Though a discerning, well-educated man, Mr. Bennet has made a bad marriage and is resigned to endure it. He is a good-hearted person, but fails his family by remaining sarcastically detached: everything is a joke to him. This leads to poor judgment, as when he does not interfere between Lydia and Wickham.
Mr. Bennet Quotes in Pride and Prejudice
The Pride and Prejudice quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Bennet or refer to Mr. Bennet. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 41
Quotes
Our importance, our respectability in the world must be affected by the wild volatility, the assurance and disdain of all restraint which mark Lydia's character. Excuse me—for I must speak plainly. If you, my dear father, will not take the trouble of checking her exuberant spirits, and of teaching her that her present pursuits are not to be the business of her life, she will soon be beyond the reach of amendment.
Related Characters:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 48
Quotes
The death of your daughter would have been a blessing in comparison of this ... They agree with me in apprehending that this false step in one daughter will be injurious to the fortunes of all the others; for who, as Lady Catherine herself condescendingly says, will connect themselves with such a family?
Chapter 57
Quotes
That is what makes it amusing. Had they fixed on any other man it would have been nothing; but his perfect indifference, and your pointed dislike, make it so delightfully absurd!
Related Characters:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 59
Quotes
I know that you could be neither happy nor respectable, unless you truly esteemed your husband; unless you looked up to him as a superior. Your lively talents would place you in the greatest danger in an unequal marriage ... My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life.
Related Characters:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Pride and Prejudice LitChart as a printable PDF.
Mr. Bennet Quotes in Pride and Prejudice
The Pride and Prejudice quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Bennet or refer to Mr. Bennet. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 41
Quotes
Our importance, our respectability in the world must be affected by the wild volatility, the assurance and disdain of all restraint which mark Lydia's character. Excuse me—for I must speak plainly. If you, my dear father, will not take the trouble of checking her exuberant spirits, and of teaching her that her present pursuits are not to be the business of her life, she will soon be beyond the reach of amendment.
Related Characters:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 48
Quotes
The death of your daughter would have been a blessing in comparison of this ... They agree with me in apprehending that this false step in one daughter will be injurious to the fortunes of all the others; for who, as Lady Catherine herself condescendingly says, will connect themselves with such a family?
Chapter 57
Quotes
That is what makes it amusing. Had they fixed on any other man it would have been nothing; but his perfect indifference, and your pointed dislike, make it so delightfully absurd!
Related Characters:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 59
Quotes
I know that you could be neither happy nor respectable, unless you truly esteemed your husband; unless you looked up to him as a superior. Your lively talents would place you in the greatest danger in an unequal marriage ... My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life.
Related Characters:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis: