Is The Bennet Family Poor? Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice Analysis

[Subtitulada en español] Have you ever wondered if Jane Austen's Elizabeth Bennet and her family are poor? They sure seem poor sometimes. Well, in this video we'll delve into a Pride and Prejudice Analysis of the financial and social standing of the Bennet family. We'll also examine what would have happened after Jane Austen's beloved story ended. And what fate Elizabeth would have had if she hadn't married Mr Darcy and ended up an old maid in the Regency Era.

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📚 Books Mentioned

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Emma

🕰 Watching Guide
00:00 Is The Bennet Family Poor? [Intro]
00:54 The Bennets' Income
03:22 The Bennets and Social Currency
08:30 Mr Collins Will Inherit The Estate
09:24 Was Elizabeth Bennet Poor? Dowries
15:02 How Much Should The Bennet Girls Have?
19:31 The Bennets and Mr Darcy

🧐 Learn More

Austen, J., In Kinsley, J., & Lupton, C. 2020). Pride and prejudice.

Thompson, F M. L. English Landed Society in the Nineteenth Century. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2013.

Perkin, J. (2016). Women and Marriage in Nineteenth-Century England. London: Routledge.

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#janeaustenprideandprejudice #prideandprejudiceanalysis #elizabethbennet #mrdarcy #mrcollins #regencyera

[TaksAndKins]

Mr. Colins is literally that guy in your dms who keeps calling you beautiful until you reject him, and then it's "you're ugly anyway"

[nocomment]

Mrs. B is properly concerned about her future, but too stupid to make a dent, and Mr. B is clever enough to see what’s wrong with his family, but too lazy to make a difference. Truly a match made in heaven.

[ruthsteen]

The Bennets are like a modern USA family who have a nice suburban house and new cars, but didn't save any money for the kids to go to college.

[quietraindrop]

Jane Austen was a genius for making the readers love Mr Bennet for his dry wit and support of Lizzie, then flipping the script and showing us how selfish and uncaring he actually was. Longbourn entail could have been broken by applying for it. More money could have been saved for the daughters. And finally, he could have made arrangements for the eldest daughters to travel outside of their small town to try and find husbands. But Mr Bennet was content knowing that even if they ended up dirt poor after his death, HE would live and die in comfort.

[moremileyplease]

People usually gloss over how big a deal it was for Elizabeth to decline Mr. Darcy's offer of marriage. It should have doomed the entire family if Darcy wasn't so in love with her. In real life, relationships almost never survive a busted proposal.

[perdidoatlantic]

I feel like if Lizzy agreed to marry Mr. Collins the only subject he’d ever bring up is Lizzy’s lack of fortune.

[JacquelineViana]

The Bennet's aren't poor. They're just incredibly bad at handling money. Were Mr. Bennet more cautious, his daughters might have been in a much more comfortable situation.

[Paula-mplp]

The Bingleys conveniently forget about their own low connections. The Bennetts are above them in the social order. I think this is an other reason why Miss Bingley despises Lizzie so.

[VivPhotography]

The way you explain it makes me understand how irresponsible Lizzy's father was in not saving more money to add to his daughters' doweries. If he started since they were born, I'm sure he could have bumped it up to 3, 000 each. Of course, he'll live a life of luxury and comfort, but once he is gone, his daughters might not unless they marry well :(

[alicemerray]

Mr Collins is portrayed as an odious creep but now I'm older than when I first read P&P, I can admit that by attempting to marry one of the Bennet daughters he's actually trying to do a decent thing. If he *had* married Lizzie, say, on her father's death he would not only inherit Longbourn but also he'd become responsible for her mother (if living) & any still unmarried siblings. So he's sort of trying to save them from the destitution Mrs Bennet so fears. They'd still be able to live in the house, for example, as Mr Collins has the vicarage that goes with his living. He's still a social climbing little creep but he did at least attempt to do a good thing by the standards of his time. It's just a shame he chose to hit on the wrong daughter! If Mrs B hadn't implied Jane was engaged, I feel sure he would have asked her, and sadly she probably would have felt constrained to accept. And I feel sure that Mary would have been delighted to accept (& probably a good clergyman's wife).

[MandiSings]

If you have any question about whether 1, 000 pounds was a small dowery for daughters of a landed gentleman, remember that Mrs. Bennet, the daughter of a middle-class attorney, came into her marriage with 4, 000 (at least)

[marvingayefan]

A few years ago I came the conclusion that--financially speaking--Mr. Bennet was the villain of the family and Mr. Collins the hero. Mr. Bennet had, for 20 years, lived the life of landed gentry but was exceedingly irresponsible. The fact that he would lose Longbourne was no secret. And even if he did have a son, he still should have saved for gifts for the daughters when they married. "By the time we gave up hope of having a son, it was too late to start saving." Dude no. Just no. Meanwhile Mr. Collins was ready to marry one of his cousins for the *sole purpose* of being honorable and sensitive to causing them future hardship by inheriting their estate. So if Mr. Bennet predeceased Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins could move in to Longbourne, but the rest of the Bennet would not have to quit it. He may not be clever, charming or sensible, but asking Elizabeth to marry him was a stand up classy action.

[beaveloso]

I was watching P&P 2005 two days ago and I noticed that it makes the Bennets seem much poorer than they actually are compared to the 1995 bbc series. In the movie they look like a common countryside farmer family, while in the series they look like an actual upper class family. I guess that makes sense since the series is a much more faithful adaptation of the book, but I still love the movie regardless

[TVandManga]

I think the book makes it clear that Mr Bennet is as much a fool as his wife, because he hasn't provided at all and doesn't really rouse himself when he realises. Great video!

[raraavis]

Imagine a world, where having a respected lawyer and a successful businessman as uncles, is something to be ashamed of.
Whereas being an irresponsible, incompetent 'just rich enough, to not have to work' landowner is the height of respectability (baring an actual title).
Me, I would want to be a Darcy. He's famously nice to his sister, who is also a very sweet girl...I'd inherit a nice fortune and could probably pretty much marry, whoever I chose to...what's not to like?

[samwaters]

Side note, Jane Austen’s brother was richer in life than fictional Mr. Darcy

[vintagemel]

To me this really highlights Mr. Bennet's failings as a father. In marrying Mrs. Bennet his daughters were already at a disadvantage due to her connections and the amount of money she brought in to the marriage. Yet he did absolutely nothing to help them overcome that. He didn't save for them, or even bother to ensure they had proper (ladies) educations.

[cherarmstrong]

The Bennetts were basically like the modern family that has a regular house in an expensive town and a summer home in another expensive home, and all five girls have their own bedroom and own car, and the driveways fit all their cars, but no college savings... But their neighbors have three houses, a room for every kid plus guest rooms, and ample savings to send all children to college, and this is on top of the boats those families own

(Seriously, I've met people whose parents owned multiple homes in expensive towns that adamantly insisted they were middle class)

[luisab]

I think the 2005 movie really did the Bennets wrong. It gave us viewers the impression that the Bennet family was so poor they were practically farmers.

[Lucares]

I would love to see a video about the life of the "old maids" of regency / victorian society! I always felt so sorry for Miss Bates because she is so dependent on her friends and acquaintances.