Mrs Bennett - Pride and Prejudice

[EllieHJ]

I always thought she was bonkers but she was just a menopausal woman with 5 girls. I now understand the poor woman. God knows how they coped with it back in the 1700s! Any other characters who you feel were misunderstood in literature? 😂

I expect Mr Bennett was charmed by a younger Mrs B- very pretty, flirty, agrees with everything he says - after all she wants to be married herself! The pressure would have been high to get married, get away from home, and a lovely house like Longfield. Mr Bennett was quite the catch. I doubt either had much to choose from, and time would have been ticking, to get an heir and secure your house.

He couldn't divorce or behead her! So time whizzed past and suddenly he has 5 grown daughters, with no husbands and where will he live?

So, he offers an olive branch to the estranged Mr Collins - whom he had not yet met- in the form of one of his daughters. It must have seemed a very sensible solution. What a disappointment Mr Collins was for everyone!