Why Mr Collins? The Church & Clergy in Jane Austen

Why Mr Collins? The Church & Clergy in Jane Austen's Novels

Jane Austen had a high regard for the church. Why, then, did she present Mr. Collins as a buffoon? Why was he so deferential to Lady Catherine? (He had good reasons.) Did he fail in his duties, as Edmund Bertram of Mansfield Park tells us some clergymen did? We’ll explore Mr. Collins’s words and character, including his marriage proposal. We'll also compare him to Austen’s clergymen in the other novels, satirical cartoons of the time, and Anglican and Evangelical ideals. We’ll conclude with a question and answer time.

Location: Conference room 1 at St Andrews on the Terrace

About the book:

Brenda S. Cox is the author of Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen's England, the product of almost ten years of extensive research. Fashionable Goodness explores the role of faith, the church, and the clergy in Austen's life and novels. It goes on to explain the world behind the novels: challenges and changes the Church of England was facing, and ways it changed that world. The book is available from Amazon in print and for Kindle, and in other ebook formats. Let us know by 1 April that you want a print copy of the book to be signed at the meeting, she will provide discounted copies (the price depends on how many people order $40-45).

Speaker: Brenda S. Cox

Brenda S. Cox will be visiting Australia and New Zealand from the United States. She has spoken on Jane Austen and the church at several JASNA AGMs and regional meetings, as well as at Regency Week in Alton, England and will be speaking at the Jane Austen Festival in Bath in 2024. She writes regularly for the website Jane Austen's World and for her own blog, Faith, Science, Joy, and Jane Austen. A number of her articles have appeared in JASNA's Persuasions On-Line.

Book endorsements:

“Finally! Fashionable Goodness is the Jane Austen reference book that’s been missing from the bookshelves of every Austen fan and scholar.”

~ Rachel Dodge, bestselling author of Praying with Jane

“A meticulously researched, faultlessly organized, and engaging study of how religion, in all its forms, features in Jane Austen’s world, her life, and her writings.

You will look at Mr. Collins, the Crawfords, the Dashwoods, the Tilneys, the Wickhams, and Willoughbys--and especially Fanny Price!--all the ‘good’ and the ‘not so good’ people that populate the novels--with new and surprising insights. Bravo to Brenda Cox for giving us this very accessible, illuminating take on the “fashionable goodness” of Austen’s era!”

~ Deborah Barnum, Jane Austen in Vermont

“Brenda Cox’s Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England is an indispensable guide to all things religious in Jane Austen’s world. . . . This work will appeal to novice readers of Austen as well as scholars and specialists.”

~ Roger E. Moore, Vanderbilt University, author of Jane Austen and the Reformation

“This scholarly, detailed work is a triumph. Easily read, helpful and accurate, it provides a fascinating panorama of 18th century Anglicanism and the various challenges the Church and wider society faced. Cox’s many insights will enrich readers’ understanding and appreciation of Jane Austen’s novels and her life as a devout Christian.”

~ The Revd. Canon Michael Kenning, Vice-Chairman of the Jane Austen Society and former rector of Steventon

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Conference room 1 at St Andrews on the Terrace, 30 The Terrace, Wellington, New Zealand