Discussion questions – Pride and Prejudice: Giving special attention to Wickham, Charlotte Lucas

2.Discuss the relationship between Mrs. Bennet and her children, especially Elizabeth and Lydia.

Mrs. Bennet is was not the best mother we can think of in literature. She had a tendency to whine and not fix, to demand and not support, and to complaint excessively in the hopes that her daughters would be have as she wanted them to, in order to land themselves a good husband. Like many mothers over the centuries, Mrs. Bennet failed to understand that her daughters’ world was a different world than the one she grew up in, and this problem was exacerbated by Elizabeth, who is more like her father than any of the other girls. As we see, Mrs. Bennet doesn’t understand Mr. Bennet at all.  Mrs. Bennet loves Lydia more than Elizy because she is a foolish and frivolous woman as her mother.

3. Compare and contrast the Bingley-Darcy relationship with the Jane-Elizabeth relationship.

Bingley and Jane are secondary while Darcy and Elizabeth are primary. The interesting paradox (seeming contradiction between truth and what is) is that the two secondary individuals teach the two primary ones lessons and are proven correct in situations where the primaries are proven incorrect. Bingley-Darcy relationship is more of a respect. I get the feeling that the shy, amiable Bingley is a little awed, if not scared sometimes, of Darcy, who is much more proud and haughty. I think this difference in personality balances the friendship. The Elizabeth-Jane relationship is more intimate because they’re sisters and they’re really close. They turn to each other for advice and confide in one another. Even though their personalities are also different, I think Jane and Elizabeth look to each other as equals, unlike the Bingley-Darcy relationship where I think Darcy holds more respect.