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TWO WORDS USED REPEATEDLY BY MR. COLLINS to describe Lady Catherine de Bourgh are “condescending” and “affable.” During Elizabeth’s visit after his marriage, he promises that she will witness Lady Catherine’s “affability and condescension” (157), a promise he sees fulfilled during the dinner party at Rosings. Indeed, only the “knowledge of her affability” (160) allows him to credit the munificence of her invitation. Even when Austen is not quoting Mr. Collins directly, her ironic narrative voice echoes his thoughts. Lady Catherine, we are told, arose with “great condescension” (161) to receive them at Rosings; the invitation itself is an “instance of Lady Catherine’s condescension as [Mr. Collins] knew not how to admire enough” (160).
These two words—“affability” and “condescension”—echo Milton’s description of Raphael’s visit to Adam in Paradise Lost. After listening to Raphael describe God’s creation of the universe, Adam thanks him for his “friendly condescention” (9) as Book VIII opens. At the end of this book, Adam bids Raphael...