In this masterful study of society, Austen seems to
reserve much of her scorn for the character of Mrs. Bennet. Austen wastes no time in the
first chapter in introducing her as:
...a woman of mean understanding, little
information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented she fancied herself
nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was
visiting and news.
Thus Mrs.
Bennet is presented as a woman who is obsessed with getting her daughters married. She
is shown to be so focussed on this that the actual nature of the men in question appears
to be forgotten, exemplified in her delight in Wickham as a son-in-law. Likewise she is
shown to be a woman with little understanding of how to behave properly in society. Poor
Elizabeth and Jane are constantly embarrassed by their mother's inappropriate comments
in society and schemes to try and get them married off, such as when Mrs. Bennet insists
that Jane goes to Netherfield on horseback because it "looks like rain" and therefore
she will have to stay the night.
Mrs. Bennet is also shown
to have a negative influence on Kitty and Lydia in particular, who are allowed to run
around without discipline or moderation, acting as flirts and with little regard for
others. As Lizzie says to her father when she appeals to him to not let Lydia go to
Brighton with the militia, Lydia is in danger of being "beyond the reach of amendment"
and "the most determined flirt."
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