What is the occupation of Mr. Collins?

Mr. Collins is a clergyman. In Pride and Prejudice, William Collins is a clergyman who holds the living of Hunsford in Kent, near the estate of his patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

His occupation is closely tied to his personality and social position. As a rector, Collins enjoys respectable status and a secure income, but he is comically dependent on Lady Catherine’s approval. He repeatedly praises her opinions, manners, and household arrangements, even when her behavior is overbearing.

Collins is also Mr. Bennet’s distant cousin and the presumptive heir to Longbourn because the Bennet estate is entailed through the male line. He visits the Bennet family intending to choose a wife from among the daughters, partly because he believes marriage will compensate them for losing their home.

Readers sometimes confuse Collins with a lawyer or landowner because he discusses inheritance and property so confidently. He is neither: he is a clergyman, specifically the rector of Hunsford, and later marries Charlotte Lucas after Elizabeth rejects him.