Pride and Prejudice · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
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Elizabeth Bennet
major
Also known as Lizzy, Eliza, Miss Eliza, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, Miss Bennet, the eldest Miss Bennet
Elizabeth Bennet navigates a marriage market that treats her as a commodity, armed with irony and a refusal to marry for convenience. When she rejects Mr. Collins outright, she defies her mother's nerves and her family's precarious future, insisting on her own understanding. Her confidence in her perceptions—especially about Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham—becomes the very ground the novel tests, making her the reader's sharpest and most fallible guide.
Mr. Darcy
major
Also known as Darcy, Fitzwilliam Darcy, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the late Mr. Darcy
Darcy arrives at Netherfield with ten thousand a year and manners that make him enemies in a single evening. Convinced of his own judgment, he quietly steers Bingley away from Jane Bennet, believing he is protecting his friend from an imprudent connection. His pride and his growing, unwelcome fascination with Elizabeth collide, setting up the misunderstandings that drive the novel's central quarrel.
Jane Bennet
major
Also known as Miss Bennet, Dearest Jane
Jane falls for Mr. Bingley with a sincerity that her sister Elizabeth fears is too well hidden to be believed. When his sisters and Mr. Darcy work to separate them, Jane suffers without complaint, refusing to think ill of anyone. Her gentle refusal to interfere in Elizabeth's standoff with their mother shows the same temperament that will be tested by the novel's central separation.
Mr. Bingley
major
Also known as Bingley, Charles
Bingley leases Netherfield, throws the neighborhood into a flutter, and falls for Jane Bennet with an openness that delights her family. His amiable pliability, however, leaves him vulnerable to Darcy's persuasion and his sisters' disdain. His courtship of Jane becomes the barometer by which the novel measures how easily happiness can be talked out of a man.
Lydia Bennet
supporting
Also known as Lydia, Miss Lydia, Miss Lydia Bennet, Poor Lydia, Lydia Wickham
Lydia lives for balls, redcoats, and being the first to know everything, her mother's indulgent favorite and her father's despair. She flirts indiscriminately with the militia, especially Wickham, without the slightest awareness of consequence. Her untamed assurance—she returns from her wedding 'Lydia still'—exposes the family's failure of discipline and drives the novel's most dangerous turn.
Mr. Wickham
supporting
Also known as Wickham, George Wickham, dear Wickham, poor Wickham
Wickham captivates every woman in Hertfordshire, including Elizabeth, with a plausible tale of ill-treatment at Darcy's hands. His charm is his weapon: he insinuates himself into the Bennet family's trust while pursuing his own interests without scruple. Elizabeth's later discovery that he is 'as false and deceitful as he is insinuating' makes him the novel's study in the danger of trusting a pleasing address.
Mr. Collins
supporting
Also known as XV Mr. Collins, XX Mr. Collins
As the entail's heir, Mr. Collins holds the power to turn the Bennet women out of their home, and he arrives eager to make amends by marrying one of them. His obsequious reverence for Lady Catherine and his bottomless self-regard make him comic, but his proposal to Elizabeth—and his instant pivot to Charlotte Lucas—exposes how marriage could be a transaction rather than a union. He matters because his suit forces Elizabeth to define what she will and will not accept.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh
supporting
Also known as Catherine de Bourgh, Lady Catherine, de Bourgh
Lady Catherine de Bourgh commands Rosings with the confidence of someone who has never been contradicted, dispensing patronage to Mr. Collins and opinions to everyone else. Her insistence on the distinction of rank—and her plans for Darcy to marry her daughter—make her a walking embodiment of the class barriers the novel probes. Her invitations and interrogations give Elizabeth a stage on which to display her wit and independence.
Mrs. Bennet
supporting
Also known as Bennet
Mrs. Bennet reads every ball, visit, and new neighbour as a matrimonial opportunity, and her nerves flare whenever fortune seems to stall. Her obsession is not mere silliness: with no son and an entailed estate, her daughters' futures genuinely depend on good matches, which makes her frantic scheming both comic and poignant. Her loud misjudgments—pushing Jane at Bingley, championing Collins for Elizabeth—repeatedly embarrass her family and complicate the very courtships she means to advance.
Mr. Bennet
supporting
Also known as II Mr. Bennet, VII Mr. Bennet, L Mr. Bennet
Mr. Bennet governs Longbourn with sarcasm and caprice, teasing his wife, deflating pretension, and reserving his real affection for Elizabeth. His detachment is both his charm and his failure: he sees the absurdity of the marriage market but declines to protect his daughters from its dangers. His dry asides and his quiet favoritism shape how readers judge the Bennet household and its chances.
Kitty Bennet
supporting
Also known as Catherine, the luckless Kitty, Poor Kitty
Kitty trails after Lydia, adopting her enthusiasms and echoing her gossip about the regiment, with little identity of her own. Her wistful hope that her turn is coming soon captures the precarious position of a younger sister with no fortune and no suitor. She matters as part of the Bennet household's noise and vulnerability—evidence of how many futures hang on the marriages the elder sisters might secure.
Mary Bennet
minor
Also known as Mary
The plain, bookish third Bennet sister who moralizes and plays piano poorly.
Miss Bingley
supporting
Also known as Bingley, Caroline Bingley, Caroline, poor Miss Bingley
Miss Bingley presides over Netherfield with fashionable contempt for the neighbourhood, and her civility to Jane is laced with condescension. Her real project is Darcy, and she reads Elizabeth as a rival to be diminished through mockery and exclusion. Her snobbery and scheming sharpen the novel's critique of class and make the Bingley sisters a quiet obstacle to the very happiness they pretend to encourage.
Charlotte Lucas
supporting
Also known as Charlotte, lady Lucas, Mrs. Collins
Charlotte Lucas is the sensible, unromantic neighbor whose decision to marry Mr. Collins for security rather than love forces Elizabeth to confront how differently women must calculate their futures. Her pragmatism is not coldness but a candid reading of her options, and it quietly indicts the marriage market that leaves her so few. The match strains her closest friendship and gives the novel its sharpest early test of whether sense and sensibility can coexist.
Sir William Lucas
minor
Also known as Sir William Lucas
A genial, pompous neighbor knighted after his mayoralty, father of Charlotte.
Lady Lucas
minor
Also known as Lady Lucas
Sir William's wife and Mrs. Bennet's friend and rival in matchmaking.
Maria Lucas
minor
Also known as Maria, lady Lucas
The younger Lucas daughter, Charlotte's sister and Elizabeth's friend.
Georgiana Darcy
supporting
Also known as Georgiana, Miss Darcy, a Darcy
Georgiana Darcy is the sheltered sixteen-year-old sister whose fortune and innocence made her a target, and whose quiet embarrassment Elizabeth mistakes for the pride she has been told to expect. Her reserve hides both a painful history and a genuine warmth, and her gradual trust in Elizabeth signals the softening of the Darcy world. She matters because her vulnerability explains her brother's guardedness and because her affection becomes a measure of Elizabeth's acceptance into it.
Colonel Fitzwilliam
minor
Also known as Fitzwilliam, Colonel F.
Darcy's amiable cousin and a younger son of an earl, a potential suitor for Elizabeth.
Mrs. Gardiner
supporting
Also known as Gardiner, Mrs. Gardiner
Mrs. Gardiner is the sensible, well-bred aunt from Cheapside whose letters and counsel give Elizabeth a rare adult confidante outside her frivolous household. She reads character shrewdly, warns against imprudent attachments, and later becomes the means by which Elizabeth sees Pemberley and its master anew. Her steady affection and moral clarity make her the quiet counterweight to Mrs. Bennet's noise and the family's worst instincts.
Mr. Gardiner
supporting
Also known as Gardiner, Mr. Gardiner, M. Gardiner
Mr. Gardiner is the amiable, intelligent uncle whose business in town and easy manners prove that worth has nothing to do with fashionable connections. He treats Elizabeth with genuine respect, and his willingness to act when the Bennets flounder reveals the quiet competence the family otherwise lacks. His presence in the novel's middle and later stretches gives Elizabeth an anchor of adult judgment and helps redeem the Gardiner name in Darcy's eyes.
Mrs. Hurst
minor
Also known as Mrs. Hurst, Louisa
Mr. Bingley's snobbish sister, married to Mr. Hurst, who sides with Caroline.
Miss Lucas
minor
Also known as Miss Lucas
A Lucas daughter, often referring to Charlotte before her marriage.
Mrs. Philips
minor
Also known as Philips, a Mr. Philips, Mr. Philips
Mrs. Bennet's vulgar sister who lives in Meryton and gossips with the officers.
Colonel Forster
minor
Also known as till Colonel Forster
The commander of the militia regiment stationed in Meryton.
Mrs. Forster
minor
Also known as Mrs. Forster
Colonel Forster's young wife who befriends Lydia and accompanies her to Brighton.
Mr. Hurst
minor
Also known as Mr. Hurst
Mr. Bingley's lazy, indolent brother-in-law who cares only for eating and cards.
Miss de Bourgh
minor
Also known as Miss de Bourgh
Lady Catherine's sickly, silent daughter whom Darcy is expected to marry.
Mrs. Jenkinson
minor
Also known as Mrs. Jenkinson
Miss de Bourgh's paid companion who attends her constantly.
Mrs. Long
minor
Also known as Mrs. Long
A neighbor of the Bennets who gossips and has two plain nieces.
Mr. Denny
minor
Also known as Denny
A militia officer and friend of Wickham who introduces him to the Bennets.
Miss King
minor
Also known as Miss King, Mary King
A young heiress briefly courted by Wickham for her fortune.
Mrs. Reynolds
minor
Also known as Mrs. Reynolds
The housekeeper at Pemberley who praises Darcy's character to Elizabeth.
Mrs. Annesley
minor
Also known as Mrs. Annesley
Georgiana Darcy's respectable governess who accompanies her to Pemberley.
Hill
minor
Also known as Mrs. Hill
The Bennet family's loyal housekeeper at Longbourn.
Nicholls
minor
Also known as Mrs. Nicholls
Mr. Bingley's housekeeper at Netherfield.
Captain Carter
minor
Also known as Captain Carter
A militia officer briefly mentioned in Meryton society.
William Goulding
minor
Also known as William Goulding
A Meryton neighbor who dines with the Bennets.
Mr. Jones
minor
Also known as Mr. Jones
The local apothecary who attends to Jane when she falls ill at Netherfield.
Pratt
minor
Also known as Pratt
A clerk or associate of Mr. Philips, mentioned in passing.
Lady Anne Darcy
minor
Also known as Anne, Lady Anne
Darcy's deceased mother, mentioned in his backstory and at Pemberley.
