Mary Bennet is the middle Bennet sister, aged around eighteen. The only plain one of the five, she strives to be the most accomplished. She spends most of her time reading and studying, but without understanding. Of the sisters, she thinks most highly of Mr. Collins.
Catherine (Kitty) Bennet is the fourth Bennet sister, aged seventeen. Portrayed as a less headstrong but equally frivolous 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. She later marries Mr.Wickham.
Charles Bingley has just rented 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 Mr. 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.
George Wickham is an old acquaintance of Mr. 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 Mr. 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.
Mr. William Collins is Mr. Bennet's cousin and a clergyman. Since Mr. Bennet has no sons, Collins is in line to inherit Mr. Bennet's estate. Jane 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 Mr. Collins out of interest in his estate rather than his personality. Collins constantly boasts about his acquaintance with the wealthy and pompous Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
Lady Catherine De Bourgh is haughty, egotistical, and domineering. Because of her wealth and social standing she believes she can command anyone 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.

Jane Bennet

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. She later marries Mr.Bingley.

Mrs. Bennet

Mrs. Bennet is the wife of Mr. Bennet and mother of Elizabeth and her sisters. Her main objective in life is to find (wealthy) husbands for her five daughters, but she lacks the subtlety to execute her goals. She is portrayed as frivolous, excitable and narrow-minded. She is susceptible to attacks of tremors and palpitations, and her public manners are embarrassing to her eldest daughters. Her favourite daughter is the youngest, Lydia. Elizabeth is her least favourite daughter, being described as "the least dearest to her of her daughters."

Mr. Bennet

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. He is closest to his older daughters, especially Elizabeth.

Fitzwilliam Darcy

Fitzwilliam Darcy is the main male protagonist. At twenty-eight years old and unmarried, 'Mr. Darcy' is the wealthy owner of the famously superior estate Pemberley in Derbyshire. Portrayed as handsome and intelligent, but not convivial, his concern with decorum and moral rectitude is seen by many as an excessive concern with social status. He makes a poor impression on strangers, such as the people of Meryton, but is valued by those who know him well. His close relationships include his friend Charles Bingley.
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is a fictional character and one of two protagonists in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. He is an archetype of the aloof romantic hero, and a romantic interest of Elizabeth Bennet, the novel's main protagonist. The story's narration is almost exclusively from Elizabeth's perspective; she is portrayed as the sympathetic figure, and Darcy hardly so at all until the latter chapters of the novel —as knowledge and ironic events are revealed to Elizabeth. Usually referred to only as "Mr. Darcy", his first name is mentioned twice in the novel.

In the novel, Mr. Darcy is a wealthy gentleman with an income of at least £10,000 a year,[2] and the proprietor of Pemberley, a large estate in Derbyshire, England. Darcy slights Elizabeth Bennet at their first meeting, but then is attracted to her, and later begins to court her (in his own way) while struggling against his continued feelings of superiority. Ironically, when Darcy realizes his friend Bingley is seriously courting Elizabeth's elder sister Jane, he disapproves, and subtly persuades Bingley that Jane does not return his feelings. He later explains this seeming hypocrisy by asserting "I was kinder to [Mr.Bingley] than to myself". Oblivious to him, Darcy's interference in Bingley and Jane's budding relationship has caused Elizabeth to dislike him intensely.
It is when she defiantly rejects his proposal of marriage that Darcy is awakened; he is stunned, and shocked into a new reality of how his behaviour is perceived by others, particularly Elizabeth. Now he reconsiders all, and then commits to go out of his way to demonstrate his respect and devotion for her. He tempers his pride, re-evaluates his feelings on the relationship between Bingley and Jane, and acts to save Elizabeth's youngest sister Lydia from disgrace at the hands of his bitter enemy, George Wickham: after these two have run away together, Darcy convinces him to marry her. His rescue of Lydia from disgrace was not done to win Elizabeth but to ease her distress, because he attempts to keep her from knowing about it. He does it in spite of being required to deal not only with George Wickham, but with a former companion to his sister who betrayed her trust. The novel suggests that it may have cost him a year's income. (This contrasts sharply with a situation in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, where Mr. Crawford proposes to Fanny Price immediately after doing a favour for her that cost him very little.) Darcy's second proposal to Elizabeth, against the express wishes of his aunt, Lady Catherine, completes the novel's climax; she accepts him, much to the delight of her mother, and the novel concludes with her becoming Mrs. Darcy.
Darcy is depicted within the novel as a seemingly cold and aloof man with a large sense of personal pride that frequently expresses itself as arrogance. His apparently distant manner and contempt for those around him earns the disdain of both Elizabeth and many of the other characters over the course of the narrative, particularly in light of the claims of George Wickham, who insists that Darcy has wronged him in the past and who, because of his approachable and charming nature, is automatically given the benefit of the doubt over Darcy. It is eventually revealed, however, that these first impressions are erroneous, as Darcy's seemingly arrogant character masks a sincerely generous and upright nature, and that it was in fact he who was wronged by Wickham, whose own character is revealed to be untrustworthy and duplicitous. Even such matters as his interference in the relationship between Jane and Bingley are presented and re-interpreted as being motivated by genuine concern for the feelings of his friend rather than out of malicious intent.

Elizabeth Bennet

Elizabeth Bennet (sometimes referred to as Eliza or Lizzy) is a fictional character and the main protagonist of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. The novel is centred on her attempts to find love and happiness within the constraints and proprieties of her society, particularly concerning her relationship with the seemingly proud and cold Mr. Darcy. Jane Austen herself considered Elizabeth Bennet "as delightful a character as ever appeared in print". She is generally considered one of Austen's most popular and endearing heroines, and one of the most popular female characters in British literature.

In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth is the second eldest of the five Bennet sisters of Longbourn.

She is twenty years old at the beginning of the novel.

Elizabeth is portrayed as an intelligent young woman, with "a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in any thing ridiculous". She often presents a playful good natured impertinence, that does not offend. Early in the novel she is depicted as being personally proud of her mental quickness and her acuity in judging the social behaviour and intentions of others.

Of her family, Elizabeth is her father's favourite, described by him by having "something more of quickness than her sisters". In contrast, she is the least dear of her mother's children, especially after Elizabeth refuses a marriage proposal from Mr. Collins. Elizabeth is also often distressed and embarrassed by the behaviour of her mother and of her younger sisters. Her father is a gentleman and a landowner, but his estate, Longbourn, is entailed away from his children because he does not have a son, and upon his death, Longbourn will be inherited by his cousin Mr. Collins, a sycophantic and foolish clergyman. Within her neighbourhood, she is considered a local beauty and charming, with "fine eyes", which is the first feature Mr. Darcy is drawn to. He is later drawn more particularly to her "light and pleasing" figure, the "easy playfulness" of her manners, her mind and personality, and eventually considers her to be "one of the handsomest women" in his acquaintance.

Main characters

Elizabeth Bennet
Fitzwilliam Darcy
Mr. Bennet
Mrs. Bennet
Jane Bennet
Mary Bennet
Catherine (Kitty) Bennet
Lydia Bennet
Charles Bingley
George Wickham
Mr. William Collins
Lady Catherine De Bourgh