Absolutely! Mrs. Bennet is saved from being condemned
solely as a flighty, social climbing scatterbrain through the love she has for her
family. Austen is a master of character, which means that she sees all aspects of a
person, and doesn't leave him or her to be received by the reader as a two-dimensional
cartoon.
Mrs. Bennet is redeemed because, in her own mind,
all her worry and striving for position is for the good of her girls, her family. Even
today, mothers are often caught up in worry and over concern for the welfare of their
children.
In Austen's day, a house full of daughters was of
real importance and concern for a family. The girls needed to be married and to marry
well, and how they were received in society would tell all about their future
prospects. So, in the same way that parents worry today about what college a child
might get in to, even beginning to think about this when their child is only 5 or 6, the
Bennets had to consider the prospects of marriage for their daughters. It was vital to
whether their daughters would have a "successful"
future.
So, if it is possible to justify at least some of
Mrs. Bennet's point of view as genuine parental concern, then it might be a bit easier
to see that, in essence, she is acting from love.
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