Jane Austen’s use of Mr. Bennet offers two interesting perspectives on parenting style. At first, we see that to understand people and their actions, we have to know and understand them for much longer than just the first few encounters. But below the surface, she also provides a message outlining the harms of parenting through satire. Jane Austen purposely allows the reader to enjoy and appreciate Mr. Bennet and his wit at first to plant a seed in the reader’s mind of how enjoyable Mr. Bennet is. She eventually turns the reader against Mr. Bennet and displays the faults of relying on first impressions. At first, Mr. Bennet criticizes flat characters such as Mrs. Bennet and Lydia. Then, he starts to criticize in the same way whole characters such as Elizabeth. Because of this new understanding of his personality, the reader is turned against him.
Mr. Bennet’s parenting style is also most peculiar. Instead of normal fatherly love and compassion for his family, he ridicules them and often makes a mockery of them. While it seems to be in good humor, it doesn’t stop. Eventually, it makes its way to the most beloved character of the book, Elizabeth. Once the satire reaches her, the reader is no longer amused by him, rather they are repulsed. The ultimate downfall of using satire as a parenting tool is that the family will not longer want to be around the parent who acts in such a negative way. Jane Austen understood that, and portrays those risks to her readers in Pride and Prejudice.
Good analysis!
ReplyDelete