Chapter 2) An Excellent Father

- Excerpted from 'Pride and Prejudice' written by the wonderful author, JANE
AUSTEN

Answer the following questions:

Q1. What does Mrs Bennet tell her husband?

Ans 1) Mrs Bennet excitedly tells her husband that a young man of large fortune from the north of
England has taken up the neighbouring large estate Netherfield Park. She further informs him that the
young man is called Bingley and that he is single. She wants to develop an acquaintance with him so
that they can introduce their daughters to him, in the hopes of him marrying one of them.

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Q2. Who takes over Netherfield Park? Why is Mrs Bennet happy about it?

Ans 2) Netherfield Park is taken over by Mr Bingley, a single young man of large fortune, who hails
from the north of England.

Mrs Bennet has five daughters. She longs to see all her daughters married to affluent men. When she
hears that a young man of marriageable age and very large fortune has moved to her neighbourhood,
she develops a hope that he may fall in love with and marry one of her daughters. The possibility of
one of her daughters settling down with a rich gentleman makes her happy.

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Q3. Why does Mrs Bennet insist her husband meet Mr Bingley?

Ans 3) Mrs Bennet has three daughters of marriageable age and her only concern is that all of them
marry well. When she learns that Mr Bingley, a rich bachelor, is to be their neighbour, she is excited
by the possibility that he could be a very good match for one of her daughters. She insists that her
husband meet Mr Bingley so that they may form an acquaintance, and thus be able to introduce their
daughters to him. She hopes that Bingley will fall in love with one of their daughters and marry her.

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Q4. 'You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves.' Explain.

Ans 4) Mrs Bennet says these words to her husband in a fit of irritation. She wants Mr Bennet go and
meet Mr Bingley so that their families may form an acquaintance. This is the only way she would be
able to introduce her daughters to Bingley, and hopefully have him marry one of them. Mr Bennett
however does not seem very keen on visiting Mr Bingley. He pretends to be uninterested in the
matter and teases his wife deliberately, knowing she will get worked up. Predictably, Mrs Bennet feels
vexed. She dramatically says that her husband has no regard for her feelings and thoughts. She
accuses him of taking pleasure in upsetting her.
Q5. Why does Mrs Bennet think that Mrs Long is selfish? (IMPORTANT QS.)

Ans 5) Mrs Long is an acquaintance of Mrs Bennet. She has promised to introduce the Bennets to the
very rich and eligible Mr Bingley, but Mrs Bennet says that Mrs Long will do no such thing. She
suspects that Mrs Long - with two nieces of her own - views the Bennet girls as rivals to her nieces.
She assumes Mrs Long will not introduce them to Bingley for fear of him falling in love with one of the
Bennet girls instead. And so Mrs Bennet calls her selfish. These assumptions and mistrust are in Mrs
Bennet’s mind alone of course.

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Q6. How does Mr Bennet react to the plan designed by his wife?

Ans 6) Mrs Bennet plans to form an acquaintance with Bingley and introduce her daughters to him, in
the hopes that he will marry one of them. Mr Bennet seems to have no interest in his wife's plan. At
first he pretends to be hardly listening to her. He teases his wife saying she should visit Mr Bingley
with their daughters on her own, if she wants to form an acquaintance. He jokes that Mr Bingley will
most likely find her the most attractive of all of them. He deliberately vexes Mrs Bennet, knowing her
excitable nature. When Mrs Bennet loses her temper, he finally reveals that he has already met Mr
Bingley and was only teasing them all this while for a bit of fun.

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Q7. Why does Mrs Bennet tell her girls that they have an excellent father? Do you agree? Why?
(IMPORTANT QS.)

Ans7) Mr Bennet appears to be quite unconcerned about his daughters' marriage. However, it is an
act as we see that he is actually very keen on finding good matches for them. When Mr Bingley arrives
at Netherfield Park, Mr Bennet takes the earliest opportunity to call on him. He knows how important
it is for him to explore the possibility of Bingley marrying one of his daughters. Unlike his wife Mrs
Bennet, he does not get overly excited. He does what he has to do as a responsible father without
making a noise about it.

He tells his wife about his visit to Bingley, and she is surprised and thrilled. She forgets her annoyance
at him and tells their daughters that they have an excellent father. She feels that Mr Bennet is a very
caring and responsible man, deeply concerned about the well being of his daughters.

I agree with this statement, as Mr Bennet does indeed seem to be a most excellent father.

CHARACTER SKETCH OF MRS BENNET:

Mrs Bennet is described as “a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain
temper” who fancies herself nervous when she is discontented. She is a dramatic, silly, and
temperamental woman, as far as we can see from this excerpt from Jane Austen’s Pride and
Prejudice.

Her relationship with her husband Mr Bennet is quite amusing. Apparently Mrs Bennet had been a
great beauty in her youth which is what led to Mr Bennet marrying her. The contrast in their
characters is very stark, with Mr Bennet’s droll humour and quiet sarcasm acting as a foil to Mrs
Bennet’s loud, unchecked dramatics. Mrs Bennet is the mother to five daughters, three of whom are
of marriageable age. Her sole purpose in life is to see her daughters married off to wealthy men. It is
in this context we see her over-enthusiasm when she hears of Mr Bingley, a rich, single young man of
large fortune, arriving in their neighbourhood. Mrs Bennet seems shallow and materialistic, interested
only in the fortune of the man who could marry one of her daughters. Beneath the silliness though, it
is evident that she is a caring mother, since it is her daughters’ well-being she is concerned about. We
see glimpses of meanness and jealousy when she makes assumptions about her friend and
acquaintance Mrs Long. All in all, Mrs Bennet is a wonderfully written comic character, with funny
dialogues and mannerisms, and a delight to observe.

CHARACTER SKETCH OF MR BENNET:

Mr Bennet is one of the main characters in Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’. He is married to Mrs
Bennet and they have five daughters. He has a droll sense of humour, a quick wit, and quiet sarcasm
which he uses often on his family members, especially his melodramatic, silly wife. He appears to be a
calm, level headed man. In this excerpt we see that he is a concerned father, with five daughters and
their marriages to be reckoned with. He has learnt to deal with his wife of many years by behaving
calmly and coolly in the face of her many histrionics and mood swings. He has genuine affection for
Mrs Bennet as we can see from his flattery of her (which she really likes) and from the fact that he
does things to please her in the end, no matter that he teases her in the interim. He also shows
fondness for his daughters and it is mentioned that the second daughter, the sensible Elizabeth, is his
favourite.