the living of Hunsford

The living of Hunsford is a valuable rectory in Kent, in the gift of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and its bestowal upon Mr. Collins sets in motion a chain of events that exposes the workings of patronage, the limits of clerical ambition, and the hidden history between Fitzwilliam Darcy and George Wickham. As a piece of preferment worth several hundred pounds a year, it represents the kind of comfortable independence that shapes the marriage market and the social calculations of nearly every character who comes into contact with it.

Origin and Patronage

The living of Hunsford fell vacant at a fortunate moment for Mr. Collins, who had just taken orders. A "fortunate chance" recommended him to Lady Catherine de Bourgh, the wealthy and domineering widow who controlled the advowson. She appointed him to the rectory, and he took up residence in the parsonage that stood separated only by a lane from Rosings Park, her grand estate. Mr. Collins never ceased to marvel at his good fortune, and his letters and conversation were filled with grateful references to her ladyship's "bounty and beneficence." He described the living as "valuable" and made clear that his income from it, combined with his house, placed him in easy circumstances. The living thus became the foundation of his social identity and his confidence in seeking a wife.

The Living as a Promise Broken

Before it went to Mr. Collins, the living of Hunsford had a different intended recipient. The late Mr. Darcy, Fitzwilliam Darcy's father, had been godfather to George Wickham and was "excessively attached" to him. In his will, the late Mr. Darcy bequeathed to Wickham "the next presentation of the best living in his gift" — which was the living of Hunsford — and expressed the clear intention that Wickham should take orders and be provided for in the church. Wickham himself later told Elizabeth Bennet that he had been "brought up for the church" and that he should have been in possession of that living "had it pleased the gentleman we were speaking of just now" — meaning Fitzwilliam Darcy. But when the living fell vacant two years after the late Mr. Darcy's death, and exactly when Wickham came of age to hold it, it was given to another man. Wickham claimed that Darcy had chosen to treat the bequest as a "merely conditional recommendation" and had asserted that Wickham forfeited all claim by extravagance and imprudence. Darcy's own account, given in his letter to Elizabeth, was that Wickham had voluntarily resigned all claim to the church in exchange for three thousand pounds, a sum he accepted in lieu of the preferment. The living thus became the central piece of evidence in the conflicting narratives each man told about the other.

The Living and the Marriage Market

Mr. Collins's possession of the living of Hunsford made him an eligible match. When he arrived at Longbourn with the intention of choosing a wife from among the Bennet daughters, he brought with him the security of a "good house and a very sufficient income." Charlotte Lucas, who accepted his proposal after Elizabeth refused it, did so precisely because the living gave her what she most wanted: a comfortable home. She told Elizabeth, "I am not romantic, you know; I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins's character, connection, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast." The living of Hunsford, in other words, was the practical foundation upon which a prudent marriage could be built. Elizabeth herself, when she visited Hunsford, saw the parsonage as "rather small, but well built and convenient," and acknowledged that when Mr. Collins could be forgotten, there was "an air of great comfort throughout."

The Living as a Measure of Character

The living of Hunsford functions as a moral touchstone. Wickham's claim that Darcy defrauded him of it is the basis of Elizabeth's early prejudice against Darcy; she calls Darcy's conduct "dishonesty" and declares that he deserves to be "publicly disgraced." But when Darcy's letter reveals that Wickham accepted money instead of the living, and that Wickham had never intended to take orders, Elizabeth is forced to reconsider. She realizes that she had been "blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd." The living thus becomes the instrument of her moral education: it is the concrete fact that forces her to choose between two contradictory accounts and to recognize her own vanity in preferring Wickham's charming manner to the truth. Later, when Wickham elopes with Lydia Bennet, Elizabeth's knowledge of his true character — including his abandonment of the living — makes her certain that he will not marry Lydia voluntarily. And when Darcy intervenes to force the marriage, he does so in part because he feels responsible for having kept Wickham's character concealed, a concealment that began with the dispute over the living.

The Living and Darcy's Transformation

Darcy's own sense of guilt about the living of Hunsford is a key element in his moral development. In his letter to Elizabeth, he acknowledges that he had been "too proud" to expose Wickham publicly, and that his reserve had allowed Wickham to be received and noticed as he was. This self-reproach motivates his later actions: he tracks down Wickham and Lydia in London, pays Wickham's debts, purchases his commission, and secures the marriage — all, as Mrs. Gardiner writes to Elizabeth, because Darcy believed it was "owing to himself that Wickham's worthlessness had not been so well known." The living of Hunsford, which had been the original site of the injustice Wickham claimed, thus becomes the distant cause of Darcy's most generous act. In the end, the living is no longer a source of conflict: Wickham is bought off and sent north with a commission in the regulars, Mr. Collins remains comfortably installed at Hunsford, and Darcy and Elizabeth are united. The living, once a symbol of broken promises and hidden truths, is absorbed into the settled order of the novel's conclusion.