In Pride and Prejudice, author Jane Austen often uses the interplay of fear and foresight to show that a balance of both can result in very beneficial life-changing decisions. One example can be seen in the decision of Charlotte Lucas to marry Mr. Collins.
Charlotte Lucas is the daughter of Sir William Lucas, who had been knighted while being mayor of Meryton and made his fortune through trade. Once he made his fortune, he quit his business and purchased an estate he named Lucas Lodge. Austen makes a point of asserting it would have benefited him and his family more had he continued his business and left the purchase of an estate to later generations. She makes this assertion through her reference to the fact that he bought Lucas Lodge for the purpose of "think[ing] with pleasure of his own importance" (Ch. 5). Later, she points out that the Lucas girls are needed to do chores around the house, such as make mince pies, because the Lucases do not have enough money to keep the number or servants their station would require (Ch. 9). Furthermore, Austen points out that the Lucases had "little fortune" they could give their daughter, making Charlotte's marriage to a respectable man a necessity (Ch. 22). If we look at all of these points about the Lucases in conjunction with Mr. Bingley, whose father also made his fortune through trade but left the purchase of an estate up to the next generation, we see that Austen is ridiculing the actions of Sir Lucas.
It is the self-serving actions of Sir Lucas that put his children, like Charlotte, in a fearful situation--they have no fortune to inherit. Charlotte is particularly in a fearful situation because she is plain and already 27 years old. She knows it is unlikely for her to receive a marriage proposal, so she jumps at the chance to secure Mr. Collins. Hence, as we can see, fear of her living her future being dependent on her siblings, who also have no fortune to inherit, drives her to choose Mr. Collins as a spouse.
Yet, Charlotte's foresight is even more responsible for her decision to secure Mr. Collins than her fear of the future. Mr. Collins has been shunned by Elizabeth as a ridiculous and arrogant man. Though all see that Mr. Collins is ridiculous, even Charlotte, Charlotte also recognizes he has a kind and honorable character. Alongside his kind and honorable character, he has a comfortable home and substantial income he can offer her because he has secured the position of rector over the parish on Lady Catherine de Bourgh's estate. Moreover, Mr. Collins is destined to inherit the Bennets' Longbourn estate. Hence, Mr. Collins's character coupled with the comfort he can provide for her allows Charlotte to see Mr. Collins as a desirable match for her, which Charlotte explains to Elizabeth once Charlotte is engaged to Mr. Collins:
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 on entering the marriage state. (Ch. 22)
Hence, not only does Charlotte's foresight allow her to see that Mr. Collins is a good match for her, it allows her to see that marriage is never an ideal state for anyone and prevents her from developing what she considers to be false hopes about marriage. And, as we see when Elizabeth later visits her newly married friend, Charlotte truly is happy in her new home. Therefore, we see that Charlotte's foresight allowed her to make the correct decision for herself, which shows us that beneficial life-changing decisions can depend on a balance between fear and foresight.
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