Mr and Mrs Bennet essay plan

Who are they?

parents of the bennet family. He is witty but withdrawn and she is a caricature due to her hysterical and foolish nature. She is obsessed with marrying of her daughters. They expose the dangers of marriage based on shallow attraction. They have contrasting favourites. Flaws contribute to Lydia’s elopement. Parallels to Lydia’s marriage, she is a product of their mistakes

What does Mr Bennet represent?

Unhappiness in marriage to Mrs B - he is one part of a dysfunctional relationship

Favouritism of daughters and indulgence in parts - paternal passivity

Similarity to Elizabeth - narrative POV bias

What does Mrs Bennet represent?

Overbearing maternal  care/habits and desire to find her daughters husbands

Critique of gossiping and social climbing

Critique of marriage market - loveless marriage to Mrs B, yet adheres to social conventions throughout the novel

Victim of social conventions? - realistic in her pursuits of marriage for her daughters

Parody of maternal obsession over marriage

Paragraph 1 overview

Introduction to contrasting characters. He is witty and cynical, she is flippant and sycophantic

Start of novel - Mr/Mrs B contrasting characters - Mrs B's superficiality vs Mr B's wit - opening - the different reaction to the proposal of Mr C - opposite views towards wellbeing of their daughters leading to hostility in their argumentative relationship

 

Paragraph 1, quote 1+2

‘a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice' → similar to Lizzy’s character, listing shows complexity, intelligent, hints at emotional distance, unpredictable with ‘caprice’

'a woman of mean understanding, little information and uncertain temper' - tricolon emphasises her intellectual and emotional limitations, limited intelligence, unpredictable (similar to Mr B)

Austen provides an overview of each of their character traits in the opening chapter to introduce to the reader their juxtaposing characteristics and lack of compatibility. The contrast between their intelligence reflects the instability of their connection

 

Paragraph 1, quote 3

‘What a fine thing for our girls' 'How can it affect them?' - Introduces Mrs B's obsession with finding husbands for her daughters - excitement contrasts to Mr Bennet's lack of care and ignorance towards Mrs B's desire - shows their alternate desire for their daughters and their different goals in life

Paragraph 1, quote 4

‘she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good humoured as Lydia'

'Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters'

Both have different requirements in their daughters characters - Mrs B looks for beauty and charm, Mr B looks for smartness - juxtapose each other's goals yet they are both similar in the fact they show obvious favouritism to particular children - comedic in the similarity of their difference

 

Collins proposal reaction quote

‘An unhappy alternative is before you… 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’

Mock-serious tone - mimics tragic phrasing but used ironically - frames situation as a dramatic dilemma, showing its absurdity

Perfect reversal of her threat, using symmetry for humour

Displays their extreme differences, complete opposites leading to different desires for their daughters - two extremes

Paragraph 2 overview

1. Mrs B's flaws and boasting in Meryton, Mr B's allowing Lydia to go to Brighton - the chaotic reaction to Lydia's elopement

 Shows their respective flaws in order to critique them both and show their involvement in the destruction of Lydia

Paragraph 2, quote 1

‘freely, openly and of nothing else… an animating subject… incapable of fatigue’

Tricolon stresses her shamelessness in public, complete lack of social awareness, obsession to the topic

Highlights her expressive character and her over the top nature, caricature

humorous exaggeration, unstoppable force of ridiculousness

Her flaw is shown to be her over the top nature and hysterical, foolish ways

3rd person om narrator

Paragraph 2, quote 2

‘such a promising thing for her younger daughters, as Jane’s marring so greatly must throw them in the way of other rich men’

Comic obsession with her daughter’s marriages is revealed as a flaw - excess of ‘such’ and ‘so’ shows her exaggerations - possibly reveals the strictness of social conventions

‘throw’ shows recklessness and carelessness as well as force, treats daughters as disposable and intensifies the sense of vulgar ambition

Focuses on financial benefits

Paragraph 2, quote 3

‘Lydia will never be easy till she has exposed herself’

verb ‘exposed’ makes serious moral danger sound like lighthearted mischief, showing his habit of joking away responsibility

Paragraph 2, quote 4

‘Poor little Lizzy!’ - patronising address reduces her concerns to childish worries, highlighting his failure to respect her judgement

Direct speech - Elizabeth urgent warnings vs Mr Bennet’s careless view, reveals mismatch in values and perception. Long Lizzy’s speech vs Mr Bennet’s short, joking remarks, exposing his superficial approach

His flaws and failings due to his passivity is revealed - mocks Lizzy and makes light of the moment while ignoring her serious concern

Paragraph 3 overview

Contrasting reactions to Lydia’s elopement - Mr Bennet is forced to see his flaws and to change whereas Mrs Bennet remains silly, showing how he is more likeable to the audience

1. Flaws / realisation of mistakes - Mr B owns up to errors vs Mrs B who remains self-indulgent and overly dramatic

Paragraph 3, quote 1

‘tears and lamentations of regret’ - melodramatic vocab shows exaggerated emotion - indulges in the performance

‘complaints of her own sufferings and ill usage; blaming everybody but the person to whose ill-judging indulgence the errors of her daughter must be principally owing’ - self-centred focus shows her selfish manner - interprets a suffering of her own personal inconvenience instead of for her daughter

Ironic narrative comment exposes her total refusal in accepting her responsibility, contrast to Mr B - reminds readers that she encouraged Lydia’s behaviour - flaw revealed in her being at fault - indulgence caused destruction

Paragraph 3, quote 2

Repeated exclamations juxtapose previous hurt - changeability of mood - inability to change - frantic and hysterical

‘My dear, dear Lydia… this is delightful indeed… she will be married… I am in such a flutter’

Repetition shows breathless excitement lacking all decorum - obsession with marriage as an outcome erases the scandal - shallow joy rather than relief - excited self-absorption - performs happiness as melodramatically as she performed misery earlier

Paragraph 3, quote 3

Direct speech

'Who should suffer but myself? It has been my own doing, and I ought to feel it… let me once in my life feel how much I have been to blame’

self-blaming acceptance of responsibility - rhetorical question - directly accepts blame, shows rare self-knowledge - ability to admit fault and sees his doing in the affair, unlike Mrs Bennet - self aware admission, aware of his habitual negligence - wish to feel the pain of his regret

Paragraph 3, quote 4

‘Happy for all her maternal feelings was the day on which Mrs Bennet got rid of her two most deserving daughters’ - ‘got rid of’ is blunt and comic, presents them as disposable - shows their burden on her - exposes her selfish relief rather than sincere happiness for their happiness

‘Mr Bennet missed his second daughter exceedingly’ - depth of feeling he rarely expresses, sincere affection

Contrasting reactions, he is happy for them to go, Mr Bennet is sad

Quote showing unhappiness of marriage

‘Her father, captivated by youth and beauty, and that appearance of good humour which youth and beauty generally give, had married a woman whose weak understanding and illiberal mind had, very early in their marriage, put an end to all real affection for her. Respect, esteem and confidence had vanished for ever’ and all his views of domestic happiness were overthrown’

Repetition of ‘youth and beauty’ used to critique marriages based purely on attraction - parallels to Lydia’s unhappy marriage - this unhappiness affects their children - however encourages Lizzy to marry for love - dysfunctional relationship