WRITER’S CRAFT (hyperbole) – To what extent is Mr. Collin’s character an expression of the stereotypical middle class in Pride and Prejudice?

Mr. Collins, who is cousin to the Bennet daughters, is first noted in the novel in context of the family arrangement by which he was to inherit the Longbourn estate. As a clergyman with the most peculiar personality, Mr. Collins is clearly not well-bred, but he expresses extreme haughtiness by taking pride in his patroness Lady Catherine de Bourgh. More clearly stated, this Mr. Collins appears to substitute his own lack of nobility with the prolific praise of his acquaintances of the upper class in an exaggerated way that illustrates the typical attitudes of the middle class in society.
“You may imagine that I am happy on every occasion to offer those little delicate compliments which are always acceptable to ladies… These are the kind of little things which please her ladyship, and it is a sort of attention which I conceive myself peculiarly bound to pay.” (59)
Every moment of silence or prompt to speak is taken up by Mr. Collins as an opportunity to praise Lady Catherine de Bourgh. From her beauty to her luxury, her activeness to her composure, her pride to her condescension, it is essentially impossible for anything in relation to Lady Catherine de Bourgh to be wrong, and Mr. Collins thus does not cease to talk about her. What seems most disturbing, however, is that part of Mr. Collins’ qualifications for Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s patronage seems to be the mere ability to flatter this patroness, regardless of the content or significance of his praise. Unfortunately, from the reader’s perspective, this incessant flattery seems rather to reverse and degrade the value of Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s noble status as a result.