The Humiliation

After reading the Essay by Fraiman, I found myself questioning whether or not I want to continue reading the rest of this work and find out how it ends. Fraiman basically states that the traits that drew us in and made us want to learn more about these characters and watch their development through out the story. The fact that Elizabeth will lose the charm and the sensibility that makes her a remarkable character is something that disappoints me about this novel, but there are also good points about Fraiaman's words that I found to be particularly interesting. The first thing that caught my attention when it came to this essay was how she described Mr. Bennet's role and the power that his actions actually give him. While he may not seem like a good father by the town's standpoint, Fraiman states that he is more of a "modern one". Fraiman also states that Mr. Bennet has much more power than he give him credit for. The first thing that she points out that he chose his library that is filled with the works of female writers over the social interactions with the people of the town. This describes that he has in a sense lost his interest in the ridiculousness of the constant game of marriage and trying to out due each other. The second thing that caught my attention in this description of Mr. Bennet was that he always "has the upper hand by withholding information". An example of this that we see is in the very beginning of the book when he refuses to see the "new rich man" but actually does without his wife's knowledge despite her constant desire to marry off her daughters. This to me shows just how impressive Mr. Bennet is as a character and it also reinforces the idea that the world of this novel is completely stagnant without the presence of a male character somewhere.