In Pride and Prejudice, it was made very clear that the parents of Elizabeth and her sisters, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, were not the best parental figures to the girls. In the very beginning of the novel Mrs. Bennet is shown to prioritize her daughters being ladylike and finding husbands. In contrast to Little Women, Mrs. Bennet does not prioritize her daughters' emotions and personalities, rather she prioritizes herself and her daughters' reputations. Also, Mr. Bennet is shown to not fully care what his daughters do as long as it does not affect him or bother him. So my question is, does this lack of motherly and fatherly care play a big role in the outcomes of the girls' lives?
One main example of this is when Lydia begs to go to Brighton in chapter 39, Mr. Bennet agrees only because it seems he does not want to be bothered by Lydia complaining if he were to not let her go. Not only this, but when the parents found out about Lydia and Wickham running off together the only one who seemed to react properly was Elizabeth. Meanwhile, Mrs. Bennet was just happy to hear of her daughter's marriage and Mr. Bennet just seemed to push Lydia away after the whole ordeal saying she would not be welcome back. In my opinion, had Mr. and Mrs. Bennet cared more about their daughter, she would not have had the chance to run away with Wickham considering Elizabeth was almost the only one against it at the time. Not only this, but I am left to wonder if there could have been a different outcome for Lydia if her parents had reacted much differently to the news of her eloping with Wickham.
Another prime example of this in the novel Pride and Prejudice is in the beginning of the book, chapter 9, when both Jane and Elizabeth are ready to leave Netherfield and the Bingley's house. They had wrote to Mrs. Bennet that they were to return home, and it states that Mrs. Bennet did not want her daughters to return yet as "being satisfied on seeing her that her illness was not alarming, she had no wish of her recovering immediately, as her restoration to health would probably remove her from Netherfield." Mrs. Bennet is shown that she values the marriage of Jane and Mr. Bingley more than she values the health of Jane and returning of both of her daughters home. While this example does not necessarily provide ill outcomes for either Jane or Elizabeth, it does show the lack of motherly feelings that Mrs. Bennet showed for her children throughout the book. This being so early on in the book and only continuing on set a tone for readers of how Mrs. Bennet would treat her daughters for the rest of the book.
These two examples and many more instances in the novel are what lead me to the question of whether or not the parental figures in Pride and Prejudice play a big role in the outcomes of the girls' lives. This is because prior to this novel we are show the complete opposite parenting style in Little Women, and are able to see the daughters in Little Women achieve many of their goals and live the lives that they had hoped for themselves and that their parents had hoped for them. I personally believe that if Mr. and Mrs. Bennet had been more parental to their daughters that we would most likely see different outcomes for Lydia especially and possibly the other daughters as well. This is because the morals of the girls would all be more aligned and more "christian" rather than the values that Lydia, Kitty, and Mary tend to show throughout the book. I wish we could have seen a version where Mr. and Mrs. Bennet had acted this way towards their daughters, but I think it could possibly make it a completely different book with different outcomes so perhaps that is why we do not get to see these versions of the two. In conclusion, I believe that the parental figures of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet play a large role in the outcomes of the girls' lives.
As pointed out, in Pride and Prejudice, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were less than ideal parental figures for their children. Mrs. Bennet’s advice was always influenced by her personal interests and almost never was for the best interest of their children. This can be clearly seen early on when she insists that Jane stays at the Bingley’s house when she is sick rather than having them return home at once, just because she wanted them to spend time with Bingley. Her insensitivity is shown when Elizabeth writes for her mother to send the carriage a couple days early but Mrs. Bennet effectively declines “they could not possibly have the carriage before Tuesday; and in her postscript it was added, that if Mr. Bingley and his sister pressed them to stay longer, she could spare them very well”(Chapter 12). Mrs. Bennet’s motivation and goal of getting them to spend more time with Mr. Bingley is very evident, ignoring the wishes of her children. From the very beginning it is clear that she only wants them to get married rich, so besides that there isn’t much for her parental figure. If she was more involved and showed an opinion in other matters, then it is possible that the children would have been influenced and turned out differently. Mr. Bennet was more of a designated opposition for Mrs. Bennet’s opinions rather than actually being a father figure to his children.
ReplyDeleteI also am inclined to believe that the parental figures play a role in the outcome of the girls’ lives, but not in a positive way. As pointed out, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are not the greatest role models as parents, so I think that the girls actually either act irrationally or against their wishes. I think this is especially apparent in Lydia’s case when she sends a letter to Harriet Foster after eloping with Mr. Wickham saying,
ReplyDelete“You need not send them word at Longbourn of my going, if you do not like it, for it will make the surprise the greater, when I write to them, and sign my name Lydia Wickham. What a good joke it will be!” (276)
This is evidence that Lydia knows that marrying Mr. Wickham will likely disgrace her whole family, and she does not care. In fact, she treats the affair of eloping with Mr. Wickham as a game instead of a matter that should be taken seriously and thought over carefully.
Elizabeth marrying Mr. Darcy is also frowned upon in both families, although for drastically different reasons. Lady Catherine de Bourgh, another sort of motherly figure, sits Elizabeth down and expresses her adamant disapproval of the engagement and would much rather have Mr. Darcy marry her daughter. In response to this, Elizabeth says, “I am not to be intimidated into anything so wholly unreasonable” (337). Elizabeth knows how ridiculous it is for Lady Catherine to try and force the marriage between her daughter and Mr. Darcy when she knows that is not what he wants. She knows that she and Mr. Darcy are much better suited for each other. Elizabeth is also defying a very authoritative figure here to express what she wants for herself and Mr. Darcy. She is also very capable of going against the wishes of parental figures, largely as a result of their poor ideals reflecting onto her.
I agree with the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were not the best parental units. However, I would be interested to see if our reactions to their role if we hadn’t read Little Women first. For the time period, I feel like Mrs. Bennet was in line with many other mothers. Their goal was to marry off their daughters and create a better life for their family. I feel like this is why I was not surprised by the Bennet’s reaction specifically to Lydia’s marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet did not have all the information on Mr. Wickham, so I think that Mrs. Bennet being excited makes sense.
ReplyDeleteIt could be argued that creating a better life for her daughters was Mrs. March’s goal too. However, Mrs. March’s goal was less fiscally motivated. Throughout the entirety of Little Women, Mrs. March is constantly talking to her daughters and giving them advice on how to live a happy life. I think in her own way Mrs. Bennet is trying to achieve this same goal. The difference is that Mrs. March realizes there can be happiness outside of marriage. Mrs. Bennet thinks the only was for a woman to be happy and live a better life is through marriage.
Overall, I think I would have the same response to Mrs. Bennet if I had not read Little Women previously. While each mother was trying to find happiness for their daughters, Mrs. March was able to create a more loving and genuine environment. Mrs. Bennet never did this. I think that is why I constantly viewed her as more of comedic relief than as an actual character.