Mrs. Bennet

In the beginning of Pride and Prejudice, I had a huge problem with Mrs. Bennet. She demanded attention to be on her and her five daughters. She did not care how people looked at her; she was going to get her five daughters married no matter what. With her tiresome efforts to find suitable husbands for Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia, it backfires on her and her daughters. When Darcy saw the way Mrs. Bennet acted, he wanted nothing to do with her or her daughters. Which then led to the departure of Mr. Bingley. While reading the novel, I really had to think about why she acted the way she did. Even though she went to the extreme, she was trying to make sure her daughters have a secure future. With the threat of Mr. Bennet passing away and their home being taken from them, Mrs. Bennet knew that if the daughters were married they would have a place to live and would not be on the streets. As I continued to read, I sympathized with her more and more. This is not the case in the 1940 and 2005 movie versions of Pride and Prejudice. In both versions, it was comical to watch, as Mrs. Bennet would fan her self and fainting quoting “Do you have no consideration for my poor nerves?” While watching the movies, I got caught up in her actions and words and the dislike for Mrs. Bennet returned. In the 2005 version, the scene where Mrs. Bennet sends Jane to the Bingley estate in the rain is a perfect example of how she will stop at nothing. By watching it on a screen, her intensions were perfectly clear and I felt like it was harder to understand where she was coming from. On the other hand, while reading this scene, I was able to create my own picture of it and sympathize with her more. In the films just the subtle dirty looks she would give out or the consonant eye rolls, she seemed to cause more damage than good. Mrs. Bennet is a mom, which I think is important to remember when looking father into her character. As annoying and outspoken as she can be, she is looking out for her children which is what any mother should do.