Mr Bennet's sarcasm

[Billie_Bumble]

When Mr Bennet refers to Wickham as being the favourite of his three son-in-laws, I assumed it was his usual sarcastic wit as he has no reason whatsoever to favour Wickham.
I have noticed that some people take Mr Bennet at his word and think that Wickham is his favourite. What does everyone else think?

[DoinIt4Soul]

It is most certainly sarcasm! Austen makes reference to this side of his nature as being honed by his wife's intellectual 'limitations' and the behaviour of Lydia and Kitty

[Billie_Bumble]

Yes, that's what I thought. Thanks for your view.

[Mrs Dickens]

I think Mr Bennets true favourite is Mr Darcy. Not because of Mr Darcy's wealth, but what Mr Darcy did for Lydia and Wickham, and especially for the reason WHY... Lizzie was his favourite and Mr Darcy did what he did for the love of Lizzie, that alone would make Mr Darcy, Mr Bennet's favourite.

I also think that in time Mr Darcy and Mr Bennet would have gotten on really well. In the infamous letter that Darcy wrote to Lizzie he said 'as much as it pains me to say this; even your father' or something like that...

So, yes when he says that Wickham is his favourite I think that's jesting.

[Lulabelli]

Just to totally agree with the above statements-
Mr Bennett is defintely one of the most sarcastic characters in the book- something that the rather stupid Mrs Bennet is unable to understand. Her changeable ideas just play on Mr Bennett's sense of humour further- only the intellectually superior daughters, Jane and Elizabeth would comprehend him fully. Which, consequently, makes him one of the most witty characters as well.

[Billie_Bumble]

Thank you for replying, I'm very interested in your opinions. Mr Bennet was my favourite character as some of the things he had to say made me laugh out loud. I wanted to be sure I had the right opinion of him.

[Monkey Boo]

Thank you so much for writing about this. When I read that part I thought there was no way Mr. Bennet actually felt that way and I was pretty sure Austin meant it to be sarcasm but she never wrote that straight out so I was afraid I was wrong. Yes, subtlety is often lost on me. Well, I'm glad you all agree it was sarcasm.

[Billie_Bumble]

Thanks for your reply, Monkey Boo. I agree that some of the sarcasm was so subtle that it's easy to miss. My confusion came when I noticed someone had written that Wickham was Mr. Bennet's favourite character and I thought...Surely not... I'm pleased no one else seems to think so.

[sciencefan]

When Mr Bennet refers to Wickham as being the favourite of his three son-in-laws, I assumed it was his usual sarcastic wit as he has no reason whatsoever to favour Wickham.
I have noticed that some people take Mr Bennet at his word and think that Wickham is his favourite. What does everyone else think?

I believe that Mr. Bennet and Lizzie shared a similar love of finding people ridiculous.
In Mr. Wickham, they will never be at a loss for something to laugh at.