On Mr. Bennet
I actually think that Mr. Bennet was probably the most similar to Lydia for all that as his favourite daughter Lizzy shared his penchant for books and witticisms about other people.
The thing about Mr. Bennet is he's chiefly concerned with his own amusement, his own interests, while Mrs. Bennet panics over the entailment and what they'll do when he's dead he brushes it off and takes no action, if pushed on it he gets passive-aggressive. He's not interested in thinking about a world where he's dead or preparing for it, and while that's obviously irresponsible it's also not like that mindset's uncommon even today. Mr. Bennet doesn't save money, Mr. Bennet reads and jokes around, taking nothing seriously. Mr. Bennet is prepared to make fun of his young daughters "They are all silly and ignorant like other girls but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters" and tease his wife "You mistake me dear I have a high respect for your nerves, they are my old friends." and everyone else that he comes into contact with "For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?" "Mr. Bennetâs expectations were fully answered. His cousin was as absurd as he had hoped; and he listened to him with the keenest enjoyment, . . . and, except in an occasional glance at Elizabeth, requiring no partner in his pleasure." He amuses himself with their antics without stepping in to teach the daughters he's responsible for better 'more respectable' ways to behave especially in regards to the scenes they make in public. That's far less entertaining after all. And would require him to actually put work in rather than look down on them as an observer.
Lizzy mirrors his behaviour a lot at the start of the book in regards to making character judgements about the people around her, but her care in trying to make sure her younger sister doesn't drink too much at the ball for example is something he never would've bothered with and she learns over the course of the book to be less prideful about her 'discernment' and less liable to allow herself to be prejudiced against the people she meets based on hearsay or first impressions.
Lydia meanwhile is similarly entertaining as a member of the family early in the book and later on is revealed to be similarly selfish in what her indifference to the consequences of her choices will mean for the rest of the family, in the note explaining that she has run off with Wickham, Lydia writes âWhat a good joke it will be!â
While her sense of humour is less cynical and sarcastic than her father's the fact she places priority on what's fun rather than the right thing to do makes her a very interesting parallel. Of course this is also an indicator of her immaturity and her parents' failures to educate her properly but Lydia ends up being a foil for both her parents', the result of their enabling and neglectful parenting styles and a merging of their worst qualities/personality traits. In fact her marriage echoes their own "My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life." in how she marries thoughtlessly, for attraction rather than love. As ridiculous and inconsiderate as her mother; as passive, selfish and careless in regards to 'duty to the family' as her father and as conceited as both of them.
In the end, he jokes about how quickly his guilt for the situation will pass and he decides not to pay an allowance for her clothes or allow her to visit âI will not encourage the impudence of either, by receiving them at Longbourn.â but this is of course in line with his behaviour all throughout the book. If it's not interesting to him he either makes fun of it or avoids it. Having Lydia at Longbourne would mean facing his mistakes with her or even the similarities her marital situation shares with his own and that would be uncomfortable. Unlike Lizzy and Darcy he doesn't change himself at all despite the pressures of the situations he encounters over the course of the book, and sadly neither did Lydia. They didn't want to you see. So they didn't bother and thanks to the efforts of other people, it mostly all worked out for them. At least on the surface.
Mr and Mrs Bennet are both deeply flawed people who fail to properly prepare their daughters for adult life. Jane and Lizzy turned out alright because they were able to parent themselves decently well, which Kitty later benefits from.
Lydiaâs fate is as much her parentsâ fault as it is Wickhamâs.
