In defense of Mrs. Bennet

“She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper….The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.”

I begin my case by asking the jury to consider the most contemporary of settings– Silicon Valley, USA. Arguably, some of the most valuable entities created by mankind were born and continue to thrive there. HP and Cisco and Intel and Oracle– now old money, aristocracy so to say. Apple and Google and Facebook and Twitter– new money, the rat-pack. Against this backdrop, thousands of startups churn valiantly for survival, mind-share, and finally financial success via acquisition or IPO. Those who drive these enterprises are visionaries, forced to both create and sell. Their pluck, initiative, innovation, and risk-taking are universally lauded. These men are tabbed warriors, even potential leaders in the making.

Let us now transport ourselves to times when law of the land prohibited women from inheritance, and social norms limited both education and profession. To a place where the sole path to respectable survival and financial security tunneled via marriage. When absence of dowry amplified matrimonial challenge. Money wasn’t made, only transferred…to males. Against this backdrop, Mrs. Bennet finds herself in charge of five daughters (products) that she must marry off well (product placement).

Should she take the lead of the lackadaisical Mr. Bennet and sit back waiting for something good to happen…while her products lose relevance by the day? Or should she take initiative, keep close tabs on market movements, cold-call potential customers, network like crazy, and thrust her products into every available limelight?

Needless to say, Mrs. Bennett did not take Mr. Bennet’s example. She persisted valiantly (and as it turned out victoriously) from beginning to end. Mrs. Bennet’s existence, apparently grotesque and incomprehensible to many, saved her daughters. For all her efforts however, Mrs. Bennett finds herself immortalized only as a garish and pushy woman with no tact or polish. Even worse, her very motives are considered anti-modern and unworthy.

Mr. Bennet, on the other hand, is universally portrayed as a great dad. This is the hands-off parent who left his girls to do their own thing, paid absolutely no heed to their long-term security, and spent most of his time in the comfort of his study. Even when he came down to dinner, he usually took pleasure in regaling the available audience at the expense of his wife. Such a man, who tackled none of his responsibilities, the world has placed on a pedestal.

I don’t write this in the name of literary criticism as much as make social observation. We continue to hold Mrs. Bennet in disdain, and take pleasure in Mr. Bennet’s clever repartee. For some reason, we simply don’t want to hear the truth. At the same time, deep down, in places we don’t talk about at parties, we want Mrs. Bennet out there doing her job. And we keep words like pluck, initiative, innovation, and risk-taking reserved for the likes of Twitter-boys.

It’s about time that Mrs. Bennet waved the edge of her petticoat, took a bow, and roared: “I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to those who rise and sleep under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then question the manner in which I provide it! I’d rather you just said thank you and went on your way.”