Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

inability to comprehend inheritance and settlement
language. The more she talks, the less she says, and the
more she silences her husband.
Mr. Bennet's conduct may be reprehensible in Mrs.
Bennet' s and many readersf eyes, but much of his demeanor
and action comes from the entail. His life is a product
of his marriage settlement. In Meryton, Mr. Bennet is
alone in having inherited an estate. He spends his days
secluded in his study. He is in command of the language
of inheritance, but he is unable to use it. David Nokes
writes that Pride and Prejudice is a novel "in which one
character misapprehends the character of another, on the
basis of false first impressions" (432). Despite his
rapport with Elizabeth, Mr. Bennet has been
"misapprehended" by Mrs. Bennet and his five daughters
because the language of inheritance has made it
impossible to create the proper first or lasting
impression.
Austen tells us Mr. Bennet misses Elizabeth after
her marriage to Darcy, and his affection for her "drew
him oftener from home than any thing else could do; he
delighted in going to Pemberley" (310) . Mr. Bennet knows
that Darcy speaks his language, and he is unique among
the characters in his life to understand his position.