Do we like them?

Do we like Elizabeth Bennet?

A character from Pride and Prejudice (1813)

Our score: 9 out of 10. Yes, we'd back her. She's funny, loyal and brave, and she stands up to snobs. She's also quick to judge, but she owns up to it.

Elizabeth is the second of five Bennet sisters, living on a modest country estate in Regency England. Her mother's chief aim in life is to see her daughters married. When a wealthy bachelor moves into the neighbourhood, the whole district starts scheming. Elizabeth watches the fuss with amusement, and she is determined to marry for love, not for money or security.

She is the sharpest and most sensible of the sisters, and she has a gift for teasing out the absurdity in everyone around her. She is warm to those she loves, especially her eldest sister Jane, and unimpressed by titles and wealth. Her flaw is that she trusts her first impressions too much, and her pride in her own good judgment makes her slow to doubt them. That flaw is what the novel's title is about, and it costs her a few uncomfortable lessons. We'd back her for her wit, her loyalty and her spine, and we mark her down a point for the snap judgments.

She takes a strong dislike to the proud Mr Darcy and refuses his first proposal. When she learns she has misjudged both him and others, she faces it honestly instead of defending herself. By the end she has made the biggest change in the book, from prejudice to understanding, and she marries Darcy for love on her own terms.