I think everybody in Hertfordshire found Mr Darcy rude. Elizabeth even says as much to Mr Wickham. He really didn’t try to make an effort to be friendly to people he thought not worth knowing. The difference of course is that Elizabeth had the grace to be civil even though she disliked him and her mother did not make the effort and actually showed her dislike. But yes I did find it refreshing that at the right time (when playing the piano and with only Colonel Fitzwilliam around) she called him out on his behavior in a witty fairly inoffensive way.
I suppose, for all that she is annoying, I must reserve some sympathy for Mrs. Bennet. Her situation, with her husband's estate entailed and with five daughters, is truly a challenging one.
That's certainly true. If Mr. Bennet were to die, Mrs. Bennet and her daughters could have become homeless (which is what happened to the Dashwood family in Sense and Sensibility -- fortunately they were offered a place to live). As you suggest, it's understandable that Mrs. Bennett wanted her daughters married as soon as possible, and ideally one would marry Mr. Collins the heir to the estate. If Mrs. Bennet and her daughters had in fact become homeless, one can imagine their taking lodgings in a cheap rooming house and the girls getting jobs, most likely as governesses. Consequently they could no longer appear in society. There was one inflexible rule regarding the upper class in those days: one was not allowed to do work of any kind. Even the Dashwoods in their straitened circumstances had two servants.
I find it funny that Mr Bennet is calm and collected and mrs. Bennet is exact oposite. Scene where he was reading newspaper he looked like he was done xd
I think he is more disinterested than calm. He seems to hardly care whether or not his daughters find good marriages, does nothing to educate the younger ones on proper behavior, and neglects to save money for dowries. Mrs. Bennet is overly concerned with marriage, to the point of actually damaging her daughter's prospects by seeming greedy and desperate, so they are both very flawed.
@@stanleygagnerAre all regency era fathers like that? The only other Jane Austen book I read was Emma and her father had no interest in getting her married even though she was in her 20s. In fact, he hated the very idea of marriage.
This was a TV series- and with your name (with just one letter to dispense with) i thought you might prefer a scene from, say, The Double Life of Veronique or Three Colours Red. Anyway, this is a superb scene, yes, and one of so many in this marvellous series, the best TV drama series surely.
The actress who played Mrs. Hill deserves credit too for some great subtle comic moments. She wasn't so much a housekeeper as the Head Wrangler. There's a brief scene with music instead of dialog where it looks like she's training a new maid bringing Mrs. Bennett her tea and the body langage--"give me the tray, I'll handle her."
I was 18 when the BBC television adaptation first came out and I totally identified with the Bennett sisters. I’m now 47 and more and more find myself identifying with Mrs Bennett. Yes her mannerisms were a bit over the top at times BUT she understood that unless at least some of her daughters married well, her and any remaining unmarried daughters could very well be homeless. Don’t forget, there was a bit of an age gap between her and Mr Bennett and life expectancy was considerably less than it is now. That’s why all the daughters were “out” at the same time, that’s why Mr Collins wanting to marry one of them was ideal, that’s why as soon as Mr Darcy showed himself to be proud and arrogant and unwilling to marry any of her daughters because they were beneath him, she didn’t bother wasting energy being nice to him (by a certain age, you have have fewer f***s to give). Jane Austen was quite young when she wrote the book and I feel was probably a tad unfair in her characterisation of an older woman who knew how the mechanics of society worked and needed to make sure her and her daughters didn’t lose out. I love her.
I love watching the other character's reactions to Mrs Bennett. I think that with our modern way of acting and talking, we don't *fully* understand what she's saying (--probably most people commenting here have, like me, watched this movie a hundred times--but think of how you felt the first time you saw it). The way Jane's throat tightens up, the way Mr's Bingley's sisters actually start snickering though doing so goes against everything they've been taught, the way Lydia looks thoughtful and somehow tries to sympathize, etc.)
The first thing that struck me when I first read P&P years ago was Mrs. Bennet addressing her husband as "Mr. Bennet." I wonder if it was common for married couples to address each other so formally in those days?
It’s a thing in all Austen’s books. One other that comes to mind is Mrs. Palmer in Sense and Sensibility, she always calls her husband Mr. Palmer. So maybe it was a thing.
I remember in Emma, most of the married woman addressed their husbands as Mr (last name) or their title/rank. The exception was Mrs. Elton who called her husband Mr. E. (Spoilers) When Emma was going to get married, she and Mr Knightley talked about how she would address him after marriage since she's always called him Mr Knightley. She didn't want to call him Mr K like Mrs Elton, cus she didn't like her. She also didn't feel right calling him by his first name. She did it once when she was younger to rile him up but stopped when she didn't get a reaction.
I think it depends on the couple, and how they were introduced, etc. For example in Sense and Sensibility Elinor thinks of Edward as "Edward" as that was how he was introduced, as the brother of her sister in law so there's a relation, whereas Elizabeth never thinks of Darcy as anything other than Darcy because that's how they were introduced, as strangers with formality for the names. Elinor will of course refer to Edward as "Mr. Ferrars" in public but I don't see why she'd call him that at home if that's not how she thinks of him. I think that Elizabeth would call Darcy "Darcy" in private when they're married rather than Mr. Darcy, but maybe not "Fitzwilliam". I think almost all the men would call their wives by their first names because the name they're known as during their courtship would be either their first name (Miss Elizabeth, Emma) or the maiden name that they lose upon marriage (Miss Bennet). After she accepts his proposal, Darcy starts calling her Elizabeth.
mrs bennet used to annoy me to no end, and then I realized if I had 5 daughters in those times to worry about marrying off I'd probably be stressed as hell too lol
I’m just seeing the great-great-great-great-grandmother of Pam from Gavin and Stacey when I watch Alison Steadman playing Mrs Bennet. It’s her voice, it has certain particular inflections. I think I prefer Brenda Blethyn’s version because she has a softer voice.
@@hajy1728 Jane is played by the beautiful Susannah Harker, and Miss Bingley by the famous Anna Chancellor. Your comments are making you appear as insecure as Miss Bingley speaking to Mr. Darcy.
