Replying generally to a few points Harvey, to avoid starting a new thread. Hope you don't mind.
So with the above points in mind, who would be Mr Bennet? (-:
The year is 2013 (or so) in a country village. (
In 1820 there were less than 130,000 people in the whole county, an area of 720 square miles. Today, there are over a million in the same area.) Hardly London, Bath or the seaside resorts was it?
Allowing his children to run wild? In Meryton, a place with an assembly every full moon, and ogling a few soldiers in daylight but never being out alone after dark( or in daylight for that matter) ? Should he smack their legs with a baking spoon maybe, or ground them during daylight hours, stop them from going for walks or window-shopping, or maybe ban then from visiting Aunt Phillips or going to the library? Should he make lives even more unpleasant by constantly battling with Mrs Bennet's "
it's only for spending" attitude, or have his daughters unable to compete with others on the fashion scene? There are several instances of Mr Bennet's temper shown in P&P, thankfully few and with just cause, is that how five girls would have their father? Is that the sort of father they needed? And how on earth could he put £1,000 a year away when the family were spending double that for normal purposes? Money, he has enough to manage himself and his family of six in the short term (ie, whilst he's alive) but not to save. Not he a Mr Darcy or Bingley who are heroic in the story on the backs of left fortunes from wealthy fathers. Not even a sensible Mr Gardiner then, who appears a rather wealthy merchant, or a Sir William also comfortable from trade. Mr Bennet got an entailed estate that Mr Collins will own when he dies.
Is Mr Bennet then a man surrounded by perfect people in a perfect world? Is he servile and foolish like Mr Collins, ( heir apparent to Longbourne estate) self-important like Sir William Lucas, (Owner of Lucas Lodge) mega rich like Darcy or Bingley, or smelling of port like Mr Phillips? Should he have insisted Lizzie marry a foolish man she couldn't respect, never mind love? Is he a drinker, gambler or fornicator like Wickham for instance?
Is he even proud, arrogant, rude and pompous like Darcy who eventually wins the laurel wreath?
Mr Bennet is not a perfect person by a long chalk. Who is? He's complacent, too easy-going and prone to leave them all to it and retire to his library at times, but a bad guy? Not if you compare him with the rest. These are all my reasons for saying Mr B is on the road to nowhere, saved only and eventually by his daughter's library. (-:
