D.W. Harding. Collins Nightmare or Comedian??

In his essay, D.W. harding claims that Collins is both a comic and a realistic nightmare. He says, "From some points of view (he is a) caricature, in other directions e does, by easy stages, fit into the real world". Harding claims that he is a nightmare because of how he affects elizabeth. He makes her life miserable through her mother. When she refuses to marry him her mother really annoys Elizabeth. However bad this may be for Elizabeth, the proposal scene is quite comical for the reader. Collins is just so ridiculous that we have to laugh. Harding calls collins a "comic monster".