Elizabeth Bennet
Elizabeth Bennet is the main character in Pride and Prejudice. She is characterized by her liveliness and her quickness to make judgments about others. Elizabeth is the second eldest of the Bennet sisters and enjoys a special relationship with both Jane and her father. As Jane is the only other sensible sister in the Bennet family, Elizabeth spends a good deal of time with her and values her insight, although she is constantly frustrated by Jane's willingness to trust others. Elizabeth shares her love for irony and sarcasm with her father, but she does not take it to his extremes. Elizabeth's key trait is the desire to marry for love rather than wealth. Her mother is constantly frustrated by her lack of motivation to find a husband, especially after she turns down Mr. Collins.
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After Elizabeth turns down Darcy and receives his letter, she is forced to reevaluate herself. She notices her willingness to make judgements quickly and her unwillingness to change her mind. Elizabeth begins to hate herself for misunderstanding Darcy so much. Although she was right in believing him full of pride, she did not realize that he was really trying to help other people. Elizabeth changes a lot in the second half of the book when she is forced to be more cautious in judging other people as displayed by her willingness to give Darcy a second chance. Just when she realizes that Darcy is out of her reach, she realizes how much she loves him. Her love both causes her to cling to her former self, with regards to Jane, and forces her to change her primary fault, prejudice. Elizabeth's tendency towards prejudices is a key trait to the story and makes up half the title, along with the main fault of the other central character.