Pride and Prejudice #8

In the Bennet family there is a divide between the way Mr. Bennet and Elizabeth act as opposed to the rest of the family. Mr. Bennet and Elizabeth are the realists in the family while Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth's sisters are haughty and verging on insolent. This contrast can be seen in the way they each treat the subject of the Bennet girls getting married. Mrs. Bennet's sole focus seems to be in getting her daughters married to rich men of high worth, and she is willing to do so at the expense of her daughters' happiness. Also, when Lydia wants to go to Brighton, she feels that all of the men there will be all over her trying to marry he, and lets her ego and her mother's praise get the best of her in thinking that she is one of the most beautiful and important women in the world. In contrast to Lydia's narcissism is Elizabeth and Mr. Bennet's realism in regards to the situation. Elizabeth does not want Lydia to go to Brighton and Mr. Bennet tell Elizabeth how paltry Lydia really is: "at Brighton she will be of less importance even as a common flirt than she has been here. The officers will find women better worth their notice. Let us hope, therefore, that her being there may teach her her own insignificance" (Austen 227). Mr. Bennet treats his daughters' worth realistically rather than Mrs. Bennet who thinks her daughters are the most significant women in the world and all men will seize them up in a heartbeat. Mrs. Bennet is obviously incorrect in her supposition for all four of her daughters are still unmarried. Mr. Bennet seems out of place in the Bennet family for Mrs. Bennet has such a strong personality and heavy influence, but Mr. Bennet's realism in fact causes him to be correct in his judgements about his daughters' worth, even if he appears to not fit in to the societal construct of how he should act.