ENG298 Pride and Prejudice

Who or What is really to blame in Mrs. Bennet's Marriage Name Institutional Affiliation Who or What is really to blame in Mrs. Bennet's Marriage The novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is highly focused on the issue of women and marriage. The novel presents various forms of relationships that are stained by different aspects. The marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet is a predominant one that raises a picture of how the institution was in the eighteenth century. Marriage during the period was different from how we perceive it in the modern day life. A review of the issues that can be blamed on the nature and ultimatum of Mrs. Bennet’s marriage requires an investigation of the characteristics of the two people and how it affects their relationship. Mrs. Bennet is one of the lead characters in the novel Pride and Prejudice. She is the wife to Mr. Bennet with whom they have five daughters. The children are Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia. Mrs. Bennet also has two siblings, Mrs. Philips and Mr. Gardiner. She is also related to several characters through marriage. Suggestively, the concept of marriage revolves around the character. She was born in a wealthy and her siblings were married to rich individuals. Despite her father leaving her with a settlement and dowry of 4,000 Euros, it was not enough to cover for the deficiency of her husband’s fortune (Mrs.Bennet, 2016). In the first chapter, Jane Austen portrays Mrs. Bennet by stating the following (Austen, 1813): “Mrs. Bennet was a woman of mean understanding, little information and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughter married; its solace was visiting and news.” The description of the character suggests that Mrs. Bennet is not an intelligent woman. From this perspective, readers can tell that this might be the beginning of her orientation in decision-making and opinions. Additionally, there is further evidence throughout the book that she is not intelligence. For instance, although she is a daughter of a lawyer, she fails to understand about entailment even when it is explained to her several times. Suggestively, the lack of intelligence can be blamed for her marriage. Austen contrasts her with Mr. Bennet, who is more intelligent, but she does not notice or understand the irony. The way she communicates shows that she is deficient in content knowledge and ideas. Her motherly roles are also wanting considering how she brought up her children without upright sense given that Austen states, “the wonder is that Elizabeth and Jane turn out so well (Austen, 1813).” In this context, her lack of intelligence might have contributed to her poor judge of character and challenges to understanding other people. The fact that she was stressed when Elizabeth accepted Darcy’s proposal proves that her attitude towards such matters had an impact on her relationships. The author links Mrs. Bennet to uncertain temper. When Lydia’s elopement is discovered, she takes to her bed. The actions show that she is weak inside and indicates her unreliability. Her temper makes her family feel the impact of the misfortune, and this is enhanced by her presumed indisposition. Austen states, �...