MR AND MRS BENNET

MR BENNET
1. He is clever and amusing, but not easy to live with. In the first chapter he pretends that he won't visit Mr Bingley but does. He is always ready to tease or mock his wife in front of his daughters and later humiliates his daughter Mary in public.
2. He allows Mr Collins to visit the house partly so he can laugh at him.
3. He generally plays a role in the novel defined by what he does not do. He criticises his younger daughters for running after officers but does nothing to stop them. He loves Elizabeth but does not listen to her nor understand or comfort Jane in her distress. He has never saved money so cannot help Lydia.
MRS BENNET
1. She is excited by the news that Bingley is coming to Netherfield as she is desperate to find husbands for her daughters.
2. She is quite undiscriminating so is equally glad to welcome Mr Collins (once she has got over her prejudice).
3. She sees nothing wrong with Mr Wickham's character once he and Lydia are actually married.
4. She is very shallow and changeable- note her treatment of her friend Lady Lucas for instance.
5. She is usually seen from the point of view of Jane or Elizabeth, who find her behaviour embarrassing in public and insensitive in private.
TOP TIP
1. Mr and Mrs Bennet are incompatible.
2. She doesn't understand him: he understands and despises her.
3. Later we are told that they married as a result of physical attraction which will not last. Can we infer that Lydia and Wickham's marriage will go the same way?

Resource summary

	Created by Mol Dainty almost 8 years ago