Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mrs. Bennet, and Miss Caroline Bingley

As I read the dinner party scene at Rosings, I realized that Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mrs. Bennet, and Miss Caroline Bingley are similar. Mrs. Bennet gossips constantly and can be rude in public, without meaning to be. Miss Caroline Bingley pretends to be a nice person, but consistently berates the Bennets behind their back. Lady Catherine de Bourgh is also coarse and rude, but she believes that she can get away with berating people to their face because of her wealth and status. Lady Catherine talks about her belief that all women should be able to play the piano well and proceeds to say, “I have told Miss Bennet several times, that she will never play really well, unless she practices more” (115). Clearly, Darcy did not think that Lady Catherine’s wealth and status excused her statements: “Mr. Darcy looked a little ashamed of his aunt’s ill breeding” (115). Lady Catherine is outright and speaks directly to the person that she is criticizing, but Mrs. Bennet and Miss Caroline Bingley gossip about people when they are not around. That does not mean that others are approving (besides Mrs. Hurst), but they are relatively less likely to embarrass their families.