Bennet family


The Bennet family is a fictional family of dwindling Hertfordshire landed gentry, created by English novelist Jane Austen. The family plays a central role in Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice, as it is the protagonist, Elizabeth's family. The complex relationships between its various members influence the evolution of the plot.
The family belong to a society where marriage is the only possible future for a young girl of good family. Yet the Bennet couple do not assume their role as educators: [|the mother] repeatedly makes a spectacle of herself, who does not realise that her behaviour is more likely to put off any rich, eligible young man. All the while, [|the father], who seems to be an indifferent husband, has long-since given up on reining in his wife's behaviour, more intent on 'enjoying the show' than in correcting her behaviour, and the behaviour of his younger daughters.

The Bennets' daughters

and Elizabeth show irreproachable conduct and are appreciated by their father, while Mary, less physically attractive, displays intellectual and musical pretensions, and the two youngest are both left almost abandoned to run wild under the sloppy, careless supervision of their ineffectual [|mother].
Other members of the family are Mrs Bennet's brother and sister-in law, and her sister – Mr and Mrs Gardiner and Mrs. Philips, and the designated heir of Mr. Bennet's estate, his distant paternal second cousin, the pompous and foolish Mr. William Collins.
Mr. Gardiner and Mrs. Philips contribute significantly to the progress and outcome of the story, but at a level and in a different register reflecting their respective social belonging. Collins's character serves as a link between the gentry of Hertfordshire, to which the Bennets belong, and the large property owners Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Mr. Darcy.

Paternal branch

The narrator does not elaborate on the ancestors of Mr Bennet. This is only established for Collinses, father and son, are described as Mr. Bennet's 'distant' cousins, that would make Mr. Collins Sr. at the very least Mr. Bennet's first cousin once removed.
The presumption is that a younger Collins son once changed his name to Bennet, possibly in anticipation of receiving an inheritance, or vice versa. Readers of the time would have recognized the impossibility of Mr. Collins being the descendant of a female relative of Mr. Bennet's, as entails always descended through a strict male line.

Mr. Bennet

Mr. Bennet, Esquire, the patriarch of the now-dwindling Bennet family is a late-middle-aged landed gentleman of comfortable income. He is married to Mrs. Bennet, the daughter of a Meryton attorney, the late Mr. Gardener Sr. Together they have five daughters; Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia Bennet. None of the daughters are married at the beginning of the novel, much to Mrs. Bennet's dismay.
Mr. Bennet's family estate, Longbourn House, comprises a residence and land located within the environs of the fictional township of Meryton, in Hertfordshire, just north of London. From his family estate, Mr. Bennet derives an annual income of £2,000, which is very a respectable income for a gentleman. Longbourn House also has an entailment upon it, meant to keep the estate intact and in the sole possession of the family, down the male line, rather than being divided also amongst younger sons and any daughters; it is to be passed down amongst first male heirs only. For years, Mr. Bennet had the hope and intention of fathering a son who was to inherit the entire estate; which would see to the entail for another generation, and potentially provide for his widow and any other children he might have. Additionally, Mr. Bennet did not get along with his then-closest living male relative and male heir, his distant cousin, Mr. Collins, who is described as an "illiterate miser", and did not want the estate going to him. Sadly, after 23/24-years of marriage, Mr. Bennet remains the last male scion of the Bennet family, thus marking the end of the Bennet name with his death.
However, Mr. Collins' chances of inheriting Longbourn House are not concrete. If, before Mr. Bennet's death, one of his daughters should be able to present him with a grandson, said grandson would then become the new heir presumptive of the entailment, by virtue of being Mr. Bennet's closest living male blood relative. This fact is likely why Mr. Collins' late father urged his son to 'mend the rift' with the Bennets. If Mr. Collins were to marry one of one of Mr. Bennet's daughters and father a son, it would make Mr. Collins' claim to Longbourn House more likely to succeed.
Emily Auerbach criticises Mr Bennet for ignoring the fate of his daughters and suggests that he possesses "too little sense of duty or responsibility". It is also possible that when he speaks of ' for making sport for neighbours, and laughing at them in our turn', he is also saying the same of himself and his folly of having married Mrs. Bennet in the first place. It is likely that this mistake he had made back as a bachelor is why he is the way he is now.

"So odd a mixture"

Mr. Bennet is described by the narrator in his first appearance in the book as "so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three and twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character", and it is this same ironic, cynical, dry, wry sense of wit and humour that irritates his wife.
The authorial Narrator points out Mr. Bennet's many acts of negligence regarding his duties as husband and father. If he draws the sympathy of the reader by his skill at irony, he has nevertheless a certain number of faults: indifferent and irresponsible, self-centred, stubborn, indolent, and a dislike of company. According to author Phyllis Ferguson Bottomer, Mr. Bennet may suffer from a form of autism. Mr. Bennet admits he married a silly girl, but he has, for his part, completely given up his social role as pater familias and does not care about the needs of his family. His disengagement is symbolized by his withdrawing into his library and hiding behind his cynical mockery.
Although Mr. Bennet is an intelligent man, his indolence, lethargy, and indifference results in him opting to spend his free time ridiculing the weaknesses of others rather than addressing his own problems. His irresponsibility has placed his family in the potentially devastating position of being homeless and destitute when he dies. He does recognize this fact, but has still done nothing to remedy the situation by for instance saving money from the estate's income to provide a non-entailed capital sum for his widow and daughters. Mr. Bennet seems to spend most all of his time in his personal sanctuary, Longbourn's library/bookroom/study; a physical retreat from the world.
He regards the world with an ironic detachment. When he is involved in a social event, such as the ball at Netherfield, it is as a silent and amused witness of the blunders of his family. Even the discovery of Darcy's role in Lydia's marriage only draws from him a selfish exclamation of relief: "So much the better. It will save me a world of trouble and economy". Though he does love his daughters, he often fails as a parent, preferring instead to withdraw from the never-ending marriage concerns of the women around him rather than offer help. In fact, he often enjoys laughing at the sillier members of his family.

Relationship with wife

Mr. Bennet has a closer relationship with Mrs. Bennet's poor nerves rather than Mrs. Bennet herself. It is worth noting that Mr. Bennet refers her nerves as his 'old friends', stating: "You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least".
Later in the story, it is revealed that Mr. Bennet had only married his wife based on an initial attraction to her:
" captivated by youth and beauty, and that appearance of good humour, which youth and beauty generally give, had married a woman, whose weak understanding, and illiberal mind, had, very early in the marriage, put an end to any real affection for her. Respect, esteem, and confidence, had vanished forever; and all of his views of domestic happiness were overthrown. But Mr. Bennet was not of a disposition to seek 'comfort' for the disappointment which his own imprudence had brought on, in any of those pleasures which too often console the unfortunate of their folly or vice. He was fond of the country and of books; and from these tastes had arisen his principal enjoyments.

It is most likely that Mr. Bennet attempted to rein in his wife's behavior early on in their marriage, only to discover that it was an exercise in futility. This failure to improve Mrs. Bennet's behavior lead to his lethargy and apathy indolence. His wife and youngest daughters, who have "none of them much to recommend them... they are all silly and ignorant like other girls." Mr. Bennet also consoling himself by finding humor at their expense. After his failure to improve the deportment of his wife and younger daughters, Mr. Bennet chose to retreat into his library in Longbourn House, where he left the task to his two oldest daughters, Jane and Elizabeth, accordingly.
This position is a major point of friction between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, for Mrs. Bennet is constantly fretting about potential suitors for her five single daughters. It may be also safe to say that, when he speaks of ' for making sport for neighbours, and laughing at them in our turn', he is also saying the same of himself and his folly of having married Mrs. Bennet in the first place. It is likely that this mistake Mr. Bennet had made as a bachelor is why he is the way he is now.
Mr. Bennet openly favors Jane and Elizabeth due to their much steadier and genteel temperaments; he actively distances himself from his wife and younger daughters' activities whenever possible, even at social gatherings like assemblies, which he should be attending in order to supervise them all.

Relationship with Elizabeth

From the beginning of the novel, it is very apparent that Elizabeth is her father's favourite daughter. The two have a close "sarcastic" bond, which is apparent to everyone in the family. Mrs. Bennet, in one of her many quasi-hysterical moments, turns on her husband and exclaims: "I desire you will do no such thing. Lizzy is not a bit better than the others; and I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good humoured as Lydia. But you are always giving her the preference". To which he replies; "They have none of them much to recommend them... they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters".
Despite the fact that his daughter must marry in order to be able to continue living the life of a gentlewoman, Mr. Bennet appears, for the most part, unconcerned. After Elizabeth rejects Mr. Collins' marriage proposal, Mrs. Bennet is beside herself and proclaims that she shall "never see again". Yet her father, without even pausing to ask Elizabeth her reasons for not wanting to marry Mr. Collins, who would have been able to provide for her, sarcastically declares "An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. – Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do."
Though his indolent parenting style and manners are suggested to be questionable at several times in the novel, he loves his daughters, and ultimately, Mr Bennet blames himself for having been insufficiently disciplining with them, which ultimately had enabled Lydia to run away with Mr. Wickham, and nor does he resent Elizabeth for her having advised him against letting Lydia go to Brighton with Colonel Forster's regiment in the first place.

Economic shortcomings

Though Mr. Bennet appears to be an agreeable character, for he does not become involved with Mrs. Bennet's plans, he does have shortcomings which have a real possibility of affecting his wife and daughters' futures. Early in his marriage, his view was that "economy was... perfectly useless". Instead of saving for the future interests of his family, he allows his entire annual income to be spent; this choice was supported by his wife, a spendthrift who "had no turn for economy". While Mr. Bennet has done nothing try and put sums of money away to try and save up help his family in the event of his death, he has however made the effort to keep them out of debts.
This lack of economic foresight did not bother Mr. Bennet, because he assumed his wife would eventually bear him a son, who would join him to cut off the entail and secure the financial future of the rest of his family. Since a son was never born, his wife was at risk of impoverishment should he predecease her, and he had no resources to attract suitors for his daughters by means of sizable dowries.

Maternal branch

If the narrator remains silent on the ancestors of Mr Bennet, we know a little more about the family of his wife: Mrs. Bennet, born a Gardiner and married for twenty-three years, is the daughter of an attorney of Meryton in Hertfordshire. She has a brother and a sister, both married. Though equally vulgar, ignorant, thoughtless, tasteless and gossipy, the marriages of the two sisters have resulted in them revolving in different circles, while their naturally genteel brother has gone on to acquire an education and a higher social status in general trade in London.

Mrs. Bennet

Mrs. Bennet is the middle-aged wife of her social superior, Mr. Bennet, and the mother of their five daughters; Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia Bennet. She is the daughter of Mr. Gardiner Sr., a Meryton lawyer, and sister to Mrs. Phillips and Mr. Edward Gardiner, who is some years younger than both his sisters, and is both better natured and better educated than them.
Like her favourite daughter, Lydia, Mrs. Bennet is shameless, frivolous, and very 'silly'.
She is, notably, a hypochondriac, who imagines herself susceptible to attacks of 'tremors and palpitations' ; these attacks of 'nerves' happen whenever she is defensive or displeased because things are not going her way. She is also prone to flights of fancy, of pique, and of melodrama, believing herself to regularly ill-used, talking loudly of it, as well as having the bad habits of counting her chickens before they hatch or Bingley ); and.
She is very much a child still, and immature, but in an adult's body; likewise with her most favoured daughter, Lydia, with whom she shares a rapport, indulging all of her 'silly', forward and selfish behaviour, and has for years filled Lydia's head with tales of lace, bonnets, high fashions, men in regimentals. Following her marriage, her ascension to the ranks of the gentry has given her an inflated sense of entitlement. Mrs. Bennet is also just like her [|youngest daughter], in that, as a compulsive gossip and blabbermouth, she is completely incapable of keeping secrets and respecting confidences, even at the expense of her family when she made no effort to keep the news of Lydia's disgrace quiet, allowing it to get out around Meryton.
In the first chapter, the narrator warns that Mrs. Bennet is "a woman of mean understanding, little information and uncertain temper". Seduced by her "youth and beauty, and that appearance of good-humour which youth and beauty generally give", Mr. Bennet married her quickly, discovering too late that she was stupid, narrow-minded and shallow. Although her first name is never mentioned, it is likely to be 'Jane', since it was customary to give the name of the mother to the eldest daughter. Her personal fortune inherited from her father amounted to £4,000 ), which is a lot of money for someone of her condition.
From Mr Collins' proposal to Elizabeth - " , it appears probable that her settlement had increased to £5,000 over the years, but remains invested at 4 per cents.
Marrying above her station, raising her social class, it has given her an unrealistic estimation of her own worth. She repeatedly makes a spectacle of herself, incapable of realizing that her behaviour is more likely to be off-putting to any rich, eligible young man who would take notice of her daughters. Her vulgar public manners, her crude, artless and transparent efforts at social climbing and matchmaking, and her all-around 'silliness' are a source of constant embarrassment to both Jane and Elizabeth. But, if one good thing has come from her lacking of good social graces, it is that they have helped to keep her eldest two daughters humble,. Her main ambition in life is to marry her daughters off to wealthy men, who she can boast and brag about them to her friends and neighbours; Mrs. Phillips, Lady Lucas, Mrs. Long, and Mrs. Goulding, and especially to Lady Lucas, with who she seems to be jelous of. Whether or not any such matches will give her daughters happiness is of little concern to her.
Her pastimes are shopping, 'socializing', and gossiping and boasting. Her favourite daughter is her youngest, Lydia, who takes very much after her younger self. Next she values her eldest, Jane, though only for Jane's great physical beauty, and she never considers Jane's feelings, virtue, or reputation. Her least favourite daughter is Elizabeth who she does not understand at all; when Mr. Collins was directing his 'enraptured heart' at Elizabeth, Mrs. Bennet thought them both together a perfect match as she does not like either of them.

An ignorant and narrow-minded">Narrow minded">narrow-minded petite bourgeoise">Petite bourgeoisie">petite bourgeoise

Between the Gardiner siblings, Mrs. Bennet is the one that had the best wedding, since she married a member of the local gentry, owner of a domain with an income of £2000 annually. But this domain is under the regime of substitution for a male heir, a rule of succession which she has never understood why her husband could do nothing to change, since it clouded his future and that of his daughters, given that she and her husband were unable to have a boy. They had hoped for years, even after the birth of Lydia, the son who would have allowed to put an end to the entail, but they only had girls, five daughters over the course of seven years.
And now that she is middle-aged, having lost nigh-all hope of giving birth to a son, Mrs Bennet is obsessed with the idea of losing her material security, and to be deprived of the social situation to which she is long accustomed to ; the possibility of becoming a widow and being expelled from the domain by the heir-presumptive Mr Collins terrifies her.
On the other hand, however, Mrs. Bennet is not so merciful, herself; when after Mr. Collins' and Miss Charlotte Lucas' engagement is announced, Mrs. Bennet becomes very paranoid about their plans, any time she sees them talking together up until their wedding, she is convinced that they were both just counting down the hours until the time that they can assume possession of Longbourn and 'throw her out to live in the hedgerows', all before Mr. Bennet is 'cold in his grave' ; completely ignoring the fact that this is exactly what she herself would be doing if she was in Charlotte Lucas' situation. She quickly start to view Charlotte as a conniving intruder as Lady Lucas takes every chance to rub in her triumph. And even when she does start to make a semblance of peace with the 'inevitable', she would mutter, under her breath, "repeatedly to say in an ill-natured tone that she 'wished they might be happy'," when really, she wishes them both ill-will.
Thereby her fixed idea, "the business of her life" ever since Jane, the eldest, has reached 16 years old, is the urgent need to find a husband financially secure for her daughters to their safeguard and her own. Thus, she shows immediate interest in the arrival of an eligible bachelor in the region. So she sends Jane to Netherfield in the rain to make sure they retain her there, she encourages Mr Collins to ask for the hand of Elizabeth, and she rejoices loudly for the marriage of Lydia, shamelessly triumphant, indifferent to the dishonourable reasons which made it necessary, since it corresponds to the realization of "her dearest wishes" to have her daughter 'well married', but fails to realise that Wickham will only ever prove to be a drain upon the family's resources, rather than a boon.
By marrying, she has changed her own social status, but she continues to behave like an ignorant,, petite bourgeoise from Meryton. She is one of the simple characters; these characters, like Mr. Collins or Lady Catherine, and her own daughter Lydia, are frozen and unable to evolve: in twenty-three years of marriage she has not changed. As soon as she is upset, incapable of analysis, reflection or questioning, she gets defensive and has an anxiety attack.
Narrow-minded and ignorant, she has only the vaguest idea of how to behave in good society. Her lack of intelligence and narrowness of mind quickly resulted in the neglect by her husband, who for a long time has felt nothing more for her than a mocking indifference tinged with contempt; if he does still have feelings for her, they are of a disappointed variety of love, although it is a fact that he remained faithful to her.
Her notion of stylish behavior is summarized in what she told Sir William: "He has always something to say to everybody. – That is my idea of good breeding". She behaves with embarrassing vulgarity and lack of tact, especially at Netherfield, where her pretentiousness, foolishness and "total lack of correction" are particularly evident. She is completely devoid of empathy, save for herself and Lydia, and, having the mentality of a peahen, she is only sensitive to the outward appearances. For her, it is not the manners or behavior that indicate belonging to a high rank, it is ostentatious and flaunting her wealth, and the validity of a marriage is measured by the amount "of calico, muslin and cambric''" to buy for the bride's trousseau. Thus, Mr. Bennet's refusal to get new clothes for her beloved Lydia in her wedding day shocked her more than the fifteen days lived unmarried with Wickham.
These tendencies are seen more even more ludicrous upon Lydia's marriage, completely glossing over Lydia's ruination and rescue, as if events had actually been different then they actually had.

An egocentric hypochondriac

Jane Austen has particularly charged the character of Mrs Bennett in negative terms. As Virginia Woolf wrote, "no excuse is found for and no mercy shown them Sometimes it seems as if her creatures were born merely to give the supreme delight of slicing their heads off". In the tradition of the comedy of manners and didactic novel, she uses a caricatural and parodic character to mock some of her contemporaries.
Mrs. Bennet is distinguished primarily by her propensity to logorrhea, a defect that Thomas Gisborne considers specifically feminine. She does not listen to any advice, especially if it comes from Elizabeth, makes redundant and repetitive speeches, chatters annoyingly, makes speeches full of absurdities and inconsistencies, which she accompanies, when she is thwarted, with complaints and continual cantankerous remarks that her interlocutors are careful not to interrupt, knowing that it would only serve to prolong them. Even the ever-patient Jane finds her mother's complaints hard to bear, when Mrs. Bennet manifests "a longer irritation than usual" about the absence of Mr. Bingley, confessing to Elizabeth how much the lack of self-control of her mother revives her suffering.
Another emphasized and systematically ridiculed aspect is her "nervous disease" or rather her tendency to use her alleged weakness nervous to get noticed and attract compassion to herself, or else demanding that they dance attendance on her leave, but ultimately failing to make herself loved. There are characters particularly concerned about their health in all the novels of Jane Austen; those hypochondriacs that she calls "poor honey" in her letters. These egocentric characters who use their real or imagined ailments to reduce all to them, seem to be inspired by Mrs Bennet, whose complaints about her health had the ability to irritate Jane, who speaks with certain ironic annoyance about it in her letters to her sister. The narrator has fun describing her displaced joy, her good humor overwhelming to those around her, since she learns that Lydia's wedding is a fact, and her haste to announce the "good news" to all Meryton, shamelessly triumphant, again indifferent to the dishonourable reasons which made it necessary, since it corresponds to the realization of "her dearest wishes" to have her daughter 'well married', and so fails to realise that Wickham will only ever prove to be a drain upon the family's resources, rather than a boon.
Some critics, however, point out that it would be unfair to see only her faults. Her obsession is justified by the family's situation: the cynicism of Mr Bennet will not prevent Mr Collins from inheriting Longbourn. She, at least, unlike her husband, thinks about the future of her daughters in seeking to place them socially,. In an environment where there are numerous young ladies to be married and few interesting parties, she is much more attentive to the competition than her husband. She does not neglect her daughters, while he merely treats them mostly as "stupid and ignorant as all the girls", and is shut selfishly in his library.
Disappointed by her "mediocre intelligence", he enjoys disconcerting her with his "sarcastic humor", but he increases the anxiety of her "unequal character" by refusing to accept legitimate requests: why tell her that he will not visit Bingley on his arrival in the country, when, in fact, he has the firm intention of doing so? She is well aware that he takes pleasure in contradicting her, never realizing that she is the one who sets herself up for it every time. Not smart enough to understand his mindset and unsatisfied herself, she "fancied herself nervous", the narrator says. She really suffers from the mocking indifference from her husband and feels misunderstood; her appreciation for visits and gossip is a consolation, a solace for an unhappily married woman.
But, because Mrs. Bennet is unintelligent, the narrator is merciless and seems to take the same perverse pleasure as Mr. Bennet in mocking her and noting all her ridiculous interventions. The narrator does not forgive her stupidity, nor her awkward interferences, and finds her absurd remarks and pretensions inherently selfish. When Jane asks her to feel gratitude to her brother, who had paid a lot of money towards Lydia's wedding, she replied that 'had he not had children, that she and her daughters will inherit all his property', and he has never been 'really generous so far'. Lydia's marriage does not satisfy her as much as she wanted, because her daughter did not stay long enough with her so that she could continue to parade with her., and if she was able to happily "for all her maternal feelings rid of her most deserving daughters"; the marriage of Jane will only satisfy her "delighted pride" during the year that the Bingleys spent at Netherfield.
Mrs. Bennet is not treated any better by Jane Austen than Lady Catherine, who shows the same lack of taste, and as many selfish pretensions and such ridiculous interferences; her rudeness of rich and aristocrat pride embarrasses her nephew, just as the vulgarity of her mother irritates Elizabeth. For Jane Austen, nothing can excuse the stupidity that exists at all levels of society.

Guilty negligences

Mrs Bennet has not really raised the girls that she would like so much to see married, as good housekeepers. She never gave them any notion of home economics, which was the traditional role of a mother in a middle-class family.
It was Thomas Gisborne who theorized in An Enquiry Into the Duties of Men, published in 1794, and in An Enquiry into the Duties of the Female Sex, published in 1797, the idea of areas reserved for men and women. According to him, women are by nature destined to the domestic sphere, defined as the particular area where "their excellence deploys". Therefore, their role is to keep the house and direct the domestic sphere. Mrs. Bennet openly mocks Charlotte Lucas when she is forced to go into the kitchen in order to supervise the tarts making, proudly saying that her "daughters are brought up differently"; also, she reacts with force when Mr Collins, on the day of his arrival, assumed that his cousins took part in the preparation of dinner. Even if it was unnecessary for her daughters to do kitchen work, they should have learnt how to supervise the servants who did such work.
Mrs. Bennet also adds that they lived quite well, since Mr. Bennet spends annually his entire comfortable income: Mrs Bennet "had no turn for economy"; and for Lydia-only the expenses amounted to approximately £90-per year, plus all of the additional indulgences of her mother providing her with more, and going to her sisters to borrow money ); with the £100-per annum financial arrangements made for her marriage, Mr. Bennet is "scarcely £10 pounds more out of pocket" then he was before Lydia's marriage.

Children

Jane Bennet

Jane Bingley is the eldest Bennet sister. Like her immediately younger sister, Elizabeth, Jane is favoured by her father, due to her steady, genteel disposition. Like each of her sisters, Jane had an allowance/pin money of £40 per annum before her marriage to Charles Bingley. Twenty-two years old when the novel begins, she is considered the most beautiful young lady in the neighbourhood.
Jane's character is contrasted with Elizabeth's as sweeter, shyer, and equally sensible, but not as clever ; an introvert, her most notable trait is. As Anna Quindlen wrote, Jane is "sugar to Elizabeth's lemonade". Jane is closest to Elizabeth, and her character is often contrasted with that of Elizabeth. Jane seems to have taken after her father's side of the family, having been portrayed as a sweet, steady, genteel girl. She is favoured by her mother solely because of her external beauty. If Jane has taken anything after her mother, it is a certain inflexibility of thought; but while her mother's inflexibility of thought leans in a wholly selfish direction, Jane's is in a selfless one; Jane is very unwilling to think ill of others, whereas her mother will think ill of anyone on little-to-no evidence at-all.
Jane falls in love with the affable and amiable Mr. Bingley, a rich young man who has recently leased Netherfield Park, a neighbouring estate in Hertfordshire, and a close friend of Mr. Darcy. Their love is initially thwarted by Mr. Darcy and Caroline Bingley, who are concerned by Jane's low connections and have other plans for Bingley, involving Miss Darcy, Mr Darcy's sister. Mr. Darcy, aided by Elizabeth, eventually sees the error in his ways and is instrumental in bringing Jane and Bingley back together.
As described in volume 3, chapter 19 after their marriage, the happy couple only manage to live at Netherfield for a year before life in Meryton proved to be too much for their good tempers, leading them to give up the lease on the estate and establish themselves elsewhere

Elizabeth Bennet

Elizabeth Darcy The reader sees the unfolding plot and the other characters mostly from her viewpoint. The second of the Bennet daughters, she is twenty years old at the start of the novel and is intelligent, lively, playful, attractive, and witty, but with a tendency to judge others upon her first impressions and perhaps to be a little selective of the evidence on which she bases her judgments. Like each of her sisters, Elizabeth had an allowance/pin money of £40 per annum. As the plot begins, her closest relationships are with her father, her sister Jane, her Aunt Gardiner, and her best friend Charlotte Lucas. She is also the least favourite of her mother, Mrs. Bennet because of her resistance to her mother's plans. As the story progresses, so does her relationship with Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, Esquire. The course of Elizabeth and Darcy's relationship is ultimately decided when Darcy overcomes his pride, and Elizabeth overcomes her prejudice, leading them each to acknowledge their love for the other.

Mary Bennet

Mary Bennet is the middle, and only plain and solemn Bennet sister. Like both her two younger sisters, Kitty and Lydia, she is seen as being 'silly' by Mr. Bennet, and as not even pretty like her sisters by Mrs. Bennet. Mary is not very intelligent, but thinks of herself as being wise. Socially inept, Mary is more in the habit of talking at someone, moralizing, rather than to them; rather than join in some of the family activities, Mary mostly reads, plays music and sings, although she is often impatient to display her 'accomplishments' and is rather vain and pedantic about them; vanity is disguised as discipline. She is convinced that merely having read/re-read a number of books makes her an authority on those subjects. Mary is very unaware of all of this, fancying herself to be intelligent, wise and very accomplished; and this is likely to be the reason why her father considers her to be 'silly' like her mother and younger sisters, though more prim and sensible than them.
Mary also tries to be pious, high-minded and morally superior and beyond approach, only instead to come across as being both very sanctimonious, self-righteous, and haughty, and very, very dull; she seems to have assumed that, by always assuming the moral high ground , she will be setting herself above her sisters, when she is always being compared to them. While Mary is not what one would call introspective, she is not what one would call extrospective, either; she is socially awkward, lacking any real social graces or observations about herself or others.
Mary is like a caricature of an overly bookish young woman, who spends all of her time reading and memorizing texts, but does not really get the point of what she is reading, saying in conversation. While she has inherited her father's fondness for books, she has also inherited her mother's lack of self-awareness and discernment; only able to pick up on the most superficial meanings of what she reads, as well as a tendency to utter repetitions of phrases from the books in place of original conversation. Didactic, Mary constantly recites awkward interpretations of what are supposed to be profound observations about human nature and life in general from her books, declaring them to be " observations", unable to discern where different books by different authors contradict one another, and is totally unable to think critically about her books, giving them more benefit than people. Whilst one cannot fault her on her fastidiousness and application, Mary's lack of insight and talent makes her come across as ignorant, pedantic, ultracrepidarian, and very naïve when lecturing others; she is more likely to merely reflect over scripture at face value than to act upon them.
When Mr. Collins is refused by Elizabeth, Mrs. Bennet hopes Mary may be prevailed upon to accept him, and the impression the reader is given is that Mary also harboured some hopes in this direction, but neither of them know that he is already engaged to Charlotte Lucas by this time until informed so by Charlotte's father, Sir William Lucas. This also shows that Mary can be and is easily influenced simply by someone with the position in society, such as that of a clergyman; her biased respect blinding her as to how ridiculous Mr. Collins actually is.
Mary does work hard for her knowledge and accomplishments, ever-diligently applying herself to them; but, despite the fact that she is studious, was once described as the most accomplished girl in the neighbourhood; and none can question her fastidiousness, drive and work ethic, Mary yet lives in ignorance of the full meaning of almost everything she studies, and she sadly has neither genius nor taste. Mary is still a sympathetic character: her parents are biased and ineffective, her two older and two younger sisters have neatly paired off together, which leaves her alone as the odd one out, and she is probably the Bennet daughter who is most ignored, which might be why she puts so much effort in trying to impress people, clinging to what she feels makes her stand out from her sisters. Mary also has little understanding and sympathy for her sisters - Lydia most of all.
Like each of her sisters, Mary had an allowance/pin money of £40 per annum before her marriage. Mary does not appear often in the main action of the novel. However, it is said in volume 3, chapter 19 that, now with Jane, Elizabeth, and Lydia now married and moved out of Longbourn, and Kitty living primarily with Jane and Elizabeth, Mary received more 'attention' from her mother, and was made to mix more with people during company.
According to James Edward Austen-Leigh's A Memoir of Jane Austen, Mary ended up marrying one of her Uncle Philips' law clerks, and moved into Meryton with him,.

Catherine ''"Kitty"'' Bennet

Catherine "Kitty" Bennet is Mr. and Mrs. Bennet's fourth daughter, at 17 years old ; she is one of the novel's more lightweight characters. Her role in the Bennet family is little more than as the pliable, easily downtrodden, easily hurt, and easily teased flirt, whose substance is largely borrowed from Lydia. Kitty is described as "weak-spirited", "irritable", and "ignorant, idle and vain", she is also, easily intimidated, easily moved aside, dismissed and ignored, and is easily led. While she and Lydia have a number of similar interests, Kitty is weak-minded, lacking in resolve, and simply lacks Lydia's 'spark', spunk and motivation, always seeming to be 'luckless' and one step behind her.
Despite the fact that she is older than Lydia by two years, Kitty is almost completely under her younger sister's influence, living off of whatever crumbs of second hand attention and affection from their mother that rubs off of Lydia, and not recognizing the consequences of keeping Lydia's plot to elope a secret from her family, generally and to her personally. Little more than a 'sidekick', and virtually Lydia's shadow, Kitty's individuality is practically non-existent throughout most of the story; lacking much in the way of personal depth, she does not have an original idea in her head, following Lydia's lead in every matter, agreeing with Lydia, and mostly letting Lydia do her thinking for her. Kitty's own lack of confidence restrains her from reacting with equal alacrity.
Although she is portrayed as having no different thought from Lydia, Lydia does take her for granted, so Kitty does hold some resentment towards her,, but yet does not seem to pick up on the pattern of behaviour where Lydia takes advantage of her again and again, and Kitty is left getting into trouble because of her antics.
Little more than the reflection of Lydia throughout the story, they share many of the same pursuits; Kitty greatly enjoys dancing, shopping, fashions, and joining with Lydia in engaging in flirtations with the officers of the militia regiment that has been posted at Meryton over the winter, but here also she is overshadowed by Lydia, who is more forward, assertive, and demanding of attention. Kitty's idiosyncrasies are the result of the two most singular aspects of her life; the first is the influence Lydia holds over her; the second is the lack of acknowledgement Kitty receives from her family. Even her parents are guilty of this unintended negligence. In the first few chapters, when Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are quarreling about Mr. Bingley, Mrs. Bennet, in lieu of a better comeback, "began scolding one of her daughters" simply for coughing. With these mentions to her coughing regularly, Kitty may have a form of Hayfever.
It is mentioned in Volume 2, chapter 37, that, whilst her oldest sisters, Jane and Elizabeth, have tried over the years to rein in the wild and ill-bred behaviours of Kitty and Lydia, their efforts had, at Kitty's end, been seen as 'interfering' ; Jane and Elizabeth's attempts had also undermined by their mother, and unsupported by their father .
It is later said, in volume 3, chapter 19 that, with Lydia's negative influence removed, and often spending much time in the company of her two well-behaved older sisters, Kitty has improved.
According to James Edward Austen-Leigh's A Memoir of Jane Austen, Kitty later married a clergyman who lived near Pemberley, potentially a parish under the patronage of the Darcy family.

Lydia Bennet

Lydia Wickham is the youngest Bennet sister; she is 15 years old when the novel begins. In terms of outer appearance, Lydia is described as a strong, healthy, well-grown female, with a fine complexion and a good-humoured countenance.
In terms of personality, Lydia is a younger version of her mother, as well as being her mother's favourite ; She has a one-track mind, to the point of being somewhat delusional in her self-love and her estimation of her own self-importance-and-consequence; all of which her mother merely considers as 'cheerfulness', 'jolliness', and 'flirtatiousness', as it matches all of her own humours.
If Lydia has taken anything from her father, it would be his propensity/bad habit for poking fun at people; but, in Lydia's case, it is a habit of hers to mock, laugh, or else gloat at the losses, suffering, or inconvenience that befall others, declaring how " will laugh ". She lives in the moment, thinking only of herself and things that relate to her own enjoyments, utterly wrapped up in herself, and sparing a thought for neither the past or the future, for consequences to herself or for the wellbeing of others. She also proves to be so wrapped up in her 'adventure' that the slatternly state of the room she and Wickham were staying while in London doesn't even seem to register with her. Lydia is also just like her mother, in that, as a compulsive gossip, she is completely incapable of keeping secrets and respecting confidences.
She dominates her older sister Kitty, whom she treats as a sidekick, because she has always been able to get away with it, and has resisted all attempts by her elder sisters Jane and Elizabeth to rein in and correct her behaviour, and is supported in the family by her mother, with whom she shares a rapport, who indulges all of her 'silly', forward and selfish behaviour, and has for years filled Lydia's head with tales of lace, bonnets, high fashions, men in regimentals. Likewise, Lydia's behaviour was only allowed to descend further due to her father's indolence, not taking seriously how Lydia's behaviour might negatively affect the Bennets.
Lydia is careless with her money, always spending more than her pin money allows, receiving more money from her mother, and going to her sisters to borrow money. Like each of her sisters, Lydia had an allowance/pin money of £40 per annum before her marriage to Wickham, after which she started receiving £100 per annum. Her main priorities in life are shopping and 'socializing', especially flirting with the officers of the militia, trying to garner as much attention to herself as she can. This behaviour only leads to her running off to London with George Wickham, although he has no intention of marrying her Having been pampered all of her live by her mother she has never exhibited any foresight, and so cannot think beyond her own needs and desires; Lydia also shows no regard for the moral code of her society, and no remorse for the shame and disgrace she causes her family, merely thinking of it as a "good joke", and how envious her sisters and friends would be of her that she was the first of them to be married; this she seems to view as something of a real accomplishment, especially as she is the youngest of them.
Jane Austen, the author of the novel, also wrote that Lydia has "high animal spirits, and a sort of natural self-consequence" which has been strengthened into an over-self-assurance, due to her mother's years of spoiling her.
Of the three youngest of the Bennet sisters, Lydia is seen the most. And, it is said in volume 3, chapter 19 that, now married, Lydia was not in the end living the 'high life' she had thought it would be, but didn't really seem to notice this fact.

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