Elizabeth Bennet
“There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.”
Elizabeth Bennet is not like the average girl in the Regency Era. She is best described as clever, intelligent, and opinionated which can be seen through her quick-witted dialogue throughout the novel. Elizabeth's expressive eyes and good sense perhaps stem from her upbringing which revolved around a proper education, enforced not so much by her mother, but by her father making her his most precious daughter. Although Elizabeth has admirable qualities, her stubbornness and tendency to make hasty judgments often lead her astray. Elizabeth's prejudice blinds her from seeing the true nature of people including Darcy and especially Wickham; In the novel, Elizabeth is essentially faced to overcome her mistaken impressions of people in order to successfully find romantic happiness. |
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Fitzwilliam Darcy
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“My object then," replied Darcy, "was to show you, by every civility in my power, that I was not so mean as to resent the past; and I hoped to obtain your forgiveness, to lessen your ill opinion, by letting you see that your reproofs had been attended to. How soon any other wishes introduced themselves I can hardly tell, but I believe in about half an hour after I had seen you.”
Mr. Darcy is the son of a well-established family and the master of his acclaimed estate, Pemberley. Like Elizabeth, Darcy is intelligent and prejudiced; however, his pride and haughtiness are traits that most often offend people throughout the novel. Because of his social superiority, Darcy is arrogant and snobbish, but also exhibits good traits including his ideal of nobility. In addition to this, he prioritizes family and friends which can be seen by his devotion to his sister and respect for his tenants. After Elizabeth rejects Darcy's hand in marriage and explains that he is ungentlemanly, Darcy realizes how assuming he has been and changes his personality to prove himself worthy to Elizabeth, a woman that he believes he is in love with. |
Jane Bennet
"My dear Jane!'' exclaimed Elizabeth, "you are too good. Your sweetness and disinterestedness are really angelic; I do not know what to say to you. I feel as if I had never done you justice, or loved you as you deserve.''
Jane Bennet is the oldest of the Bennet daughters and is known as the person who "never sees a fault in anybody." Out of all the Bennet sisters, Jane holds a closer relationship with Elizabeth perhaps because they are alike in their outlooks and goals in life. Throughout the novel, Jane exhibits good qualities: sweet, friendly, compassionate, and well-mannered. We would think these qualities are harmless, but in fact, her shyness and goodness essentially hinders her chances with Bingley; she was too kind to everyone which made it difficult for Darcy and Bingley to pick out her feelings for Bingley. Jane plays a significant role in the novel because she was Elizabeth's confidant in considering the positives in negative situations. Jane's nature and personality is what allowed Elizabeth to have a change of heart in the negative impressions she holds of people and to not be so prejudiced against them. |
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Mr. Bingley
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"He is just what a young man ought to be … sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners!—so much ease, with such perfect good breeding!"
Mr. Bingley can be described as the male version of Jane Bennet. They are both kind and compassionate people who are in fact perfect for each other. When they first meet at a ball in Meryton, Jane and Bingley held a mutual attraction towards each other, but of course being shy individuals concealed these feelings. Because Jane did not show any signs of affection towards Bingley, Darcy convinced him to give up his pursuit of Jane with the intentions of helping his friend do what was best. Bingley being loyal and trusting, was easily convinced by his old time friend and agreed to leave for London. Out of all the characters in the novel, Jane and Bingley are both humble and unprejudiced and in the end find their romantic happiness with each other. |
Mr. Wickham
“Mr. Wickham is blessed with such happy manners as may ensure his making friends - whether he may be equally capable of retaining them is less certain.”
Many women, including Elizabeth, are blinded by Wickham's charm and good looks but what they don't realize is his bad history and deceiving nature. Wickham's behavior throughout the novel portrays him as a gamblers who disregards his debts and cowardly runs away from his problems. Like Elizabeth, Wickham uses his ability to read people; however, uses his knowledge to his advantage. For instance, when he discovers Elizabeth's disliking of Mr. Darcy he capitalizes on her dislike to gain her sympathies. In addition to this, he deceives Lydia into believing that he is madly in love with her in order to use her for his personal benefit. |
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Lydia Bennet
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"Lydia, self-willed and careless, would scarcely give [Elizabeth and Jane] a hearing. [Lydia and Catherine] were ignorant, idle, and vain. While there was an officer in Meryton, they would flirt with him; and whiles Meryton was within a walk of Longbourn, they would be going there for ever."
Lydia is the youngest of the Bennet sisters and the most reckless and ill mannered one. She is flirtatious with men and is boy crazed when it comes to men in uniforms. In contrast to Elizabeth and Jane, Lydia most takes after her mother who disregards education and prioritizes marriage. Lydia's reckless character leads to nearly tarnishing the family reputation after she eloped with Wickham. She is naive to believe that he is the love of her life and Elizabeth, as compassionate as she is, blames herself for this unfortunate occurrence for not revealing Wickham's true nature. |
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet
"Mr. Bennet, how can you abuse your own children in such way? You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves.'' -Mrs. Bennet
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are an ironic couple considering their personalities are polar opposites. Mrs. Bennet is your typical woman in the Regency Era who prioritizes marriage above all. She disregards a proper education and even health which is seen when she practically forces Jane to ride horseback in the pouring rain to the Bingley residence in order to pursue Mr. Bingley. In addition to this, throughout the novel Mrs. Bennet is constantly complaining to Mr. Bennet about their daughters and their futures. In contrast, Mr. Bennet likes to keep to himself in his humble abode, the library. Mr. Bennet seems to always have to put up with Mrs. Bennet's complaints and seems exhausted by them. We see that Mr. Bennet is not necessarily supportive of Mrs. Bennet's and her values by when he sides with Elizabeth regarding the marriage proposal from Mr Collins. Either the Bennet's marriage was perhaps arranged or they were so blinded by love to see each other's true personalities, making their marriage rather mismatched. |
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Lady Catherine De Bourgh
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Lady Catherine is Mr. Darcy's arrogant and domineering aunt, who always gets her way and cannot stand people who disagree with her. Like most wealthy individuals, Lady Catherine cares greatly about her her reputation and social standing. In fact, when she hears about Darcy's engagement with Elizabeth, she comes all the way from her estate to Longbourn, to confront Elizabeth about this news and mentions that she would "pollute" the "shades of Pemberley" by marrying Darcy. Lady Catherine was essentially a representation of the higher social class and its stringent belief in marrying up and not down. Furthermore, she served as one of the many obstacles for Darcy and Elizabeth to realize their love for one another. |