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In this blog post, we discuss the main characters featured in the novel.
We will explore who the characters are related to as well as their personal characteristics.
Elizabeth Bennet is the novel’s protagonist. She is the second of five daughters at twenty-years-of-age, to Mr and Mrs Bennet, and is the most intelligent of the five. She is witty and sharp tongued, and she often lets this get in the way of her judgement. Initially prejudiced against Mr Darcy, she soon realises after spending time with him, that there is more than meets the eye.
Fitzwilliam Darcy is a wealthy gentleman of twenty-eight-years-old and the master of Pemberley (the estate where he lives). Darcy is presented as intelligent and honest, which gets the better of him at times, especially when he unintentionally insults Elizabeth. He represents the pride in the novel’s title, as he tends to look down on the lower class. Throughout the novel, he spends more time with Elizabeth and grows to admire her, despite her being of a lower class than him.
Jane Bennet is the eldest and most beautiful of Mr and Mrs Bennet’s five daughters. While she is wise, she is more gentle than Elizabeth. Her pleasantness and beauty is what catches the attention of Mr Bingley.
Charles Bingley is the best friend of Mr Darcy, and is very wealthy. In the events of the novel, he has just purchased an estate near the Bennets called ‘Netherfield’. He is a kind gentleman with good intentions, and is easygoing and does not care for social class, compared to Mr Darcy’s blunt personality and judgment of class.
Mr Bennet is the head of the household - the patriarch. He is a gentleman with an average income, and his five young daughters are all unmarried. His sense of humour is very sarcastic, which he uses to purposefully annoy Mrs Bennet. He dearly loves his daughters, especially Elizabeth.
Mrs Bennet is obsessed with marrying off her daughters. She is presented as noisy and obnoxious, and her need to marry off her daughters to wealthy family stems from her own poor and lower class upbringing. Because of her behaviour, she tends to repel any suitors that wish to court her daughters.
Mary Bennet is the middle child, whose personality is bookish and precise.
Catherine ‘Kitty’ Bennet is the fourth Bennet sister and is very much like Lydia, the youngest, in the sense that she girlishly swoons over soldiers.
Lydia Bennet is the youngest Bennet sister, who is everything Mrs Bennet wants in a daughter, as she is gossipy, narcissistic, and immature. The complete opposite of Elizabeth, she ends up running away with Wickham and eloping.
George Wickham is a handsome, money hungry military officer, whose good looks and charm attract Elizabeth. However, once his dark past and bad blood with Mr Darcy has been revealed, Elizabeth realises his dark intentions.
Mr Collins is portrayed as a pompous, socially unaware and blissfully ignorant man who wishes to inherit Mr Bennet’s estate. His social status is average, but constantly behaves snobbishly. He wishes to propose to Elizabeth, but she rejects him, having witnessed him make sexist claims.
Charlotte Lucas is Elizabeth’s best friend. She is simple and realistic, compared to Elizabeth’s romantic outlook, and is six years older than Elizabeth. Charlotte does not see love as an important part of marriage, so she enters into a loveless engagement with Mr Collins, knowing that it will grant her security in life.
Georgiana Darcy is Mr Darcy’s younger sister - more than ten years his junior. She is very pretty, but very shy. She is skilled at playing the pianoforte, and has an unfortunate history with Wickham, resulting in the feud between him and Mr Darcy.
For those who prefer watching the film or listening to audio books, here is a link to a read through of the play by a celebrity cast [TIMESTAMP 12:30]: "Pride and Prejudice" Feat. Jacob Elordi, Melissa Barrera, Madelaine Petsch Dir. by Brando Crawford
Stay tuned for the final part of our Pride and Prejudice crash course series.
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