Some elements that can help analyze
tone are diction,
details, imagery, and
sentence structure. When Austen is describing something
that she particularly feels is ridiculous, such as Mr. Collins, we can pick up on subtle
changes in these elements. While we are limited in space and can't go into detail about
all of the above here, below are a couple of ideas to get you
started.
Diction specifically refers to
an author's choice of words. Words have connotations as well as literal meanings, and
every word is chosen with care and intention. One word we see Austen using in her
description of Mr. Collins is eloquent. In particular, when he is
dining for the first time at Longbourn, after dinner, Mr. Bennet attempts to make
conversation with him by asking him about Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Austen then
describes Mr. Collins as being "eloquent in her praise" (Ch. 14). Though a reader might
miss it at first, this phrase and word particularly smacks of
sarcasm because, not only is it ridiculous of Mr. Collins to carry on
about Lady Catherine as he does, we later see that there really is little about Lady
Catherine that is worthy of being praised. She represents the characteristic noble class
that Austen is criticizing in the book. She is prideful, condescending, and treats
individuals as lesser people, such as Elizabeth even though she is a gentleman's
daughter simply because she has working class relations. The only other place we see
Austen use the word eloquent is in her description of
Darcy's first proposal. Austen relays that Darcy was "not
more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride," meaning that he spoke less
about the nature of his feelings and more about the fact that his feelings degrade his
pride since Elizabeth is considered beneath him due to her working class relations, even
though she herself is a gentleman's daughter (Ch. 34). Here again we can
hear the sarcasm of her tone
because wounded pride clearly is not something one should be
eloquent about, or dwell on for any length of time, when
offering marriage.
The details Austen
relays in her characterization of Mr. Collins also clearly
reveal her tone. For example, after Mr. Collins praises the
fact that Lady Catherine approved of all of the changes he has made to his new parish
home, Hunsford, he also praises the fact that she suggested changes of her own. In
particular, Austen points out that Lady Catherine suggested adding "some shelves in the
closets up stairs" (Ch. 14). This may be a very subtle allusion to a reader who is
unfamiliar with the culture; however, the reader might notice that the punctuation
Austen chose to use signifies the comment's importance. She uses dashes to set it apart,
plus it is the last phrase in this paragraph describing Mr. Collins's exuberance over
Lady Catherine. Once the reader has noticed the phrase's importance, one can then
consider that those closets refer to bedroom closets, and that putting
shelves in a bedroom closet is an absolutely
ridiculous idea because it leaves the ladies with
absolutely no place to hang their gowns. Hence, this one
subtle detail does a lot to set the
tone and to paint both Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine as absolutely
ridiculous people.
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