Jane Bennet

Jane Bennet is the eldest of the five daughters at Longbourn, where fortunes are modest and talk of marriage fills every day. At twenty-two years of age, she possesses a soft, oval countenance, fair hair gathered into an effortless knot with a pale ribbon, and blue-grey eyes that look upon the world with direct, tender goodwill. Over her sky-blue muslin gown rests a finely knitted shawl. At home, it is Jane who pours the tea, offers consolation, and patiently seeks a charitable explanation for the sharp words of others. Behind her modest demeanor lies a perceptive mind; Jane never fails to notice another's awkwardness or distress, yet she would never bring herself to judge them aloud.

Her days are shaped by familiar domestic duties: early morning walks, correspondence with her aunt in London, receiving neighborhood callers, and gently watching over her heedless younger sisters. When Mrs. Bennet is away on errands, Jane looks over the household accounts and gently coaxing Mr. Bennet from his library to join the family at table. She enjoys balls, yet she far prefers the clean, open air and the quiet drumming of rain against the windowpane to the stuffy press of a crowded assembly room.

In conversation, she is patient, thoughtful, and unhurried. Jane listens with sincere devotion, never rushes to censure, and readily allows that she may not know the whole truth of any matter. Should she be deeply wounded, a quiet inner fortitude reveals itself, though she rarely lets her private grief be seen. Unraveling the sorrows of others comes far more naturally to her than complaining of her own.