Notes

First impressions of the Bennet household as characters and as a unit looking closely at chapters 1 and 2

Jane Austen opens pride and prejudice with a line that immediately focuses in on the social frame of the novel which that "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife" women were seen as an object in this time and they were seen as the lower class. Austen seems to have a very critical of the world.
It is also
sown that marriage will be a central part in this novel.

We quickly learn that Mrs Bennet is a woman who wants everything for her daughters and her only ambition is to see her daughters married. When she hears of the new bachelor Mr Bingley coming to Netherfield she is very intrigued exclaiming "A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!" how wonderful this is. Mrs Bennet has a high opinion of herself and her family believing "it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them" that this 'Mr Bingley' will see how handsome they are. Although we do see that Mrs Bennet is harsh about her daughter Elizabeth saying that "Lizzy is not a bit better than the others; and I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half as good- humoured as Lydia". This is not motherly like to criticize your own daughter and pick out faults in them. Mrs Bennet does this without realising it was offensive to Elizabeth. This is where Mr and Mrs Bennet are polar opposites, they both have favourites. Lydia is Mrs Bennet's favourite and Elizabeth is Mr Bennet favourite we see this when he describes that his other daughters are "all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters". Mr Bennet thinks Elizabeth will have success and is a very bold person which he sees as a very encourageable trait.
Mr Bennet and Mrs Bennet show similarity here as they both criticize their own flesh and blood without any thought. They both have a favourite child which means that most likely that each of them invest most of their time into that child.

Mr Bennet is quite an disinterested character and this is shown straightaway in chapters in 1 and 2. He deliberately teases his wife when she is so wanting him to meet 'Mr Bingley'. He thinks her opinions are quite silly. Mrs Bennet gets frustrated when she feels they should simply be on the same wavelength describing "how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them" is it tiresome that he never thinks of marriage for his daughters. He deliberately teases her that he will not go see Mr Bingley, it seems he is purposely trying to provoke a reaction.