Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - CHARACTERS

*** ELIZABETH BENNET

• Second daughter in the Bennet family.
• Most intelligent and quick witted.
• Elizabeth is the protagonist of Pride and Prejudice.
• One of the most well known characters in English literature.
• She is lovely, clever and in a novel defined by dialogue, she converses as brilliantly as anyone.
• Her honesty, virtue and lively wit enable her to rise above the nonsense and bad behavior that pervade her class bound and often spiteful society: her sharp tongue and tendency to make hasty judgments often lead her astray.
• Hopeless mother, a distant father, two badly behaved younger siblings.
• Over came her own mistaken impression of Darcy.
• Her charms are sufficient to keep him interested.
• Even though she rejected Darcy's proposal earlier.
• She realizes the error of her initial prejudice against him.

*** FITZWILLIAM DARCY

• Wealthy, well established family.
• Master of the great estate of Pemberly.
• Intelligent and forthright, he too has a tendency to judge too hastily and harshly.
• High birth and wealth make him overly proud and overly conscious of his social status.
• Her rejection of his advances builds a kind of humility in him.
• Darcy demonstrates his continued devotion to Elizabeth.
• He rescues Lydia and the entire Bennet family from disgrace.
• Darcy proves himself  worthy of Elizabeth.

*** BENNET / BINGLEY

• Jane and Bingley engage in a courtship that occupies a central place in the novel.
• They can be described together: both are cheerful, friendly and good natured, always ready to think the best of others.
• They lack entirely the prickly egotism of Elizabeth and Darcy.
• Their principal characteristics are goodwill and compatibility.

*** Mrs. BENNET

• Miraculously tiresome character.
• Noisy and foolish (weak understanding, little information and uncertain temper).
• She is a woman consumed by the desire to see her daughters married and seems to care for nothing else in the world.
• Austen uses her continually to highlight the necessity of marriage for young women.
• Serves as a middle class counterpoint to upper class snobs demonstrating that foolishness can be found at every level of society. 
• Vulgar, mean and narrow minded - unrefined and coarse.

*** Mr. BENNET

• Patriarch of the Bennet household.
• Driven to exasperation by his ridiculous wife and difficult daughters.
• Closest to Elizabeth - they are the two most intelligent Bennets.
• He is a weak father and at critical moments fails his family.
• His foolish indulgence of Lydia's immature behavior.
• Mr. Bennet would rather withdraw from the world than getting caught with it.