Mr Collins

Someone told me, years ago, that a girl we both knew had compared me to Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice.  Of course I vehemently denied this, pointing out that I was nothing like the pompous fearful clergyman so well described by Jane Austen.  But of course I was.  I just didn’t realise how came across to people. I’ve spent a lifetime discovering and rectifying this; though not of course unaware that others are similarly affected: in the words of Robert Burns, “O wad some Power the giftie gie us, to see oursels as ithers see us!” Or, in modern English, “Oh would some Power the gift give us, to see ourselves as others see us.” (Mark Sherman in Psychology Today 04/12/2013). But I still wince when I hear Mr Collins’ attempts to speak normal human.