OOC
Game: Bookish
Date: May 2008
PB: Anne Hathaway
Journal: andimpertinence
IC
Character's Full Name: Elizabeth Bennet. Lizzie to her family and close friends, Eliza to neighbors and distant relations.
Bookverse: Pride & Prejudice
Author of Book: Jane Austen.
Character History: Elizabeth Bennet was born the second of five daughters, heirs to a negligible fortune. Her father and mother had married, one for beauty and love, respectively, and while their daughters grew (for the most part) happy and healthy, it was not quite the contented home Mrs Bennet would have believed it to be. Constantly plagued by "nerves" and her husband's disregard for the day-to-day squabbles of his daughters, Mrs Bennet's one consolation was the fervent hope that her daughters would marry well above their station.
It was not the most conducive atmosphere to raising marriage-minded young ladies. Kitty and Lydia, Elizabeth's youngest sisters, were without the umbrella of their mother's overbearing matchmaking, and could look forward to their future husbands with all the glee of barely-adolescent girls; Jane and Elizabeth, the two eldest, were often torn between fulfilling their filial obligations and attempting to hash out their own comfortable niche in society and themselves. Jane, ever the gentle one, fell into place corraling and tending to her younger sisters, while Elizabeth sought out a slightly more individualized path — much to her mother's chagrin.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, who's to say) their relative peace was disturbed by the arrival of one Mr Charles Bingley into Netherfield Hall, a property long vacant, and whose new occupant caused quite a stir among the town mothers. Five thousands pounds a year, handsome, obliging — and most importantly, single. The Bennets were lucky enough to have his interest invested in their eldest daugther right from the start; they were unlucky enough to have Bingley's companions oppose the match. Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy and Bingley's two sisters, Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst, had accompanied the young bachelor to Netherfield for the season; and once they had become aware of their companion's growing affection for the lower-class Miss Bennet, it became drastically clear they needed to break off the union as smoothly and quickly as possible.
Things were slightly complicated by Elizabeth herself (not to mention the meddlesome, and often mortifying, habits of her family), who presented quite an obstacle in Darcy and Miss Bingley's path. Concerned more with her sister's happiness than her financial security — though, to be sure, Bingley's annual five thousand wasn't beneath her notice — she was manouevring to unify the couple just as ardently as her mother, if with significantly more subtlety. At the same time, the continual presence of the loathsome, inhospitable, and sarcastic Mr Darcy made any attempts at socializing her sister with his friend particularly difficult. Not to mention the unwanted attention from her cousin Mr Collins, a preacher from Kent, who stood to inherit the entirety of Mr Bennet's property —a fact Mrs Bennet was well aware of, and the driving force behind her insistence that Lizzie marry him. And on top of that is Lizzie's own growing affection for Lieutenant George Wickham, whose maligned history with the Darcy family can only serve to solidify Elizabeth's distate of its current heir. The lot of them have spent the season so far twisting and turning round each other, Lizzie and Darcy especially, and unless someone takes to proposing soon, there doesn't seem to be much hope of resolution.
Character Appearance: 'Handsome' is not a word most immediately applied to Elizabeth Bennet. She is pretty in her own way, with noticeably dark eyes and a fair face, but not nearly as handsome as Jane, or as 'good-humored' as Lydia. Generally considered the second-prettiest of the Bennet sisters, it's that 'second' that usually catches her up should suitors come calling. Still, she is not at all unattractive, with dark hair and eyes and pale, unblemished skin. She is not particularly tall, but quite thin from a predilection towards walking, instead of horseback; her mouth is, perhaps, a tad too full, her features a touch too youthful — but the more time spent around Elizabeth, the more her personality shines through. Where her looks might not be the prettiest in the country, her vivacity and cleverness make her a well-suited companion — if you can catch her.
Character Personality: Lizzie does not fit in with peers. She is by no means an ugly duckling or a queer sort; she simply does not feel the urge to fall into the quiet, domestic, marriagable archetype that her mother and sisters (at least try to) fill. With Jane playing mother and her younger sisters too absorbed in flirting or academics, Lizzie has become the playful one: she is witty, vivacious, impetuous. Her tongue often runs away with her, and she enjoys a good joke or game far more than sobriety and good reasoning—even if the joke is at someone else's expense. It's not to say she does not possess a conscience or manners; certainly not. Lizzie is inherently kind and loving, but she has never been in a home with a particularly dominant patriarch, and therefore has never been molded into the subservient female. She prizes cleverness and charm above many other traits, and is quicker to laugh than anything else.
Still, even at 20, she has a lot of growing to do. Selfish is not quite the right word, but Lizzie is proud, of herself and of those close to her, almost to a fault: even her normally mortifying family members will be vehemently defended should anyone (but herself, of course) malign them. Truth be told, it's likely more due to a painfully strong will against submission, than an honest and true devotion. She is impertinent and outspoken, courageous when the time calls for it, and brazen when it does not. Though she does not possess the silliness of Lydia or the quiet gravity of Jane, Elizabeth has found something of a happy medium. Most of the time.
