Analysis of Major Characters Elizabeth Bennet The second daughter in the Bennet family, and the most intelligent

and quick- itted, Elizabeth is the !rotagonist of "ride and "rejudice and one of the most ell-kno n female characters in English literature# $er admirable qualities are numerous%she is lo&ely, cle&er, and, in a no&el defined by dialogue, she con&erses as brilliantly as anyone# $er honesty, &irtue, and li&ely it enable her to rise abo&e the nonsense and bad beha&ior that !er&ade her class-bound and often s!iteful society# 'e&ertheless, her shar! tongue and tendency to make hasty judgments often lead her astray( "ride and "rejudice is essentially the story of ho she )and her true lo&e, *arcy+ o&ercome all obstacles% including their o n !ersonal failings%to find romantic ha!!iness# Elizabeth must not only co!e ith a ho!eless mother, a distant father, t o badly beha&ed younger siblings, and se&eral snobbish, antagonizing females, she must also o&ercome her o n mistaken im!ressions of *arcy, hich initially lead her to reject his !ro!osals of marriage# $er charms are sufficient to kee! him interested, fortunately, hile she na&igates familial and social turmoil# As she gradually comes to recognize the nobility of *arcy,s character, she realizes the error of her initial !rejudice against him# -itz illiam *arcy The son of a ealthy, ell-established family and the master of the great estate of "emberley, *arcy is Elizabeth,s male counter!art# The narrator relates Elizabeth,s !oint of &ie of e&ents more often than *arcy,s, so Elizabeth often seems a more sym!athetic figure# The reader e&entually realizes, ho e&er, that *arcy is her ideal match# .ntelligent and forthright, he too has a tendency to judge too hastily and harshly, and his high birth and ealth make him o&erly !roud and o&erly conscious of his social status# .ndeed, his haughtiness makes him initially bungle his courtshi!# /hen he !ro!oses to her, for instance, he d ells more on ho unsuitable a match she is than on her charms, beauty, or anything else com!limentary# $er rejection of his ad&ances builds a kind of humility in him# *arcy demonstrates his continued de&otion to Elizabeth, in s!ite of his distaste for her lo connections, hen he rescues 0ydia and the entire Bennet family from disgrace, and hen he goes against the ishes of his haughty aunt, 0ady Catherine de Bourgh, by continuing to !ursue Elizabeth# *arcy !ro&es himself orthy of Elizabeth, and she ends u! re!enting her earlier, o&erly harsh judgment of him# 1ane Bennet and Charles Bingley Elizabeth,s beautiful elder sister and *arcy,s ealthy best friend, 1ane and Bingley engage in a courtshi! that occu!ies a central !lace in the no&el# They first meet at the ball in Meryton and enjoy an immediate mutual attraction# They are s!oken of as a !otential cou!le throughout the book, long before anyone imagines that *arcy and Elizabeth might marry# *es!ite their centrality to the narrati&e, they are &ague characters, sketched by Austen rather than carefully dra n# .ndeed, they are so similar in nature and beha&ior that they can be described together2 both are cheerful, friendly, and good-natured, al ays ready to think the best of others( they lack entirely the !rickly egotism of Elizabeth and *arcy# 1ane,s gentle s!irit ser&es as a foil for her sister,s fiery, contentious nature, hile Bingley,s eager friendliness contrasts ith *arcy,s stiff !ride# Their !rinci!al characteristics are good ill and com!atibility, and the contrast of their romance ith that

of *arcy and Elizabeth is remarkable# 1ane and Bingley e3hibit to the reader true lo&e unham!ered by either !ride or !rejudice, though in their sim!le goodness, they also demonstrate that such a lo&e is mildly dull# Mr# Bennet Mr# Bennet is the !atriarch of the Bennet household%the husband of Mrs# Bennet and the father of 1ane, Elizabeth, 0ydia, 4itty, and Mary# $e is a man dri&en to e3as!eration by his ridiculous ife and difficult daughters# $e reacts by ithdra ing from his family and assuming a detached attitude !unctuated by bursts of sarcastic humor# $e is closest to Elizabeth because they are the t o most intelligent Bennets# .nitially, his dry it and self!ossession in the face of his ife,s hysteria make him a sym!athetic figure, but, though he remains likable throughout, the reader gradually loses res!ect for him as it becomes clear that the !rice of his detachment is considerable# *etached from his family, he is a eak father and, at critical moments, fails his family# .n !articular, his foolish indulgence of 0ydia,s immature beha&ior nearly leads to general disgrace hen she elo!es ith /ickham# -urther, u!on her disa!!earance, he !ro&es largely ineffecti&e# .t is left to Mr# 5ardiner and *arcy to track 0ydia do n and rectify the situation# 6ltimately, Mr# Bennet ould rather ithdra from the orld than co!e ith it# Mrs# Bennet Mrs# Bennet is a miraculously tiresome character# 'oisy and foolish, she is a oman consumed by the desire to see her daughters married and seems to care for nothing else in the orld# .ronically, her single-minded !ursuit of this goal tends to backfire, as her lack of social graces alienates the &ery !eo!le )*arcy and Bingley+ hom she tries des!erately to attract# Austen uses her continually to highlight the necessity of marriage for young omen# Mrs# Bennet also ser&es as a middle-class counter!oint to such u!!er-class snobs as 0ady Catherine and Miss Bingley, demonstrating that foolishness can be found at e&ery le&el of society# .n the end, ho e&er, Mrs# Bennet !ro&es such an unattracti&e figure, lacking redeeming characteristics of any kind, that some readers ha&e accused Austen of unfairness in !ortraying her%as if Austen, like Mr# Bennet, took !er&erse !leasure in !oking fun at a oman already scorned as a result of her ill breeding#