by Cara Dack

Created on: May 16, 2010

On the face of it, one cannot help but love Mr Bennet. He is the sensible partner to Mrs Bennet's neurotic character, he is the doting father to Elizabeth, he makes humorous anecdotes about the sillier characters in the book. However, a closer look at Mr Bennet as a husband and a father reveal some pretty big flaws.

Let's begin with his marriage to the larger than life Mrs Bennet. His reasons for marrying Mrs Bennet are described as such, “captivated by youth and beauty, and that appearance of good humour which youth and beauty generally give” (Chapter42). However, the good humour quickly faded and Mr Bennet was left in an unhappy marriage to a woman he could neither respect or love. So far we cannot really blame Mr Bennet. Yes, he was foolhardy but that is a common enough crime of youth. It is how he copes with his mistake that draws contempt. “To his wife he was very little otherwise indebted, than as her ignorance and folly had contributed to his amusement” (Chapter42) he laughs at his wife, and not just in private. Throughout the book he continuously ridicules his wife in front of their children, other family and even the wider community. Such behaviour is hardly appropriate towards ones spouse.

Leaving behind his failures as a husband, let us now look at his behaviour as a father. In her first discourse with Lady Catherine, Elizabeth betrays the fact that, “We never had any governess” (Chapter29). The shock that Lady Catherine shows is quickly forgotten by the reader in general distaste for the character, but a rethink on this fact makes one wonder. You would imagine that, having married a woman of such weak understanding, Mr Bennnet would engage a competent governess to ensure his children were properly educated. It is not beyond his means financially, and having such a good female role model around would surely have prevented his daughters from becoming as illiberal and ignorant as his wife.

Regardless of such upbringing, both Jane and Elizabeth manage to rise above the other women of the house to become intelligent and well-regarded young women. As Mr Bennet himself says, “Wherever you and Jane are known, you must be respected and valued” (Chapter41) and this is also where he shows his greatest fault, for he shows quite clear favouritism towards his two eldest. The reader can hardly blame him for this, and yet as a father he should be beyond such favouritism. He singles out these two because they meet his approval, having made no effort to further the minds of any of his daughters he is hardly in a position to take comfort in the two who manage to reach such a level of understanding of their own accord.

All in all, it is hardly a satisfying report of what is supposed to be one of the beloved characters in Pride and Prejudice. And yet, despite such obvious and blinding character flaws, one cannot help but love him. This, I think, is the genius of Jane Austen's writing. She can take a character that is far from perfect and yet make the reader love that character regardless.

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