Mr. Collins Reads Fordyce's Sermons

Mr. Collins offers to read aloud to the ladies, but when he discovers the book is a novel, he refuses and instead chooses Fordyce's Sermons. Lydia rudely interrupts him, and he is offended, but he soon forgives her and challenges Mr. Bennet to a game of backgammon. This incident highlights Mr. Collins's pomposity and his lack of social grace, as well as the general disregard for his authority by the younger Bennet sisters. It further cements his role as a comic figure.