Pride and Prejudice characters

Also known as Lizzy, Eliza Bennet

Appears from the start

The second of the five Bennet daughters, quick-witted, lively, and fond of observing the follies of the people around her. Her father's favorite for her cleverness, she trusts her own judgement and forms strong, confident impressions of others. The family estate is entailed away from the female line, so she has little fortune, yet she is determined never to marry without genuine affection and respect.

Also known as Fitzwilliam Darcy

First appears in chapter 3

A wealthy young gentleman and close friend of Mr Bingley who appears at the Meryton assembly and is at first admired for his handsome looks and great fortune. His cold, proud manner soon turns local opinion against him: he keeps to his own party and dismisses Elizabeth as not handsome enough to tempt him, giving open offense. He is master of a large estate in Derbyshire called Pemberley.

First appears in chapter 3

The eldest and most beautiful of the Bennet daughters, gentle, modest, and inclined to think well of everyone. At the Meryton assembly she draws the marked attention of the amiable Mr Bingley. Reserved by nature, she tends to conceal the true strength of her feelings.

Also known as Charles Bingley

First appears in chapter 3

A good-natured, sociable young man of large fortune who leases Netherfield Park near the Bennets. Easy and agreeable, he is instantly popular in the neighborhood and singles out Jane Bennet at the assembly. He is devoted to his prouder friend Mr Darcy and is easily guided by the opinions of those he trusts.

Appears from the start

The father of the five Bennet daughters and master of Longbourn, an estate entailed to a male heir. Dry, sardonic, and fond of retreating to his library, he is amused by his wife's nervous excitability and openly prefers his sharp second daughter, Elizabeth. He is careless about the family's finances and its future.

Appears from the start

The mother of the Bennet girls, whose chief occupation is getting her daughters married. Excitable, talkative, and easily agitated, she fastens at once on the arrival of the wealthy bachelor Mr Bingley as a prospect for one of them. Her want of tact frequently embarrasses her elder daughters.

First appears in chapter 5

Elizabeth's close friend and neighbor, the sensible, plain eldest daughter of Sir William Lucas. Practical and unromantic, she holds that happiness in marriage is largely a matter of chance and that a woman with little fortune should secure a comfortable establishment when she can, rather than wait for affection.

Also known as William Collins

First appears in chapter 13

A pompous clergyman and distant cousin of Mr Bennet who, under the entail, stands to inherit Longbourn. Solemn, obsequious, and lacking in sense, he is endlessly grateful to his grand patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. He arrives at Longbourn meaning to choose a wife from among the Bennet daughters as a gesture of reconciliation over the estate.

Also known as George Wickham

First appears in chapter 15

A charming, handsome young officer newly joined to the militia stationed at Meryton, whose pleasant manners win general favor. He strikes up an acquaintance with Elizabeth and tells her that he grew up alongside Mr Darcy as the son of the late Mr Darcy's steward, and that Darcy cruelly denied him a clergyman's living he had been promised. His account deepens Elizabeth's dislike of Darcy.

First appears in chapter 7

The youngest Bennet daughter, only fifteen, high-spirited, flirtatious, and heedless. Her mother's favorite, she is absorbed in balls and above all in the officers of the militia quartered nearby, and pursues her amusements with little regard for propriety.

First appears in chapter 29

A wealthy, imperious noblewoman, Mr Collins's patroness and mistress of the great estate of Rosings Park in Kent. Accustomed to deference, she dictates to everyone around her and expects her opinions to be treated as law. She is Mr Darcy's aunt and intends her sickly daughter to marry him.

Also known as Caroline Bingley

First appears in chapter 4

Mr Bingley's elegant, fashionable sister, who keeps house for him at Netherfield. Proud of her family's wealth and contemptuous of the Bennets' humbler connections, she flatters Mr Darcy, whose good opinion and hand she hopes to win, and looks down on the country society around her.