How Jane Austen Lets Patriarchy Embarrass Itself through Minor Characters
- Katy Landres
- 10 hours ago
- 6 min read
How many times have we all sighed and rolled our eyes as Mr. Collins opens his mouth to interject himself into the conversation: "Here we go again."
But what if Mr. Collins' interjections are more than a minor annoyance in the grander that is Pride and Prejudice? Or like Mr. Bennet, who seems to check out of every conversation unless it pertains to his daughter's feelings, or his moral compass? Or is Mrs. Bennet not as cruel as we all think she is to her daughters, which she is, but that she is the messenger of many of Austen's personal critiques and realism of the social world? What if Austen's most annoying characters from Pride and Prejudice are presenting her sharpest social commentary?
Our beloved writer, Ms. Jane Austen, with wit and sometimes the most annoying characters in her novels, we find truth about many things: social status, gender norms, and even patriarchy. Having lived in a world where women's primary form of security depended on marriage, men who favored some inheritance and social decency, personal happiness was not at the forefront. She had a keen eye for details and observed the world around her to understand this social system and the expectations before her; however, instead of making grand speeches arguing about such issues, Austen let her characters do the talking and let patriarchy embarrass itself.
Now, of course, we hear some of this wit and strength coming from some of our leading characters, such as Elizabeth Bennet, Emma Woodhouse, and Anne Elliot: our scene stealers. However, her most irritating characters, such as Mr. Collins and Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, take the cake, as they are neither the leads nor the villains; they are supporting roles. They are confident, certain, and earnest with their intentions as they truly believe they are doing everything right. This is what makes moments in Pride and Prejudice funny but shows us how patriarchy actually works in practice: it can be awkward, unjust, and quite often at the expense of those who want to uphold it. So, hello, and welcome to Austen's Critique of Patriarchy: today, we have Mr. Collins and Mr. and Mrs. Bennet.
Cringe, Mr. Collins
Let's jump into the obvious one first: Mr. Collins. Readers are first introduced to this proper pilgrim who embarrasses himself every chance he gets because he seeks to be part of everything. He wants to be a part of a properly functioning society through his obsession with rank, having an established career, and a household, including a wife. When he comes to the Bennet house to ensure the stability of the Bennet daughters, he seeks a wife among one of his cousins as a charitable act to prevent the family from becoming destitute if Mr. Bennet were to die, leaving the woman with nothing. This was the case for many women of the time, where a man had to come in and save them. Mr. Collins wants to help and says all this with a sense of sincerity, right?
Well, that is the joke; he simply represents the patriarchal authority backed by the inheritance law, gender roles, and social hierarchy of the time period. Austen shows how it drains Collins of his making, making him and the system look ridiculous. Collins has power, yes, but no perception, emotional attachment, or the ability to read a room.
If patriarchy were noble, wise, and genuine, would it sound like this?
Mr. Bennet, Who Thinks He's Above It All
Now, Mr. Bennet is quite different; many of us are fond of him. Personally, I love Mr. Bennet because of his wittiness, sees through the bull shit, and his sarcastic moments in P&P are perfectly timed. However, Austen is able to use Mr. Bennet as another perspective on patriarchy: the above-it-all mentality.
From the moment we meet Mr. Bennet, tending to his garden, his library to read or study insects, we notice that he has completely checked out. He wants nothing to do with society, as Lizzy says to Lady Catherine when asked how often the family goes to town, meaning London, her response is, "We don't go. My father hates town." Even when it comes to ensuring the girls are taken care of, and considering the potential consequences of something happening to him, as well as Mrs. Bennet's constant pressure to have him introduce the Bennet sisters to others in society, we see that he even dislikes the marriage market. He mocks it but refuses to show fatherly protection of his daughters, like when Lydia goes off with the Foresters and gets swept away by Wickham. Only then do we see him step up to the plate to defend his daughters, but only to have something terrible happen.
But his irony becomes an excuse for the lack of action, and his amusement leaves real consequences for the women around him, especially his daughters. Poor Lydia.
Austen isn't saying patriarchy, which normally is connected to being loud, overbearing, and brazen, but that sometimes it fails because someone has decided not to take their responsibilities seriously. Thanks for checking out, Mr. Bennet. We all see how that helped.
Mrs. Bennet: Don't Laugh at the Messenger.
However, there is always the other side of the spectrum: the loud, overbearing, brazen, and sometimes the one who is right…is she always right? I'm talking about Mrs. Bennet, our frequently quoted and often dismissed fool that is the Bennet matriarch. I can't count how many times I have rolled my eyes or given the annoyance sigh when Mrs. Bennet has either pushed her girls into situations that they aren't prepared for, or is being overly gossipy to the point of embarrassment. Although we may get frustrated with this individual, the truth is that Mrs. Bennet understands it. She understands what is at stake here and that her daughters are in trouble. There is no inheritance to speak of, and their only future is to marry and marry well. The reason behind her frantic episodes is that the system has given her plenty of reasons to.
Having her eldest daughters, Jane and Lizzy, unmarried, she begins allowing Lydia, Mary, and Kitty to go out in search of companionship, in hopes that one of them will find a husband. She wants to ensure that they are cared for and that she is too. What makes this all sound so ridiculous is that Mrs. Bennet takes patriarchy very seriously in comparison to her husband, who has completely checked out. This is because the system itself is ridiculous.
Moments with Mrs. Bennet may be annoying, but Austen allows us to laugh while also reminding us of the seriousness and desperation that these women face. Pride and Prejudice never proves Mrs. Bennet wrong about the dangers and unseen future that her daughters face, but rather highlights the cruelty of society towards women, which left them in a state of panic, while men were able to joke.
Takeaways
Through these minor characters, Austen illustrates how a system built on inheritance, driven by gender (primarily men), and unrealistic social expectations fails to protect people, especially women, who are disproportionately affected by it. What is scary is that this isn't too far off from what we still experience in the modern day. A person who benefits from the system and says it's perfect when it is flawed. A person of authority who chooses to remain neutral is only adding to the problem. Someone who is seen as "too much" when all they are doing is responding to real societal pressures. Austen's social observations and commentary remain highly relevant today.
Whether we are eye-rolling over Mr. Collins launching into a speech, or Mrs. Bennet panicking at full volume, we find laughter. Austen knew what she was doing when she included these characters: they weren't filler, but her own silent critiques. She was laughing the whole time. Here's to the pompous idiot, that is Mr. Collins, and the disengaged Mr. Bennet fanning an anxious riddle Mrs. Bennet.
The focus novel for next year's symposium is Pride and Prejudice. JASP 2026 will mark an exciting new chapter as the fun moves to Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Next year's program, titled “Pride, Prejudice, and the Pursuit of Happiness” invites participants to consider Jane Austen’s novels within the wider historical, cultural, and intellectual currents of her age. By situating Austen in the contexts of the Enlightenment and the broader revolutionary era on both sides of the Atlantic, we will explore how her fiction resonates with questions of liberty, independence, and human flourishing.
The 2026 program will feature both new attractions and beloved JASP traditions. Attendees will visit Fort Ligonier, a significant site in eighteenth-century global conflict, with opportunities to tour its museum and art gallery. At Seton Hill itself, participants will gather in the historic Cecilian Hall and elegant parlors for the hallmarks of JASP: stimulating discussions, community learning, and our much-anticipated Regency Ball.
We are also thrilled to welcome Juliette Wells, Anne Fertig, Maria Frawley, and Michael Kramp as our 2026 plenary speakers, who will bring fresh insights into Austen’s works and their connections to the American Revolution, and the new republic to which it gave birth. With its new historic setting in western Pennsylvania and rich thematic focus, JASP 2026 promises to be a vibrant celebration of Austen’s world and its enduring resonance in our own.