What do you think is the contribution of Mr. and Mrs.Bennet as parents to the development of their daughter's charactersDiscuss.?

Answer 1

Both Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet neglected their children's education. Mrs. Bennet had some excuse for this, perhaps, because she was rather ignorant. Mr. Bennet, on the other hand, seemed to think it was unnecessary for women to be educated. This seems odd, because he prized the intelligence of Elizabeth and the rationality of Jane.

Mrs. Bennet seemed to believe that the most important thing a woman could do was to find a good mate, good meaning financially sound. She did not understand the things people might want in a wife, however, and so guided her daughters by her own limited understanding. The result was that though her girls learned to dance and dress well, they did not have any education in literature, music, or art, other than what their own interests exposed them to. Mary, who was (at least in the book) the most accomplished, seemed interested in matters of Christian ethics, and philosophy, in addition to music, but this was probably a perverse reaction to her surroundings. Kitty was guided by Lydia, and Lydia was only interested in finding a man, without regard for how this was done, or even whether the match made any sense. Only Jane and Lizzy were reasonable people.

Mr. Bennet acknowledged a failure to provide dowries for his daughters, but he also failed to provide moral guidance. This problem was exacerbated by his cynnical attitude toward his wife's bad manners and ignorance. He allowed her to have her way at times when there was no excuse for her behaviour, and the younger girls learned by this example.

In short, one might wonder at the fact that Lizzy and Jane turned out so well. Perhaps this was because their early development happened at a time Mr. Bennet had not really started showing his disappointment in his life. Perhaps it was because despite their faults, the Bennets made their daughters important in their lives, and provided examples of people who, even if flawed in manners and judgment, were not selfish or immoral.