It is in Chapter XXII of Volume I (Chap. 22) that Charlotte tells Elizabeth
that she has accepted Mr. Collins' offer of marriage. Charlotte never tells Mr.
Collins her reasons for marrying him. In this chapter, Sir and Mrs. Lucas talk
about the advantages of Charlotte's marrying Mr. Collins. It is also in this
chapter that the narrator discussed Charlotte's general views of her life,
prospects for happiness and ideas about marriage.
It is an oversimplification to suggest that Charlotte is marrying Mr. Collins
for his money. In this era, marriage settlements still required the bride's
family contribute something to the family income, which was deposited in a bank
to collect interest that was used for annual household expenses: The large
amount of money was left intact and the interest from it provided the
income.
The Lucases were not rich and could not "settle" any significant amount of money...
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on Charlotte at her marriage. It was therefore crucial for her to marry someone whose own money was sufficient to support a household. This wasn't considered marrying for money in the way thatWickham actively pursued marrying
for money. On the contrary, this was considered prudent and wise and was
advised just as Mrs. Gardiner advised Elizabeth to avoid a penniless marriage
to Wickham.
Charlotte reminds Elizabeth that she has never been romantic in her ideas of
love and marriage, maybe because whe was never a beauty. She tells Elizabeth
that the facts that Mr. Collins has a career, connections of importance in
society and a descent home are enough to fulfill her idea of the best chance
for being happy in marriage. She had already told Elizabeth in Chapter VI of
Volume I (Chap. 6) that she believed people could marry on little knowledge of
each other and have as great a chance of happiness as people very well
acquainted with each other.
To summarize, Charlotte doesn't marry Collins for his money, for one thing,
he's a clergyman, he's not wealthy. She marries him because she believes
happiness in marriage is a gamble even in the best situations. She also marries
him because she is twenty-seven, not very pretty and living in the countryside
of England with no options for love and marriage other than the ones that come
to her own front door (they are not rich enough to spend time in London where
she might have met more men). She marries him because it is better to have her
own family and her own home than to live all her life in her parents home being
always financially dependent upon them. An advantage to marrying Collins is
that his connection with Lady De Bourgh means that he has the possibility for
advancement and additional earnings, but this is what Charlotte's parents point
out, not Charlotte.