Mr. Bennet Character Analysis

mr. bennet and his family

Patriarch of the Bennet family Mr. Bennet has a small income, five unmarried daughters and a ridiculous wife he doesn’t love. He views his daughters, with the exception of Elizabeth, as “silly and ignorant.” But he is a hands-off father who ignores their behavior.

Mr. Bennet has made no provision for the financial security of his family. A quirk in the law means that his Longbourn estate will on his death pass out of the family to a male heir, his cousin Mr. Collins.

He seeks refuge from an unhappy marriage and Mrs. Bennet’s obsession with finding husbands for their daughters in his sarcastic wit. His ironic mockery of his wife and daughters provide some of the novel’s funniest lines. Jane Austen’s genius for irony shines through Mr. Bennet’s barbed tongue.

While he is not a bad man, neither is Mr. Bennet a particular good husband or father. He is neglectful of his family and his parenting responsibilities towards his daughters. His failure to guide his youngest, Lydia, leads to a big scandal when she runs off with a militia officer.

Biting and cynical

Here are five key Mr. Bennet quotes with analysis that provide us with a flavor of his biting and cynical humor:

“You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion for my poor nerves.”
“You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these last twenty years at least.”

Chapter 1. When Mrs. Bennet complaints that her husband is annoying her, Mr. Bennet metaphorically refers to his wife’s nerves as his old friends and says that he has a high respect for them. He is being ironic and sarcastic here.

“If your daughter should have a dangerous fit of illness – if she should die, it would be a comfort to know that it was all in pursuit of Mr. Bingley, and under your orders.”

Chapter 7. Mr. Bennet teases Mrs. Bennet with one of his famous tongue-in-cheek comments about her placing Jane in danger through her obsession with getting her daughter married. This is after Elizabeth reads a note from Jane in Bingley’s Netherfield Park to say that she is ill with a sore throat and headache after being out in the storm. The passage is an example of Austen’s wonderful use of verbal irony – Mr. Bennet means the opposite of what he appears to be saying to Mrs. Bennet.

“That will do extremely well, child. You have delighted us long enough. Let the other young ladies have time to exhibit.”

Chapter 18. Mr. Bennet says this to Mary after she performs her second terrible song of the night at the Netherfield ball. He had been asked to intervene by a mortified Elizabeth who was afraid Mary was going to sing all night. Mr. Bennet is, of course, being ironic in his comment about his daughter’s delightful singing.

“Next to being married, a girl likes to be crossed in love a little now and then. It is something to think of, and gives her a sort of distinction among her companions.”

Chapter 24. While Mrs. Bennet is anxious and worried, Mr. Bennet finds it a source of amusement that Jane’s hopes of getting married anytime soon diminish as Charles Bingley appears to abandon her and move from the area. The humorous and more relaxed Mr. Bennet is the perfect foil to the emotional Mrs. Bennet. But what Mr. Bennet says here to Elizabeth is ironic, as no girl likes being disappointed in love and it’s not a laughing matter for his eldest daughters.

“For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?”

Chapter 57. Mr. Bennet is a likeable, funny character. But his witty remarks can be very cynical and sarcastic. His detached irony is, like his library, an escape room where he retreats for sanctuary to insulate himself from family responsibilities. He is a laissez-faire father whose neglect of his parenting duties and continuous ridicule of his wife is partly responsible for Lydia’s disgrace. Mr. Bennet speaks here on the secret of life, that all we are here for is to laugh at our neighbors’ follies and nonsense and they at ours. He makes his ironic comment after a letter from Mr. Collins about a rumored engagement between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, which he thinks very funny.