The Bennets Family

Elizabeth Bennet


Elizabeth is a spontaneous, high-spirited, vivacious, witty, and warm young lady. She is also a bright, complex, and intriguing individual who is realistic about life. Unlike her sister Jane, she is not ready to believe that everyone is flawless. She knows the ‘impropriety’ of her father and is aware that it springs from the unhappiness of his life with his wife. She also perceives the fickleness of her mother’s temper and her crass social behavior. Even to the point of being saucy and blunt at times, Elizabeth is not afraid to speak her mind.


Throughout the novel, Elizabeth’s encounters with Darcy are a battle of adult minds. Elizabeth’s speeches, crackling with irony, filled with pep, and displaying vibrant humor, exert a magnetic pull on Darcy. He recognizes that she is a woman endowed with sense and sensibility, radically different from most young females that he knows. He is particularly impressed with her poise; she is not intimidated by the upper class or overawed by the arrogant Darcy.
Elizabeth’s main flaw is an exaggerated prejudice. Her first negative impression of Darcy at the Netherfield ball, Wickham’s tall story about him, and Darcy’s influencing Bingley against Jane fuel her prejudice. She spends most of the novel truly disliking her future husband. When Darcy proposes to her the first time, she does not even give the offer serious thought before turning the man down. Fortunately, Darcy is determined and does not give up on Elizabeth.


Elizabeth is an honest individual, both to others and to herself. Once she realizes the truth about Darcy, she admits her incorrect prejudice against him and regrets her previous rejection of him. In fact, she even admits to herself that she is in love with Darcy, but she is realistic enough to think that she no longer stands a chance with him. When she learns that Darcy has saved Lydia from disgrace, she swallows her remaining pride and states her appreciation to Darcy. His response is to ask for her hand in marriage once again. This time, a much wiser Elizabeth eagerly accepts.



In the novel, Elizabeth Bennet proves that she is a woman both particular to her age and society and yet different from it. Like her mother, Elizabeth is sometimes prone to outspoken speeches and impulsive actions; yet, she never disregards the propriety which the age insisted upon for women. Her keen intelligence, her good sense, and her unconventional charm make Elizabeth an unforgettable character.



Mr. Bennet


Although Mr. Bennet is basically a sensible man, he behaves strangely because of his disillusionment with his wife. Living with Mrs. Bennet has made him somewhat bitter and cynical. Trapped in a bad marriage, he makes life endurable for himself by assuming a pose of an ironic passive spectator of life, who has long ago abdicated his roles as a husband and a father. Once in awhile, he comes out of his ivory tower to amuse himself by pestering his foolish wife or making callous remarks about his daughters. He reality, he is quite fond of his children, particularly Elizabeth, who he finds sensible and witty.


Throughout the novel, Mr. Bennet proves he is an insensitive father. His wit, though enlivening, is disturbing because of its cynicism; unfortunately, it is often turned on his daughters. When Jane is jilted in love, he speaks of it in a very light manner, saying it is an unavoidable occurrence, which distresses Jane even more. He is not concerned about Lydia’s inappropriate behavior and allows her to go off to Brighton, in spite of Elizabeth’s warnings to him; his negligence on this account leads to Lydia’s elopement. This incident shocks him out of his complacency, and for once he seems genuinely worried about one of his children. He even goes to London to search for his daughter; unfortunately, he soon allows Mr. Gardiner to replace him. When Elizabeth announces her engagement to Darcy, Mr. Bennet seems genuinely concerned, for he still believes Darcy to be arrogant and rude; he does not want his daughter to enter into a miserable marriage like his own. When he learns of Darcy’s goodness and Elizabeth’s true love for him, Mr. Bennet blesses the union. At the end of the novel, however, he is not a greatly changed man; he is still in his ivory tower, trying to escape the inanity of his wife.



Mrs. Bennet


Mrs. Bennet is described by the author as "a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper." In her youth, her beauty won her a husband, but she could not sustain Mr. Bennet’s interest for long because of her crude behavior. As the novel opens, she has one purpose in life - to find acceptable husbands for her oldest three daughters.



Mrs. Bennet is loud and gauche as is illustrated in her behavior at Netherfield. Whenever she opens her mouth, she seems to make a fool of herself. Her vulgar social behavior becomes a major deterrent for Bingley and Darcy in the pursuit of her daughters. In addition to her crass behavior, Mrs. Bennet is not very intelligent or sensible. She is given to hasty judgments and fluctuating opinions. Throughout the book, her opinions of people swing between abhorrence and admiration, as seen in her changing feelings for Mr. Collins, Wickham, Bingley, and Darcy. Of course, much of how she judges them is based on whether or not she believes they will become her sons-in-law.


Like her husband, Mrs. Bennet fails miserably in her role as a parent. She fails to understand the sensibilities of Jane and Elizabeth, and often embarrasses the two girls with her indiscreet behavior and hurtful remarks. She ridicules Jane for her love for Bingley and wants Elizabeth to marry the horrid Mr. Collins. Her permissiveness with Lydia leads to her living with Wickham outside of marriage. Mrs. Bennet’s reaction to the elopement is to go into hysterics and hide herself in her room. She is incapable of holding the family together in a moment of crisis; in fact, she just makes matters worse.


In the end, Mrs. Bennet gets exactly what she has desired; her three eldest daughters are married. She, however, remains the same gawking, vulgar and foolish woman.



Jane Bennet


Jane is the beautiful, charming, and subdued sister of Elizabeth. In fact, she is so gentle and kind that she genuinely and naively believes that everyone else in the world is the same. Elizabeth even tells her that "you never see a fault in anybody. All the world is good and agreeable in your eyes. I have never heard you speak ill of any human being." Her attraction for Bingley is instant, for she sees him as a simple, unassuming man and a perfect mate. She is greatly disappointed when Bingley seems to lose interest in her, but she patiently waits for him. At the end of the novel, the good Jane is rewarded for her patient endurance when Bingley proposes to her.



Mary Bennet


The third daughter, who is pedantic, tasteless, plain, vain, silly, and affected. She doesn't really care about people around her, she is mostly in her own world.



Catherine Bennet (Kitty)


The fourth daughter, who is almost a non-entity in the novel except for chasing soldiers.


Lydia Bennet


The youngest daughter who is silly, thoughtless, stupid, unprincipled, flirtatious, loud-mouthed and scatter brained; not surprisingly, she is Mrs. Bennet’s favorite daughter. She elopes with George Wickham.



Acknowledged from: http://www.pinkmonkey.com/