Elizabeth Bennet, later Elizabeth Darcy, is the protagonist in the 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. She is often referred to as Eliza or Lizzy by her friends and family.Elizabeth is the second eldest of the five Bennet sisters of the estate of Longbourn, situated near the fictional market village of Meryton in Hertfordshire, England. She is 20 years old at the beginning of the novel.] Elizabeth is portrayed as an intelligent young woman, with "a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous". She often presents a playful good-natured impertinence that does not offend. Early in the novel she is depicted as being personally proud of her mental quickness and her acuity in judging the social behaviour and intentions of others.
Of her family, Elizabeth is her father's favourite, described by him as having "something more of quickness than her sisters". In contrast, she is the least dear to her mother, especially after Elizabeth refuses a marriage proposal from Mr. Collins. Elizabeth is also often upset and embarrassed by the behaviour of her mother and of her younger sisters.
Her father is a landowner, but his estate, Longbourn, is entailed away under English law from his children because he does not have a son, and upon his death, Longbourn will be inherited by his cousin, Mr. Collins, a clergyman. Within her neighbourhood, Elizabeth is considered a beauty and a charming young woman, with "fine eyes" to which Mr. Darcy is first drawn. He is later attracted more particularly to her "light and pleasing" figure, the "easy playfulness" of her manners, her mind and personality, and eventually considers her "one of the handsomest women" in his acquaintance.
Pride and Prejudice primarily focuses on Elizabeth and her experiences with Mr. Darcy, a wealthy, proud man who, on their first meeting, snubs her at a public dance in her home village. Her first impression, based on Darcy's studied aloofness and his refusal to dance with herbecause she was "not handsome enough to tempt [him]"leads Elizabeth to form a negative opinion of him. This dislike is reinforced when she meets the handsome and attentive Mr. Wickham, a lieutenant in the nearby militia whom she considers charming and personable. Led on by Wickham's alluring personality, an apparent mutual regard develops between them. Wickham leads Elizabeth and the neighborhood to believe that he has been unfairly treated by Darcy. He claims that Darcy denied him a living as a clergyman that was promised to him by Darcy's late father. Elizabeth's dislike of Darcy is further fueled when she learns from his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, that he disrupted the courtship of her beloved sister Jane with Charles Bingley, Darcy's friend, because Darcy did not think Jane good enough for Bingley. Elizabeth is persuaded that her prejudice against Mr. Darcy is well-founded, both on available evidence and upon what she considers her superior judgment of human character.
Elizabeth is thus surprised when Mr. Darcy declares his love for her, and offers her a proposal of marriage. But while expressing his ardent love, he reminds her of the large gap in their social status, remarking that Elizabeth could hardly expect him to "rejoice" in her "inferior connexions". Elizabeth is offended and vehemently refuses him. She sharply details her reasons for disliking him, not the least being his role in separating Jane and Mr. Bingley; and, she relays the account of him received from Mr. Wickham. Finally, on his complaint of her apparent bitterness, she replies: the arrogant way by which he proposed to her prevented her from feeling concerns for him she "might have felt had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner".
Darcy departs in anger and mortification. That night he writes a letter to Elizabeth in which he defends his wounded honour, reveals the motives for his interference in Jane and Bingley's relationship, and gives a full account of his lifelong dealings with Wickham. He delivers the letter by hand to Elizabeth the following morning. After much thought, Elizabeth recollects inconsistencies in Wickham's story, and now suspects he is not the honourable character she first judged. She begins to recognize her own prejudices and her errors in judgment, as well as re-evaluating her opinion of Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy, likewise, also sincerely re-evaluates of his own actions and general behaviour towards others.
A few months later, Elizabeth is invited by her aunt and uncle Gardiner to accompany them on a pleasure tour of Derbyshire. While there, they persuade Elizabeth to visit Darcy's estate, Pemberley. Elizabeth is reluctant to do so but when she learns that Darcy is absent, she decides to visit. She finds the mansion and gardens beautiful and impressive, and the servants and people in the area express sincere fondness for Darcyan indication that the people who know him best believe him to be of high character. She is shocked and embarrassed when Mr. Darcy returns home unexpectedly and runs into her on the grounds of his estate. He astonishes Elizabeth by his kindness and courtesy not only to her but also to her relatives, whom he had previously considered socially inferior. Later, Elizabeth is introduced to Georgiana Darcy, Mr. Darcy's sister. Elizabeth observes that Georgiana's disposition, which has been described as proud, is mere shyness. She also realizes that her feelings for Darcy have come full circle and that she is in love with him. She begins to entertain hopes of reciprocation and a renewal of Darcy's earlier proposals of marriage, despite her earlier harsh rejection of him.
Just then, Elizabeth receives a panicked letter from Jane explaining that their youngest sister, Lydia, has run away with Mr. Wickham. It appears that Wickham does not plan to marry Lydia, which would leave her in a desperate positioneither as a prostitute or banished to a distant part of the country to live in obscurity and shame; the taint would also extend to her sisters, who no one will want to marry because the family will be considered one of low moral character. Whilst very upset about Lydia's position, Elizabeth cannot help but think that her hopes for Darcy are now definitively overhe can hardly be expected to connect himself with their family. Unbeknownst to Elizabeth and her family, Darcy, who considers himself guilty in the affair for not revealing to the public Wickham's true character after he tried to elope with Darcy's sister, travels to London to find Wickham and Lydia, intervenes, and at significant expense saves Lydia from disgrace; he also encourages Bingley to resume his romantic attentions towards Jane Bennet. Not long after Jane and Bingley become engaged, Darcy proposes a second time to Elizabeth, who accepts. The novel ends with a brief account of Elizabeth and Darcy's life at Pemberly.
With the above discussion it is made clear that all the incidents in the play revolves round Elizabeth who can be successfully justified as the protagonist due to logical consequences. And in she can be regarded as one of the very best charming heroine created by Jane Austin.
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