizabeth's rejection of Mr Collins's marriage proposal is welcomed by her father, regardless of the financial benefit to the family of such a match . Mr Collins then marries Elizabeth's friend, Charlotte Lucas . Mr Collins is usually considered to be the foil to Mr. Darcy, who is grave and serious, and acts with propriety at all times . On the other hand, Mr Collins acts with impropriety and exaggerated humility, which offers some comedic relief . He likes things, especially if they are expensive & / or numerous, but is indifferent to true beauty and value ("Here, leading the way through every walk and cross walk, and scarcely allowing them an interval to utter the praises he asked for, every view was pointed out with a minuteness which left beauty entirely behind . He could number the fields in every direction, and could tell how many trees there were in the most distant clump). </P> <P> Mr Collins is first mentioned when Mr. Bennet tells his wife that his cousin will be visiting them . Mr Bennet reads them a letter sent to him from Mr Collins where Collins speaks of making amends for any past disagreements between his father and Mr Bennet . In his letter, Mr Collins readily assumes that his overtures of peace will be gratefully accepted and presumes upon the family to announce that he will come stay with them for a week . </P>

Who married mr collins in pride and prejudice