An Excellent Father

HUMOUR:
“An excellent father” is undoubtedly a humours story. There are a lot of
instances where the readers get into guffaws of laughter. For instances when Mrs
Bennet tells her husband if he has heard that Netherfield Park has been taken by a
rich young man, Mr Bennet intentionally, in order to irritate her, says „No‟. He
irritates his wife even more by asking her how the young Bingley is a fine thing for
their daughters. Not only does he irritate his wife but also teases his daughter,
Lizzy, by making sarcastic remarks in a humorous way. It happens when Mr.
Bennet sees his daughter trimming a hat, he tells her that he hopes Mr Bingley
might like it, which is hilarious indeed. Another funny incident that takes place in
this story is to discover Mrs Bennet trying to stop Kitty from coughing, to which
Kitty replies that she is coughing out of sickness and not to her own amusements.

CHARACTER SKETCH OF MR. BENNET:-

The patriarch of the Bennet family, Mr Bennet is a gentleman of modest
income with five unmarried daughters. He has a sarcastic and cynical kind of sense
of humour that he uses to purposefully irritate his wife. Initially he seems to be
uncaring and irresponsible towards his daughters and does not even plot a marriage
alliance which is unlike what his wife does. As he takes pleasure in teasing his
wife, he goes to an extent of telling his wife not to show herself to Mr. Bingley,
lest he should fall in love with her. He doesn‟t even spare his daughters. On seeing
his daughter trimming her hat, he sarcastically tells her that he hopes Mr. Bingley
likes it. But he only pretends to be uncaring and irresponsible as can be seen in the
latter part of the story, how dutiful he is as a father. Without letting anyone know.
The way, he had already paid a visit to Mr. Bingley which openes the prospects for
further interactions between his daughters and Mr. Bingley and all this is quite
commendable. By doing so, he proves himself to be an excellent father.
Character Sketch of Mrs Bennet:
Mrs Bennet is a middle-aged lady with five daughters Elizabeth, Jane,
Lydia, Kitty and Harry. Three of her daughters are of marriageable age. Thus, Mrs
Bennet‟s sole aim in life is to get her daughters married. Mrs Bennet is a great
stalker and also a gossip monger. When she gets to know from Mrs Long that
Netherfield Park has been let out she loses no time in gathering all information
regarding its new occupant. When she realizes, that Mr Bengley is a young rich,
eligible bachelor earning four or five thousand pounds a year, she sets to work. She
hopes that Mr Bengley should meet and fall in love with one of her daughters and
in due course get married for which she wants her husband to meet Mr Bingley in
order to fix a meeting with him. When her husband shows his indifference to her
plans, she immediately gets vexed and complains of palpitations and tremors. She
is a simple-hearted woman who cannot see through her husband‟s constant teasing
and sarcastic remarks. Besides all this, she is a caring and loving mother who is
genuinely concerned about her daughters‟ future.

Q1. Netherfield Park is a house which is vacant for a long time. It was to let. A rich
young gentleman, Mr Bingley,rents the house. When Mrs Bennet comes to know about
it, she is extremely delighted because she hopes that Mr Bingley might marry one of her
daughters and Mr Bingley‟s being single makes Mrs Bennet all the more particular
about it. She tells all this to her husband. She wants him to form an acquaintance with
Mr Bingley for the sake of their daughters.

Q2. Mr Bingley takes over the Netherfield Park. He is a young man of large fortune
from the north of England. He earns four or five thousand a year and is unmar-

ried. Mrs Bennet has got three daughters of marriageable age and hopes that Mr
Bingley might marry one of her daughters. Therefore she is happy for having a young
and rich man in her neighbourhood.

Q3. Mrs Bennet insists her to make an acquaintance with Mr Bingley, who is young
and unmarried man of large fortune, because she sees in him (Mr Bingley) a go-od
match for one of her daughters, who are of marriageable age.

Q4. Mrs Bennet out of disappointment says these words to her husband. She wants
her husband to form an acquaintance with Mr Bingley, a young and wealthy m-an, who
has come to live in their neighbourhood. In Mr Bingley she sees a perf- ect match for
one of her three daughters. Mr Bennet does not appear serious and teases his wife that
the young man would be more delighted to see her and she should rather go and visit
him. On hearing this from her husband Mrs Bennet gets vexed and says the given
words or lines.

Q5. Mrs Long had promised that she would introduce Mrs Bennet and her daughters
to Mr Bingley at the assemblies (gatherings). But Mrs Bennet doesn‟t think that Mrs
Long would do any such act/thing. According to Mrs Bennet, she (Mrs Long) has got
two niecesof her own and she would not like Mr Bingley to fall in love with any of the
daughters of Mrs Bennet. So, she says that Mrs Long is a selfish lady and she would like
Mr Bingley to marry one of her nieces.
Q6. Mrs Bennet comes to know that a young, unmarried and wealthy man has come
to live in their neighbourhood. She sees in Mr Bingley a perfect match for one of her
daughters. She insists her husband to make an acquaintance with Mr Bingl- ey for the
sake of their daughters. But Mr Bennet pretends to have no interest i- n Mr Bingley. He
rather teases his wife that Mr Bingley would be more pleased to see her. He even teases
his daughters with witty remarks. Observing his daughter employed in trimming a hat,
he says, „I hope Mr Bingley will like it, Li- zzy‟. Mrs Bennet feels annoyed for Kitty‟s
coughing and scolds her. Mr Bennet says, “Kittty has no discretion in her coughs. Then
Mr Bennet says, Let‟s return to Mr bingley”.His wife Mrs Bennet cries out,”I‟m sick of
Mr Bingley”. Only then does Mr bennet reveal that he has already paid a visit to Mr
Bingley. It comes as a great surprise to the ladies. Mrs Bennet exclaims delightfully,
“WHAT AN EXCELLENT FATHER YOU‟VE GOT”.

Q7. Mrs Bennet is a mother of three daughters who are of marriageable age. She in-
forms her husband the Netherfield park (house in their neighbourhood) has be- en
taken by a rich, young man(Mr Bingley), who has come from north of Engla- nd. In Mr
Bingley she finds a good match for one of her daughters. Mr Bingley‟s being single
makes her all the more particular about it. So she asks rather insists her husband to pay
the young man a visit as to form an acquaintancewith him -(Mr Bingley) for she doesn‟t
want some other mother with an eligible daughter would exploit such a golden
opportunity. But Mr Bennet pretends to have no interest in Mr Bingley. He rather teases
his wife that Mr Bingley would be more pleased to see her. He even teases his
daughters with witty remarks. Observing his daughter employed in trimming a hat, he
says, „I hope Mr Bingley will like it, Lizzy‟. Mrs Bennet feels annoyed for Kitty‟s
coughing and scolds her. Mr Bennet says, “Kittty has no discretion in her coughs. Then
Mr Bennet says, Let‟s return to Mr bingley”.His wife Mrs Bennet cries out,”I‟m sick of
Mr Bingley”. Only then does Mr bennet reveal that he has already paid a visit to Mr
Bingley. It comes as a great surprise to the ladies. Mrs Bennet exclaims delightfully,
“WHAT AN EXCELLENT FATHER YOU‟VE GOT”.