Mrs. Gardiner (Gardiners, gardener)

Mr. Gardiner (Gardiners, gardener) is Elizabeth Bennet (Bennets, bonnet, Lizzy)'s paternal aunt and one of the few relations in whose judgment and affection Elizabeth Bennet (Bennets, bonnet, Lizzy) has complete confidence. Unlike the vulgarity of the Mr. Philips family or the frivolity of her own mother, Mr. Gardiner (Gardiners, gardener) combines good sense with genuine warmth. She is observant and protective—notably, she becomes suspicious of Elizabeth Bennet (Bennets, bonnet, Lizzy)'s attachment to George Wickham (Wickham) upon observing them together during the Mr. Gardiner (Gardiners, gardener)' visit to Longbourn, and she resolves to counsel Elizabeth Bennet (Bennets, bonnet, Lizzy) on the imprudence of such an attachment before leaving Hertfordshire. Her knowledge of Derbyshire, gained during time spent there before her marriage, proves valuable as she discusses Pemberley and the late Fitzwilliam Darcy (Darcy) with George Wickham (Wickham), and she demonstrates the capacity to form sound judgments about character from such conversations. Mr. Gardiner (Gardiners, gardener) represents the best of middle-class respectability and proves herself a steadying influence and true friend to Elizabeth Bennet (Bennets, bonnet, Lizzy) throughout the novel.