Elizabeth Bennet (Bennets, bonnet, Lizzy)

Elizabeth Jane Bennet (lane, Bennets, June, bonnet) is the second of five daughters in the Jane Bennet (lane, Bennets, June, bonnet) family of Longbourn, Hertfordshire, and serves as the emotional and intellectual centre of her household. Lively, perceptive, and blessed with a keen sense of humour, she observes the follies of those around her with both amusement and criticism, yet without malice. Her sharp tongue and propensity to tease mask a fundamentally sound moral character; she is incapable of calculated cruelty and extends fair judgment even to those who have offended her. She is deeply attached to her sister Jane Bennet (lane, Bennets, June, bonnet) and horrified by the thoughtlessness and vulgarity displayed by her mother and youngest sisters. Elizabeth takes genuine pleasure in walking and in the society of those she respects—particularly her aunt and uncle Mr. Gardiner (Gardiners, gardener), whose good sense and warm affection she values highly. Her initial disdain for Fitzwilliam Darcy (Darcy), born of his cold manner and her belief in George Wickham (Wickham)'s false account of him, gives way to a more complex understanding as she encounters evidence of Fitzwilliam Darcy (Darcy)'s true character and genuine worth. She is neither impressed by rank nor swayed by flattery, and she possesses the courage to speak her mind even to those of superior station, as she demonstrates in her final confrontation with Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Lady Catherine) de Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Lady Catherine).