Mr Bennet is one of the most popular characters in Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen describes him as ‘… a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice,’ and gives him many of the funniest lines in the book. We also cannot help but be affected by the special bond he has with his favorite daughter – and our favorite character – Elizabeth. This is a little odd given that, in modern terms, having ‘favorites’ is a cardinal parenting sin. Nevertheless, Pride and Prejudice is set in a world where ranking even your own daughters in terms of their beauty was considered natural and legitimate, so we seem able to forgive this kind of thing and just enjoy their relationship.
Mr Bennet in Pride and Prejudice adaptations
Our affection for Mr Bennet is also enhanced because he is played sympathetically in most adaptations. In the BBC’s 1995 Pride and Prejudice series, he is lively and relatively gentle; in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie Donald Sutherland is a little more world-weary but far more emotionally involved in his family’s concerns, even shedding tears in the final scene. In the Fay Weldon’s 1980 Pride and Prejudice series for the BBC, Moray Watson’s Mr Bennet is the diametric opposite; he is bad-tempered, authoritarian and something of a bully. Mr Bennet can be, it seems, all things to all people.
Mr Bennet in Jane Austen’s Novel
In Pride and Prejudice the book, Jane Austen gives us much to love and much to condemn in Mr Bennet. He endlessly taunts his wife, with some justification, but his indifference to his daughters’ marital prospects is as baffling as their mother’s obsession with it. The fact that Mr Collins will inherit the Longbourn estate – and thus the right to evict the Bennet females – appears to be a source of amusement to him. Unlike Mrs. Bennet, Mr Bennet betrays no feeling of injustice at this pitiable state of affairs, and indeed mocks his wife for her outbursts on the subject. He also fails to protect his family from dishonor when, for the sake of a quiet life, Mr Bennet allows Lydia to follow the militia to Brighton, and routinely criticizes his own daughters for their ‘silliness.’
On the other hand, Mr Bennet steps in to protect Elizabeth from marriage to Pride and Prejudice’s chief nitwit, Mr Collins. He also provides some balance to offset the hyperactivity of his wife, who is probably doing enough worrying for everyone. He seems to sense the obvious – that Mrs. Bennet’s obsessive pursuit of advantageous marriages is likely to be counterproductive – and therefore declines to fuel her obsession further.
Perhaps we also warm to his character because his utter indifference to society is an extreme variation of one of Lizzy’s key character traits: her independent spirit. Elizabeth is no slave to the dictates of propriety and rank. For example, she happily walks to Netherfield in spite of the mud, and gives her opinion ‘very decidedly’ to Lady Catherine de Bourgh, for example, while Mr Bennet barely acknowledges society’s conventions, preferring to stay away from company altogether.
Mr Bennet’s Journey in Pride and Prejudice
Mr Bennet also does something that can endear one to even the very worst of people – apologizes. In Chapter 48 of Pride and Prejudice, Mr Bennet returns from London without Lydia, and talks with Elizabeth:
It was not till the afternoon, when he had joined them at tea, that Elizabeth ventured to introduce the subject; and then, on her briefly expressing her sorrow for what he must have endured, he replied, “Say nothing of that. Who should suffer but myself? It has been my own doing, and I ought to feel it.”
“You must not be too severe upon yourself,” replied Elizabeth.
“You may well warn me against such an evil. Human nature is so prone to fall into it! 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.”
It’s a severe piece of self-criticism, and could fail to touch only the coldest of hearts.
What’s your opinion of Mr Bennet as a father? Which Pride and Prejudice adaptation captures his personality most convincingly for you?
Mr Bennet is my favorite character!
Benjamin Whitrow is the one for me. Both in looks and personality he is the closest to my image of Mr. B from the book. I think it’s the cheeky twinkle in his eye and that ironic smile he does so well.