INTP 9w8 Characters

Mr. Bennet is very dry-humored and analytical, often making fun of things by pointing out the absurdities of them, and reasoning out what they should do. He is aghast and rather horrified that most of his daughter haven’t two brain cells to rub between them (minus Jane and Lizzie), and constantly references that fact when lamenting that he has a house full of silly creatures. But he is quite rational, knowing that Wickham is a fool if he didn’t demand at least ten thousand pounds to marry Lydia, wondering how he is going to pay it all back, arguing with his wife about how the English law works in terms of leaving his estate to Mr. Collins, and so forth. Like Lizzie, he is intuitive and insightful into others and their motivations, more so than his wife; but unlike Lizzie, none of his views are fixed. He changes his mind quite often, refusing to let Lydia leave for Brighton and then permitting it; feeling one way about Wickham and then arguing the opposite; seeing the good and the bad in everyone and everything. He is most content at home, and with his books and the details of his life, but also bases a lot of his assumptions on how things have personally affected him or his loved ones. His inferior Fe rears up to provoke trouble with his wife, get a rise out of her, and withhold things from her, to see what she will do about it, without really allowing her feelings to affect him in any meaningful fashion. Mr. Bennet is likable, but also rather callous about his family’s feelings—his teasing is often taken amiss or offends his wife, who descends into hysterics, prompting him to roll his eyes or retreat into the solitude of his library.

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Mr. Bennet is in many ways a troll around his house; he doesn’t want his wife too upset, but also doesn’t mind making her upset, by showing a general disinterest in whatever she values, in favor of doing things on his own time. Rather than allow her to dictate what he does, he chooses to visit Bingley at a separate time, to establish his separation from his wife (passive-aggression). He often lets her flies into hysterics and then gets tired of it after a bit, and diffuses it by telling her the truth about what he did… or just by leaving all the “silly girls” to “simper and be absurd” while he ignores them all by reading books in his library. He is also changeable in his moods, one minute insisting that he will never let Wickham into the house again, and the next scene, inviting him inside, then remarking rather sarcastically that everyone in the district ought to be envious of his new son in law, who “simpers and charms” with the best of them. He moves between indifference and ignoring things and angrily asserting himself quite often, including upsetting Kitty by refusing to let her go anywhere for at least ten years (hyperbole) and then promising her a nice outing at the end of it.