We had a student-led presentation centered on this question: "Considering the family's treatment of Lydia in her life, who bears ultimate responsibility for Lydia's situation with Wickham?"
The students constructed a "blame chart" in which we explored Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet, the other Bennet women, Lydia, and Wickham. We examined moments in the text in which all of these characters share blame, but ultimately, the class blamed Mrs. Bennet. Though she tries to do the right thing by arranging advantageous marriages for her daughters while her husband retreats with his books into his library, Mrs. Bennet fails to detect any red flags about her youngest daughter's behavior in relation to the officers in the regiment.
Lydia's letter is the biggest indictment of the Bennets' poor parenting. Everything to Lydia is a joke. While her father and elder sisters agonize over her fate and what could befall the family, Lydia concerns herself with the trivial matter of her clothes and her new name, Lydia Wickham.
Next week is our last week of Pride and Prejudice. We plan on dressing in fine clothes and having a tea party on Tuesday. I shall bake my world-famous scones (in my household, anyway) and perhaps provide marmalade and clotted cream. I was a confirmed American Literature guy when I first arrived at Branson in 1994, but teaching primarily British Literature in recent years has transformed me. Jolly good.
We'll try to upload some video too.
No comments:
Post a Comment