I think it's really powerful that the first person we hear disparage Mr Bennett is Mr Darcy. Up to that point we have enjoyed him so much as a character, and adored him a little because of Elizabeth's bias. Now we see him from a cold, outside perspective. Like Elizabeth we maybe aren't ready to hear the critique. But now our eyes are open for the rest of the book.
I'd not realized that the 1995 line about "it will pass, no doubt more speedily than it should" was an addition, it's such a good one that absolutely captures Mr. Bennet!
I remember a talking head saying once that Mr. Bennet was the most like Austen herself out of all her characters--holding himself apart from everyone else and just making droll, wry observations. I'm not sure this is entirely fair to Jane, perhaps he is simply what she feared she might become if she indulged her worst tendencies.
I do think one recurring secondary theme both of the book itself and some of my favourite reinterpretations of it (including, most recently, The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow) is learning the difference between a sort of caustic wit that holds itself apart from all or most others, and wit that is tempered with kindness. The former is obviously bad for the targets of the caustic wit, but also for the wisecrackers themselves, who lose out on the better relationships they might have if they learned to look for the best in people.
Oh, I could absolutely get behind the idea of Mr. Bennet embodying some of Jane's worst tendencies. I really think that if Elizabeth had continued on her path of snap judgments and prejudiced opinions, she would have ended up like him. And I think she shifted that path and that's what makes her a fully rounded and admirable heroine!
"Wit that is tempered with kindness"-- what a great turn of phrase, and one I think Jane herself would have liked and strived for. I really need to read The Other Bennet Sister!
Yes, I definitely think you're right that Lizzy would have developed more of her father's faults without her growth in the book (and if, God forbid, she had married Collins they would just have become a gender swapped version of her parents.
The Other Bennet Sister is so good! It has a lovely portrayal of the Gardiners as a happy couple with a happy home, as an antidote to the Bennets' dysfunction
I always thought the Gardiners were Miss Austin’s example of a happy marriage. Their children seem well-adjusted as well, although they are younger than the Bennet sisters.
I wonder if Miss Austen was also making a comment on the difference between a household that is predominantly female vs. one where the sexes are balanced?
He does say something very like that in the novel, though. “No, Lizzy, let me once in my life feel how much I have been to blame. I am not afraid of being overpowered by the impression. It will pass away soon enough.”
You're absolutely right!!! I went back and looked and this is in chapter 48. I was looking further on and then did a search in the e-text for the keywords in the miniseries quote, and concluded it must have just been in the miniseries. Rookie mistake. 😂😂
I’m currently listening to the audiobook version of “The Other Bennet Sister.” I’m thoroughly enjoying it, especially Part 1 where you see the events of “P&P” from Mary’s POV. (I’m in Part 3 now. )
Read the title and had to agree! You make great points, and funny too! I do love the 2005 P&P but agree it’s softer on the social criticism which maybe undercuts it a bit. But every time I watch the BBC one I go, this dad is the worst dad ever! Amusing as he is. I’d probably like him if I knew him in real life, but I’d also wonder why the heck he does nothing useful, ever. To be fair to him, the society that raised him probably didn’t do much to teach him to be useful.
I recently participated in a reading group that included Pride and Prejudice and realized that every time I read the book I had more sympathy for Mrs. Bennett and less enjoyment of Mr. Bennett. The Hot and Bothered: Live from Pemberly podcast really helped me understand the novel better, highly recommend!
I agree! If you view him as a bumbling professor type without the proper outlet maybe he is acceptable. But he was the only one with real power to help change his family’s fortunes and he did nothing.
I'm also not a fan of the Keira Knightley version of P & P. Yes, it was lushly filmed and lovely to look at, but they just got too many things wrong: hair, the Bennets' social status, etc... Elizabeth in bare feet twirling on a swing in a barnyard??? I loved Donald Sutherland, but was flummoxed by all the adulation for him as Mr. Bennet--great girl dad, etc... Mr. Bennet was a TERRIBLE father, and casting a charming actor in the role doesn't obscure that fact.
I was thinking of the scene in the book (and miniseries) when Mr. Bennet returns from London after searching for Lydia and Wickham, and he says to Elizabeth, "Lizzy, I bear you no ill-will for being justified in your advice to me last May, which, considering the event, shows some greatness of mind."
Do you think he's being sarcastic ("It's pretty magnanimous of me not to resent you for being right") or sincere ("I've been chastened by your words, which I see now were quite wise")? I feel like the miniseries wants us to read it as sincere, but I sense Austen might have meant it as another example of him being somewhat glib.
I wonder if it might almost be a bit of both! He's defaulted so much to being glib that, when sincerity is called for, he can't quite access that part of himself anymore
I agree and I think it’s an intentional commentary on how a society that entrusts women’s care to men “for their own good” puts women in danger, even when they have “good” (i.e. not abusive) fathers.
I love this so much. Funny as he is, Jane Austen makes it clear in her special, nuanced way that Mr. Bennet is NOT, by any stretch of the imagination, a role model.
I am also a huge proponent of the 1995 BBC miniseries over the 2005 movie, so your comment on that front endeared this post to me right away. 😂
I feel sad now, I never thought of him in this way. I always thought of him as the reasonable parent, but yeah, he had no plans for his girls, but I guess that wasn't uncommon at that time.
Oh my God. … my heroine’s father is Mr. Bennet. 😳 This explains A Lot. Oh, I am going to have to sit with this, especially as I planned to get him up and out of his library in book 3…
Yes, I agree! I don't think Elizabeth had “daddy issues,” per se (though I do think she's blinded to her father's faults) but I think she saw in Darcy a better man than her father.
Love this reflection!
I think it's really powerful that the first person we hear disparage Mr Bennett is Mr Darcy. Up to that point we have enjoyed him so much as a character, and adored him a little because of Elizabeth's bias. Now we see him from a cold, outside perspective. Like Elizabeth we maybe aren't ready to hear the critique. But now our eyes are open for the rest of the book.
Oh, what a great insight!!
I'd not realized that the 1995 line about "it will pass, no doubt more speedily than it should" was an addition, it's such a good one that absolutely captures Mr. Bennet!
I remember a talking head saying once that Mr. Bennet was the most like Austen herself out of all her characters--holding himself apart from everyone else and just making droll, wry observations. I'm not sure this is entirely fair to Jane, perhaps he is simply what she feared she might become if she indulged her worst tendencies.
I do think one recurring secondary theme both of the book itself and some of my favourite reinterpretations of it (including, most recently, The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow) is learning the difference between a sort of caustic wit that holds itself apart from all or most others, and wit that is tempered with kindness. The former is obviously bad for the targets of the caustic wit, but also for the wisecrackers themselves, who lose out on the better relationships they might have if they learned to look for the best in people.
Oh, I could absolutely get behind the idea of Mr. Bennet embodying some of Jane's worst tendencies. I really think that if Elizabeth had continued on her path of snap judgments and prejudiced opinions, she would have ended up like him. And I think she shifted that path and that's what makes her a fully rounded and admirable heroine!
"Wit that is tempered with kindness"-- what a great turn of phrase, and one I think Jane herself would have liked and strived for. I really need to read The Other Bennet Sister!
Yes, I definitely think you're right that Lizzy would have developed more of her father's faults without her growth in the book (and if, God forbid, she had married Collins they would just have become a gender swapped version of her parents.
The Other Bennet Sister is so good! It has a lovely portrayal of the Gardiners as a happy couple with a happy home, as an antidote to the Bennets' dysfunction
I always thought the Gardiners were Miss Austin’s example of a happy marriage. Their children seem well-adjusted as well, although they are younger than the Bennet sisters.
I wonder if Miss Austen was also making a comment on the difference between a household that is predominantly female vs. one where the sexes are balanced?
He does say something very like that in the novel, though. “No, Lizzy, let me once in my life feel how much I have been to blame. I am not afraid of being overpowered by the impression. It will pass away soon enough.”
You're absolutely right!!! I went back and looked and this is in chapter 48. I was looking further on and then did a search in the e-text for the keywords in the miniseries quote, and concluded it must have just been in the miniseries. Rookie mistake. 😂😂
But your essay was right and true, and this is just a detail.
I’m currently listening to the audiobook version of “The Other Bennet Sister.” I’m thoroughly enjoying it, especially Part 1 where you see the events of “P&P” from Mary’s POV. (I’m in Part 3 now. )
Read the title and had to agree! You make great points, and funny too! I do love the 2005 P&P but agree it’s softer on the social criticism which maybe undercuts it a bit. But every time I watch the BBC one I go, this dad is the worst dad ever! Amusing as he is. I’d probably like him if I knew him in real life, but I’d also wonder why the heck he does nothing useful, ever. To be fair to him, the society that raised him probably didn’t do much to teach him to be useful.
Agreed, he was very much a product of his time.
I recently participated in a reading group that included Pride and Prejudice and realized that every time I read the book I had more sympathy for Mrs. Bennett and less enjoyment of Mr. Bennett. The Hot and Bothered: Live from Pemberly podcast really helped me understand the novel better, highly recommend!
I agree! If you view him as a bumbling professor type without the proper outlet maybe he is acceptable. But he was the only one with real power to help change his family’s fortunes and he did nothing.
I'm also not a fan of the Keira Knightley version of P & P. Yes, it was lushly filmed and lovely to look at, but they just got too many things wrong: hair, the Bennets' social status, etc... Elizabeth in bare feet twirling on a swing in a barnyard??? I loved Donald Sutherland, but was flummoxed by all the adulation for him as Mr. Bennet--great girl dad, etc... Mr. Bennet was a TERRIBLE father, and casting a charming actor in the role doesn't obscure that fact.
YES to all this 😂🙏
This is excellent, Amy! Great insights.
I was thinking of the scene in the book (and miniseries) when Mr. Bennet returns from London after searching for Lydia and Wickham, and he says to Elizabeth, "Lizzy, I bear you no ill-will for being justified in your advice to me last May, which, considering the event, shows some greatness of mind."
Do you think he's being sarcastic ("It's pretty magnanimous of me not to resent you for being right") or sincere ("I've been chastened by your words, which I see now were quite wise")? I feel like the miniseries wants us to read it as sincere, but I sense Austen might have meant it as another example of him being somewhat glib.
I wonder if it might almost be a bit of both! He's defaulted so much to being glib that, when sincerity is called for, he can't quite access that part of himself anymore
That seems the likeliest explanation!
That's a really good point.
I think it's the former but Christina makes a GREAT point!
I agree and I think it’s an intentional commentary on how a society that entrusts women’s care to men “for their own good” puts women in danger, even when they have “good” (i.e. not abusive) fathers.
Wish I could like this twice!!
I love this so much. Funny as he is, Jane Austen makes it clear in her special, nuanced way that Mr. Bennet is NOT, by any stretch of the imagination, a role model.
I am also a huge proponent of the 1995 BBC miniseries over the 2005 movie, so your comment on that front endeared this post to me right away. 😂
I feel sad now, I never thought of him in this way. I always thought of him as the reasonable parent, but yeah, he had no plans for his girls, but I guess that wasn't uncommon at that time.
Oh my God. … my heroine’s father is Mr. Bennet. 😳 This explains A Lot. Oh, I am going to have to sit with this, especially as I planned to get him up and out of his library in book 3…
Yes, I agree! I don't think Elizabeth had “daddy issues,” per se (though I do think she's blinded to her father's faults) but I think she saw in Darcy a better man than her father.