Something interesting for me this reread is how much earlier I found Mr. Bennet to be so lacking as a parent. Normally it is here where, as you point out, the failings really come out, but I was struck by his manner of talking to his children (you’re two of the silliest girls in the country) and lack of consideration for his wife (we have a guest coming today to stay with us who live never met-hope you’re ready to host!). I think being a wife/Mom is definitely altering my views of the Bennet parents the older I get-there’s a lot more tragedy/sadness behind the humor than I got as a teen/young adult reading Austen. Also the description of how the Bennet parents ended up together definitely parallels how Wickham gets stuck with Lydia-she appears to be fun/good humored (and from appearances it would seem her family won’t make a fuss about their situation) but on both counts he’ll be wrong.
Something interesting for me this reread is how much earlier I found Mr. Bennet to be so lacking as a parent. Normally it is here where, as you point out, the failings really come out, but I was struck by his manner of talking to his children (you’re two of the silliest girls in the country) and lack of consideration for his wife (we have a guest coming today to stay with us who live never met-hope you’re ready to host!). I think being a wife/Mom is definitely altering my views of the Bennet parents the older I get-there’s a lot more tragedy/sadness behind the humor than I got as a teen/young adult reading Austen. Also the description of how the Bennet parents ended up together definitely parallels how Wickham gets stuck with Lydia-she appears to be fun/good humored (and from appearances it would seem her family won’t make a fuss about their situation) but on both counts he’ll be wrong.