Pride and Prejudice Character List

 


 

Pride and Prejudice Character List

 

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Pride and Prejudice Character List

 

 

Elizabeth: Elizabeth is the main character of the novel, and the story traces her changing impressions of other characters throughout the narrative.  While at first she finds Wickham charming and Darcy proud, in the end she realizes that she has been blind and prejudiced, and that Darcy is the true gentleman while Wickham is not.  About Elizabeth, Jane Austen wrote in a letter, "I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least I do not know."
Jane: Jane is the eldest Bennet daughter and is considered quite pretty by all.  Her seeming indifference to Bingley initially drives him away from her (with the help of Darcy).  Elizabeth often wishes she could be as good and happy as Jane is, as Jane never thinks badly of anyone.
Mr. Bennet: Mr. Bennet is the husband of Mrs. Bennet and the father of Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, Kitty and Lydia.  He is the master of Longbourn.  He has a sarcastic humor, and believes his two eldest daughters sensible, while he finds his wife and younger daughters silly. 
Mrs. Bennet: Mrs. Bennet is the wife of Mr. Bennet and the mother of Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, Kitty and Lydia.  Her main goal is to get her daughters married, and her only joys come from visiting and gossip.  She often embarrasses Elizabeth and Jane, as she is not as sensible as her husband is.
Mary: Mary 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.
Kitty: Kitty is the second to the youngest Bennet sister, and is often referred to as silly.  She and Lydia spend their time running after officers in Meryton, but after the influence of Lydia is removed, Kitty greatly improves.
Lydia: Lydia is the youngest Bennet daughter, and she is described as silly and untamed.  After she elopes with a man who is a liar and a cheat, he is paid to marry her, she shows no remorse, but acts as if she has made a wonderful match that her sisters should be jealous of.
Bingley: Bingley is the good looking and gentlemanlike master of Netherfield.  He is admired by all, and does not seem to mind the inferior rank of Jane and her family.  He allows Darcy to sway him into leaving Netherfield by saying Jane is indifferent to him, but later returns to find that Jane loves him after all.
Darcy: Darcy is early condemned as proud in the novel, and indeed his behavior seems to suggest it, but after Elizabeth's refusal of him, he takes her reproofs to heart and tries to change.  Elizabeth realizes that some of what had been seen as pride was rather shyness and realizes what a gentleman he is, and in the end, people's opinions of him are changing.
Caroline Bingley: Caroline is the sister of Bingley, and while Elizabeth thinks her proud and conceited, Jane becomes a special friend of hers.  After Caroline forsakes Jane in hopes that her brother will marry Miss Darcy, Jane ends the acquaintance.  Caroline is usually making fun of Elizabeth and her family, as she is jealous of Darcy's admiration of her.
Louisa Hurst: Mrs. Hurst is also a sister of Bingley's.  She is also proud, and takes part in making fun of Elizabeth.
Sir William Lucas and Lady Lucas: The Lucases are neighbors to the Bennets, and Lady Lucas and Mrs. Bennet compare their accomplishments in trying to get their daughters married. 
Charlotte Lucas: Charlotte is the daughter of Sir William and Lady Lucas and an intimate friend of Elizabeth's.  She surprises Elizabeth by marrying Mr. Collins, and Elizabeth feels the couple will not be happy.
Mr. Collins: Mr. Collins is the cousin of Mr. Bennet, and will inherit Longbourn at Mr. Bennet's death.  He is a clergyman under the patronage of Lady Catherine de Burgh, and his constant apologies and flattery are self-serving.  At first he intends to marry Jane, then changes to Elizabeth, and when she refuses him, marries Charlotte Lucas.
Mr. Wickham: Mr. Wickham comes to Meryton as an officer and at first his good looks and pleasant manner enchant all. However, it is soon known that he is a liar and in debt, and when he runs off with one of the Bennet sisters, he must be paid to marry her.
Mrs. Gardiner: Mrs. Gardiner is Mr. Gardiner's wife and a favorite of 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.
Mr. Gardiner: Mr. Gardiner is Mrs. Bennet's brother and the husband of Mrs. Gardiner, and is quite sensible and gentlemanlike.  He tries to help Lydia when she elopes with Wickham.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh: Lady Catherine is the aunt of Darcy, and the patron of Collins.  She is quite proud and does not let the other characters forget their inferior rank.  She is shocked by the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy, but her attempts to ensure that they are never married only serve to bring them together.
Miss Darcy: Miss Darcy is Darcy's sister, and while in the beginning of the novel it is said that she is proud, Elizabeth finds her just to be shy.  It is related that earlier in her life she had thought herself in love with Wickham, but that Darcy had stopped the marriage. 

 

AP Literature & Composition
Mrs. Wolf

Pride and Prejudice Discussion Questions

         As you read the classic novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, please reflect upon and respond to the following questions.  You will be expected to write well-supported, quality answers to submit for a grade.  You must include examples and commentary of your own to justify each response.  We will also be discussing many of these questions in class – be prepared!

Scholars have described this book as a very conservative text.  Did you find it so?  What sort of position do you see it taking on the class system?

 

In 1814 Mary Russell Mitford wrote: “It is impossible not to feel in every line of Pride and Prejudice . . . the entire want of taste which could produce so pert, so worldly a heroine as the beloved of such a man as Darcy . . . Darcy should have married Jane.”

Would you have liked the book as well if Jane were its heroine?  Explain.

Lydia and Wickham pose a danger to the Bennet family as long as they are unmarried and unchecked.  But as a married couple, with little improvement in their behavior, this danger vanishes. 

 

In Pride and Prejudice marriage serves many functions.  It is romantic union, a financial merger, and a vehicle for social regulations.  Scholar and writer Mary Poovey said that Austen’s goal “is to make propriety and romantic desire congruent.”

Think about all the marriages in the book and discuss how well they are fulfilling those functions.

Austen suggests that in order to marry well a woman must be pretty, respectable, and have money.  In the world of Pride and Prejudice, which of these is most important?  Explain and support your answer with examples and commentary.

 

Spare a thought for some of the unmarried women in the novel – Mary and Kitty Bennet, Miss de Bourgh, Miss Georgiana Darcy, poor, disappointed Caroline Bingley.  Which of them do you picture marrying some day?  Which of them do you picture marrying well?

Was Charlotte Lucas right to marry Reverend Collins?

 

What are your feelings about Mr. Bennet?  Is he a good father?  A good husband?  A good man?

Darcy says that one of Wickham’s motivations in his attempted elopement with Georgiana was revenge.  What motivations might he have had for running off with Lydia?

 

Elizabeth Bennet says, “ . . . people themselves alter so much that there is something new to be observed in them for ever.”

Do any of the characters in the novel change substantially?  Or do they, as Elizabeth says of Darcy, “in essentials” remain much as they ever were?

Elizabeth is furious with Darcy for breaking up the match between Jane and Mr. Bingley.  Although he initially defends himself, she changes his mind.  Later when Lady Catherine attempts to interfere in his own courtship, he describes this as unjustifiable.  Explain the difference is these situations.  

 

At what moment does Elizabeth begin to fall in love with Mr. Darcy?

 In what ways are the themes and concerns of the novel timeless? In other words, how are they still relevant in today’s society?

 

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