---
type: Person
title: Elizabeth Bennet
description: Second daughter of the Bennet family of Longbourn, known for her wit,
  quick perception, and lively disposition.
resource: raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt
tags:
- bennet-family
- longbourn
- hertfordshire
- gentry
aliases:
- Lizzy
- Eliza
timestamp: '2026-07-16T18:15:29Z'
citadel_version: 0.3.0
---

Elizabeth Bennet is the second of [Mr.](../persons/mr-bennet.md) and
[Mrs. Bennet](../persons/mrs-bennet.md)'s five daughters, and her father's declared favourite for
having "something more of quickness than her sisters."[^s1] Her intimate friend is
[Charlotte Lucas](../persons/charlotte-lucas.md).[^s2]

At the Meryton assembly, [Mr. Darcy](../persons/fitzwilliam-darcy.md) refuses to dance with her,
remarking to [Mr. Bingley](../persons/charles-bingley.md), "She is tolerable: but not handsome
enough to tempt _me_."[^s3] Elizabeth overhears this, feels no cordial regard for Darcy afterward,
and retells the story among her friends "with great spirit," since she "had a lively, playful
disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous."[^s3] When her sister Jane falls ill at
[Netherfield Park](../misc/netherfield-park.md), Elizabeth walks three miles alone through the mud
to nurse her, arriving with "weary ancles, dirty stockings, and a face glowing with the warmth of
exercise" — behaviour [Caroline Bingley](../persons/caroline-bingley.md) and Mrs. Hurst consider
close to unladylike, while Darcy is instead struck by how the exercise "brightened" her eyes.[^s4]
Darcy comes to find her "rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark
eyes," despite having first thought her merely passable.[^s5]

At the Netherfield ball, Darcy asks her to dance; taken by surprise, "without knowing what she
did, she accepted him."[^s6] In conversation there, and again earlier in a dance at Sir William
Lucas's, Elizabeth presses Darcy on pride and prejudice, telling him it is "particularly incumbent
on those who never change their opinion, to be secure of judging properly at first."[^s7]

[Mr. Collins](../persons/mr-collins.md) proposes marriage to her; she refuses him decisively
("it is impossible for me to do otherwise than decline them"), resisting pressure from her mother
to accept.[^s8] She is later dismayed when Charlotte Lucas accepts Collins instead.[^s9]

Elizabeth befriends the militia officer [George Wickham](../persons/george-wickham.md), who tells
her a history of ill-treatment at Mr. Darcy's hands; she credits Wickham's account and grows
correspondingly more hostile to Darcy, telling him so directly when they dance together.[^s10] Her
aunt, [Mrs. Gardiner](../persons/mrs-gardiner.md), later cautions her against letting her regard
for Wickham run away with her given his lack of fortune.[^s11]

During a six-week visit to the newly married [Charlotte Collins](../persons/charlotte-lucas.md) at
Hunsford, Elizabeth dines repeatedly at [Rosings Park](../misc/rosings-park.md), where
[Lady Catherine de Bourgh](../persons/lady-catherine-de-bourgh.md) questions her closely on her
age, her sisters, and the Bennets' want of a governess; asked her age outright, Elizabeth deflects,
"your Ladyship can hardly expect me to own it."[^s12] There she also talks with Darcy's cousin
[Colonel Fitzwilliam](../persons/colonel-fitzwilliam.md), whose unguarded mention of Darcy having
"saved a friend from the inconveniences of a most imprudent marriage" confirms to her that Darcy
was behind Bingley's separation from Jane.[^s13]

Darcy then calls on her alone at the parsonage and proposes marriage, opening "in vain have I
struggled... how ardently I admire and love you," while dwelling at length on the degradation the
match represents for him.[^s14] Elizabeth refuses him outright, citing his role in separating
Bingley from Jane and his treatment of Wickham: "you could not have made me the offer of your hand
in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it," adding that she had known him barely
a month before deciding he was "the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to
marry."[^s15]

The next morning Darcy hands her a letter answering both charges (its contents are detailed on
[Fitzwilliam Darcy](../persons/fitzwilliam-darcy.md)'s and [George Wickham](../persons/george-wickham.md)'s
pages). Rereading it, Elizabeth moves from disbelief to conviction and reproaches herself bitterly:
"How despicably have I acted!... Till this moment, I never knew myself."[^s16] She tells
[Jane](../persons/jane-bennet.md) the letter's contents concerning Wickham, but resolves against
making them public generally, since "Mr. Darcy has not authorized me to make his communication
public."[^s17] Back at Longbourn, she unsuccessfully warns her father that Lydia's unchecked conduct
threatens "our importance, our respectability in the world"; he lets Lydia go to
[Brighton](../misc/brighton.md) regardless.[^s18]

Touring Derbyshire with the Gardiners, Elizabeth is talked into visiting
[Pemberley](../misc/pemberley.md) after confirming Darcy is away, only for him to arrive
unexpectedly a day early; his manner toward her and her aunt and uncle is strikingly altered —
attentive and eager to introduce his sister, asking "will you allow me... to introduce my sister
to your acquaintance during your stay at Lambton?"[^s19] The housekeeper's unprompted praise of
Darcy leaves Elizabeth reassessing him: she feels toward him "gratitude — not merely for having
once loved her, but for loving her still well enough to forgive all the petulance and acrimony of
her manner in rejecting him."[^s20] When [Caroline Bingley](../persons/caroline-bingley.md)
disparages her looks to needle Darcy, he replies that for many months he has "considered her one
of the handsomest women of my acquaintance."[^s21]

At Lambton, letters from Jane bring news that [Lydia](../persons/lydia-bennet.md) has "gone off to
Scotland with one of his officers; to own the truth, with Wickham," and, a day later, that Colonel
Forster fears the pair are not married and never intended to be.[^s22] Elizabeth blurts the news to
Darcy — "she has thrown herself into the power of... Mr. Wickham... she is lost for ever" —
believing the disgrace ends any hope of his continued regard, and leaves at once for Longbourn with
the Gardiners.[^s23] On the journey she defends to her aunt and uncle how she came to know Wickham's
true character, without naming her source.[^s24]

Once Mr. Gardiner secures Wickham's agreement to marry Lydia on surprisingly light terms, Elizabeth
privately credits her uncle's generosity, unaware of anyone else's involvement: "it must be my
uncle's doings!"[^s25] When the newly married couple visit Longbourn, she is disgusted by Wickham's
untroubled self-assurance.[^s26]

## The truth about Lydia's marriage

Lydia, recounting her wedding, lets slip that Darcy had been present at it; astonished, Elizabeth
writes at once to [Mrs. Gardiner](../persons/mrs-gardiner.md) asking for an explanation.[^s36]
Mrs. Gardiner's reply reveals what Elizabeth's earlier guess had
missed: it was [Darcy](../persons/fitzwilliam-darcy.md), not her uncle, who found Wickham and Lydia,
paid Wickham's debts, and arranged the marriage. Reading it, Elizabeth moves through pain and
gratitude to pride in him: "she was proud of him,--proud that in a cause of compassion and honour he
had been able to get the better of himself."[^s27] Soon after, [Wickham](../persons/george-wickham.md)
corners her on a walk, still probing about [Pemberley](../misc/pemberley.md), the housekeeper, and
the disputed Kympton living; Elizabeth firmly declines to be drawn out, closing with, "Come, Mr.
Wickham, we are brother and sister, you know. Do not let us quarrel about the past."[^s28]

## Darcy and Bingley return to Netherfield

When [Bingley](../persons/charles-bingley.md) returns to [Netherfield Park](../misc/netherfield-park.md)
and calls at Longbourn with Darcy, [Mrs. Bennet](../persons/mrs-bennet.md)'s cold civility to the man
her family owes everything to leaves Elizabeth "hurt and distressed to a most painful degree."[^s29]
Soon after, [Mr. Collins](../persons/mr-collins.md)'s letter warning of a rumoured match between
Elizabeth and Darcy — and of [Lady Catherine](../persons/lady-catherine-de-bourgh.md)'s disapproval —
amuses [Mr. Bennet](../persons/mr-bennet.md) but mortifies Elizabeth, who cannot explain why.[^s30]

## Lady Catherine's visit and Darcy's second proposal

Lady Catherine arrives unannounced at Longbourn to demand Elizabeth deny the rumour and promise
never to accept Darcy; Elizabeth refuses to be intimidated, telling her she is "only resolved to act
in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness."[^s31] Lady Catherine leaves
enraged. Days later, walking with Darcy toward [Sir William Lucas](../persons/sir-william-lucas.md)'s,
Elizabeth thanks him for his kindness to Lydia; when he asks whether her feelings are "still what
they were last April," she answers that they have changed enough to accept him, and he proposes
again.[^s32] She learns that Lady Catherine's visit, meant to secure a promise against the match,
instead gave Darcy hope.[^s33] That night she tells [Jane](../persons/jane-bennet.md), who is at
first flatly incredulous ("I know it to be impossible") before accepting the news with joy.[^s34]
[Mr. Bennet](../persons/mr-bennet.md), warning her against marrying without real esteem, gives his
consent once satisfied of her attachment; [Mrs. Bennet](../persons/mrs-bennet.md)'s reaction is
open astonishment followed by rapture over Darcy's fortune.[^s35]

## See also

- [Mr. Bennet](../persons/mr-bennet.md)
- [Jane Bennet](../persons/jane-bennet.md)
- [Fitzwilliam Darcy](../persons/fitzwilliam-darcy.md)
- [George Wickham](../persons/george-wickham.md)
- [Charlotte Lucas](../persons/charlotte-lucas.md)
- [Colonel Fitzwilliam](../persons/colonel-fitzwilliam.md)
- [Pemberley](../misc/pemberley.md)
- [Lydia Bennet](../persons/lydia-bennet.md)
- [Mrs. Gardiner](../persons/mrs-gardiner.md)
- [Mrs. Bennet](../persons/mrs-bennet.md)
- [Lady Catherine de Bourgh](../persons/lady-catherine-de-bourgh.md)

## Sources

[^s1]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 757-763 — Mr. Bennet names Elizabeth his favourite (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s2]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 1259-1264 — Charlotte Lucas described as Elizabeth's intimate friend (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s3]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 1043-1056 — Darcy's remark and Elizabeth's reaction at the Meryton assembly (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s4]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 1838-1849, 1970-1974 — Elizabeth's walk to Netherfield and Darcy's reaction (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s5]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 1459-1464 — Darcy notices Elizabeth's eyes (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s6]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 4008-4012 — Elizabeth accepts Darcy's request to dance at the Netherfield ball (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s7]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 4145-4151 — Elizabeth presses Darcy on judging character (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s8]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 4611-4618 — Elizabeth refuses Mr. Collins's proposal (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s9]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 5266-5270 — Elizabeth's astonishment at Charlotte's engagement (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s10]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 4082-4088 — Elizabeth tells Darcy that Wickham has lost his friendship (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s11]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 5905-5916 — Mrs. Gardiner cautions Elizabeth about Wickham (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s12]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 6663-6687 — Lady Catherine's dinner interrogation and Elizabeth's deflection of the age question (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s13]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 7373-7376 — Colonel Fitzwilliam's remark revealing Darcy's role in separating Bingley and Jane (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s14]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 7505-7507 — Darcy's proposal at the Hunsford parsonage (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s15]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 7644-7656 — Elizabeth's refusal of Darcy's proposal (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s16]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 8105-8114 — Elizabeth's self-reproach after rereading Darcy's letter (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s17]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 8674-8676; 8742-8744 — Elizabeth tells Jane of the letter's contents but withholds them from general knowledge (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s18]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 8933-8935 — Elizabeth warns her father about Lydia going to Brighton (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s19]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 9715-9718 — Darcy asks to introduce his sister to Elizabeth at Lambton (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s20]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 10014-10017 — Elizabeth's reassessment of Darcy after the Pemberley visit (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s21]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 10185-10220 — Miss Bingley's insult and Darcy's defence of Elizabeth's looks (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s22]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 10263-10267; 10318-10323 — Jane's two letters reporting Lydia's elopement (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s23]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 10387-10390 — Elizabeth tells Darcy of Lydia's elopement (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s24]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 10640-10642 — Elizabeth defends her knowledge of Wickham's character to her aunt and uncle (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s25]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 11384-11386 — Elizabeth credits her uncle for Wickham's agreement to marry Lydia (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s26]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 11779-11781 — Elizabeth's disgust at Wickham's self-assurance on his visit to Longbourn (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s27]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 12163-12183; 12295-12296 — Elizabeth's reaction to Mrs. Gardiner's letter (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s28]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 12255-12292 — Wickham's probing questions and Elizabeth's firm reply (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s29]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 12521-12524 — Elizabeth's distress at her mother's coldness to Darcy (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s30]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 13558-13584 — Collins's letter warning of the rumoured match, read aloud by Mr. Bennet (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s31]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 13283-13285; 13412-13414 — Lady Catherine's demand and Elizabeth's refusal (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s32]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 13698-13708 — Darcy's second proposal and Elizabeth's acceptance (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s33]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 13720-13733 — Lady Catherine's visit gives Darcy hope (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s34]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 13953-13959; 13972-13975 — Elizabeth tells Jane, who is at first incredulous (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s35]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 14104-14127; 14161-14169 — Mr. Bennet's consent and Mrs. Bennet's reaction (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s36]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 11927; 11952-11953 — Lydia's slip about Darcy and Elizabeth's letter to Mrs. Gardiner (ingested 2026-07-16)
