Jane Austen’s Most Unforgettable Characters


 

England’s beloved Jane Austen may have departed Earth many years ago, but she unquestionably lives on in the many intricate characters that she left behind.

Austen’s novels have since been made and remade into works of cinema, where audiences around the world could meet her characters on screen. If you’ve read or watched one of Jane Austen’s works, these are definitely the characters one struggles to forget. 

Elizabeth Bennet

Pride and Prejudice

In 2005, actress Keira Knightly and director Joe Wright joined forces to bring the life of Elizabeth Bennet to the big screen.

Knightly herself played Bennet, and tapped into the fascinating psyche of the most beloved heroine of all the surviving books. Austen was known to touch on sensitive issues, particularly those that affected women of the time.

Keira Knightly as Elizabeth Bennet – Still from Pride and Prejudice

Elizabeth Bennet is a fearless, outspoken and occasionally cheeky modern woman who challenges everything society, at the time, believed about what a woman ought to be, do and say.

She possesses incredible sass, as well as the ability to laugh at herself whenever opportunity arises, in turn catching the attention of many prospective suitors. Bennet was also a woman of intelligence; a wise character well beyond her years.

Fitzwilliam Darcy

Pride and Prejudice

In the same film production of Pride and Prejudice, Fitzwilliam Darcy is played by Matthew Macfadyen, a popular English actor hailing from Great Yarmouth, UK.

Fitzwilliam Darcy is widely considered to be the most charming and sexy of all Austen’s characters; even those who have not seen him portrayed on screen can agree just by the literature.

Fitzwilliam Darcy in Pride and Prejudice – Still from the film

By nature, Darcy is comparable to a cactus; somewhat unapproachable, impenetrable and notoriously aloof. It’s his love of Elizabeth that softens his hard, prickly shell, turning him into a humble, generous companion.

Darcy and Elizabeth unite to transcend class barriers of the time and merge two unsuspecting families as one. And as you might know, Elizabeths relatives are no easy conquest.

Mrs Bennet

Pride and Prejudice

Speaking of, Mrs Bennet easily became one of Austen’s most memorable characters from the moment we met her.

This is Elizabeth Bennet’s mother; a insatiable, unbearable force who will have her daughter married to the first man with money who looks her direction.

One quickly developed a soft spot for Mrs Bennet, after we learn of her own terribly unhappy marriage to a completely disinterested man whom she wedded out of lust many, many years ago.

Mrs Bennet – by Hugh Thomson – Wikimedia Commons

She is now left to raise 5 daughters largely on her own. In this time period, getting married was a woman’s only hope of making any money.

A complicated and memorable character, no doubt.

Marianne Dashwood

Sense and Sensibility

It doesn’t get much better than acting trio Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant and Kate Winslet on screen together telling Austen’s tale of Sense and Sensibility.

Marianne Dashwood, played by Winslet in the film, is one of Austen’s most interesting developing characters. When we first meet Dashwood, she is a seemingly clueless hopeless romantic who falls in and out of love with every man who shows any shared likes or dislikes with her.

Marianne Dashwood – Still from Sense and Sensibility

Her life is an endless charade of heartache and disappointment, that is until she makes the conscious decision to dedicate her time to self improvement, facilitated by her older sister, Elinor Dashwood. 

Sir Walter Elliot

Persuasion

Persuasion was Jane Austen’s last complete novel before her mysterious death in 1817. It is widely regarded as the most moving of all Austen’s books, so moving, in fact, that it was turned into a film in 2007.

Sir Walter Elliot is our protagonist in Persuasion. He is a middle aged man who lost his wife 13 years prior. This loss sent into a surge of thoughtless spending, and consequently a lot of death.

Sir Walter Elliot – Still from Persuasion

In addition to this, Elliot is a self-obsessed, vain individual who is consumed by appearances of both himself and anyone around him. His world is somewhat flipped upside down when his accumulated debt forces him to relocate in order to save money and regain some sort of social status.

Lady Susan Vernon

Lady Susan

Lady Susan Vernon continues to dominate intellectual discussions surrounding the works of Jane Austen and their relevance throughout history.

Vernon was undoubtably Austen’s most perverted, sadistic female character, adopting a personality that was completely taboo back then, and possibly more acceptable today.

Kate Beckinsale as Lady Vernon – Still from the movie

Vernon is an older woman who uses her sex-appeal to manipulate all men into submission; usually younger men. She is essentially one of the first cougars ever in English literature.

This aside, Vernon is a beautiful, smart and very witty individual. She is also unforgiving, and wrecks havoc in the lives of all who cross her. Karma seems to turn a blind eye to Lady Vernon, as Austen never explored the subject of punishment with this character.

Catherine Morland

Northanger Abbey

Morland is considered to be one of Austin’s more accessible and relatable heroines.

This character begins her journey as a bit of doormat, for lack of a better word, completely unable to stand up for herself and repeatedly inviting others to use and abuse her kindness.

Northanger Abbey – by C. E. Brock – Wikimedia Commons

In spite of this, she is incredibly down to Earth, which is probably why so many woman still reading Austen’s books find her so unforgettable. Through some careful character development, Morland eventually frees herself from her own delusions and adopts a much stronger energy. 

Diana Parker

Sanditon

Technically, Sanditon should be considered Austen’s very last novel, however she was writing it whilst dying and never managed to complete it.

Nevertheless, we still meet the character of Diana Parker, a woman who many of us relate to personally, or know someone who could absolutely be here.

Parker is a homeopathic health nut who is avidly against any kind of western medicine or doctors advice. She is know for her self-medicating and her eating disorder.

The story takes place at a seaside resort where Parker is connecting with individuals of similar interests. The book ends just as Parker is about to take a sea bath with a mixed-race character who we never got further information on. Pity.

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