Character Analysis
Elizabeth Bennet
Even in her blindest moments, Elizabeth Bennet is an unfailing attractive character. She is described as a beauty and has especially expressive eyes, but what everybody notices about her is her spirited wit and her good sense. Mainly because of that good sense, Elizabeth is her father's favorite child and her mother's least favorite. Her self-assurance comes from a keen critical mind and is expressed through her quick-witted dialogue.
Elizabeth's sparkling and teasing wit brings on Lady Catherine's disapproval and Darcy's admiration. She is always interesting to listen to and always ready to laugh at foolishness, stating, "I hope I never ridicule what is wise or good. Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can." Because of her exceptional powers of observation, Elizabeth's sense of the difference between the wise and foolish, for the most part, is very good.
In spite of her mistake in misjudging Wickham and Darcy, and her more blamable fault of sticking stubbornly to that judgment until forced to see her error, Elizabeth is usually right about people. For example, she painfully recognizes the inappropriate behavior of most of her family, and she quickly identifies Mr. Collins as a fool and Lady Catherine as a tyrant. However, this ability to size people up leads her too far at times. She proceeds from reasonable first impressions of Darcy and Wickham to definite and wrong conclusions about their characters. Her confidence in her own discernment — a combination of both pride and prejudice — is what leads her into her worst errors.