1) In the ball scene, we have Mrs Bennet and the younger sisters generally making fools of themselves and making the family look bad. Lizzy is mortified but Mr. Bennet is seemingly unaffected by it, not attempting to step in or anything. Why do you think this is?
2) Mr. Collins is always talking about the Lady Catherine. Is he enamored of her because she is his benefactor or is there another reason? Compare, perhaps, with the servants in period pieces like Gosford Park.
It's interesting, because Austen wants us to laugh at Mr. Collins for the way he sucks up to Lady Catherine, which seems to indicate that a certain rejection of upper-class sycophancy. Keep an idea on that as the novel progresses!
ReplyDeleteI think at that point Mr. Bennet had just become so used to the actions of his wife and daughters that for the most part it just did not phase him anymore. I think it also makes an interesting point of how women and men are affected by how society perceives them. Mrs. Bennet was always concerned with keeping up appearances and making sure her daughters had their proper role in society as married women. Mr. Bennet's perspective seemed to be "This is what my family is like, I have come to accept them as they are." It's a good question to ask though. Why do women care so much about what others think and men seem to care so little? Maybe it's because women are taught they need to fit into this mold that they must be respectable, but having proper character is something that is less drilled into men.
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