Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen

"An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do NOT marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you DO."

This is a very early example in literature of a set-up punchline (you can practically hear a drummer's "rim shot" punctuating the final word). For all his affection towards his daughter Elizabeth, Mr. Bennet is still a very taciturn, moody and unreliable parent. And at this point in the scene, Austen has allowed Mrs. Bennet to go off so hysterically over Elizabeth's rejection of the toad-ish Reverend Mr. Collins, that Mr. Bennet's response to his wife's gloriously unsuspecting demands for support is brilliant in its deceptively measured cadence and forceful tone. I laugh out loud every time I read it.