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Main characters

• Elizabeth Bennet is the main female protagonist. The reader sees the unfolding plot and the other characters mostly from her viewpoint.^[6] The second of the Bennet daughters at twenty years old, she is portrayed as intelligent, lively, attractive, and witty, with her faults being a tendency to judge on first impressions and perhaps being a little selective of the evidence she uses to base her judgments upon. As the plot begins, her closest relationships are with her father, her sister Jane, her aunt Mrs Gardiner, and her neighbour Charlotte Lucas.

• Fitzwilliam Darcy is the main male protagonist. Twenty-eight years old and unmarried, Darcy is the wealthy owner of the famously superior estate Pemberley in Derbyshire. Portrayed as handsome, tall, and intelligent, but not convivial, his concern with decorum and moral rectitude is seen by many as an excessive concern for social status. He makes a poor impression on strangers, such as the people of Meryton, but is valued by those who know him well.

• Mr Bennet has a wife and five daughters. Portrayed as a bookish and intelligent man somewhat withdrawn from society and one who dislikes the frivolity of his wife and three younger daughters, he offers nothing but mockery by way of correction. Rather than trying to lead his younger daughters down a more sensible path, he is rather content to laugh at them. His relationship with his two eldest daughters Jane and Elizabeth is much better and he appears to love and respect them far more than his wife and three younger daughters.

• Mrs Bennet is the wife of Mr Bennet and mother of Elizabeth and her sisters. She is frivolous, excitable, and narrow-minded. She is susceptible to attacks of tremors and palpitations; her public manners and obsession with social climbing are embarrassing to Jane and Elizabeth. Her favourite daughter is the youngest, Lydia.

• Jane Bennet is the eldest Bennet sister. Twenty-two years old when the novel begins, she is considered the most beautiful young lady in the neighbourhood. Her character is contrasted with Elizabeth's as sweeter, shyer, and equally sensible, but not as clever; her most notable trait is a desire to see only the good in others. Jane is closest to Elizabeth and her character is often contrasted with Elizabeth. She, at the end, marries Mr Bingley.

• Mary Bennet is the only plain Bennet sister, and rather than join in some of the family activities, she reads, although is often impatient for display. She works hard for knowledge and accomplishment, but has neither genius nor taste. At the ball at Netherfield, she embarrasses Elizabeth by singing badly.

• Catherine "Kitty" Bennet is the fourth Bennet sister, aged seventeen. Portrayed as a less headstrong but equally silly shadow of Lydia.

• Lydia Bennet is the youngest Bennet sister, aged fifteen. She is repeatedly described as frivolous and headstrong. Her main activity in life is socialising, especially flirting with the military officers stationed in the nearby town of Meryton. She dominates her older sister Kitty and is supported in the family by her mother. After she elopes with Wickham and he is paid to marry her, she shows no remorse for the embarrasment that her actions caused for her family, but acts as if she has made a wonderful match that her sisters should be jealous of.

• Charles Bingley is a young gentleman without an estate; his wealth was made by trade and he is seeking a permanent home. He rents the Netherfield estate near Longbourn when the novel opens. Twenty-two years old at the start of the novel, handsome, good-natured, and wealthy, he is contrasted with his friend Darcy as being less intelligent but kinder and more charming, and hence more popular in Meryton. He lacks resolve and is easily influenced by others.

• Lady Caroline Bingley is the proud and snobbish sister of Charles Bingley. Clearly harbouring romantic intentions on Darcy herself, she views his growing attachment to Elizabeth Bennet with some jealousy, resulting in frequent attempts to verbally undermine and disdain Elizabeth and her society.

• George Wickham is an old acquaintance of Darcy, and an officer in the militia unit stationed near Meryton. A superficially charming man, he forms a friendship with Elizabeth Bennet, prompting many to remark upon his suitability as a potential husband. He spreads numerous tales about the wrongs Darcy has done to him, colouring the popular perception of the other man in local society; it is eventually revealed that these tales are distortions, and that Darcy was the more wronged man in their acquaintance.

• William Collins is Mr Bennet's cousin and a clergyman, aged twenty-five. Since Mr Bennet has no sons, Collins is in line to inherit Mr Bennet's estate. Austen described him as "not a sensible man, and the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or society". Collins is thought to be naively stupid by Mr Bennet, and Elizabeth rejects his marriage proposal. She is very distressed when her friend Charlotte Lucas decides to marry Collins out of desire for a settled position and to avoid being an old maid rather than from love. Collins constantly boasts about his acquaintance with the wealthy and pompous Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

• Lady Catherine De Bourgh is haughty, pompous, egotistical, and domineering. Because of her wealth and social standing she believes she can command everyone around her. People such as Mr Collins contribute to this personality by acting as sycophants who bow to her every command. Her nephew Darcy initially does whatever his aunt requests out of respect for her, but by the end of the text, he makes the choice to go against her wishes and marry Elizabeth.

• Mr Gardiner is Mrs Bennet's brother, and is quite sensible and gentlemanlike. He tries to help Lydia when she elopes with Wickham. His wife has close relationships with Elizabeth and Jane. Jane stays with the Gardiners in London for a while, and Elizabeth travels with them to Derbyshire, where she again meets Darcy.

Interrelationships