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Age and build

middle-aged woman with no son

“Mrs. Bennet, for many years after Lydia’s birth, had been certain that he would” (Pride And Prejudice, part 50)

Face and hair

eyes that sparkle with pleasure and emotion

“Mrs. Bennet’s eyes sparkled with pleasure” (Pride And Prejudice, part 7)

Dress

dressing-gown and half-finished hair when undressed

“In ran Mrs. Bennet to her daughters’ room, in her dressing-gown, and with her hair half finished” (Pride And Prejudice, part 55)

Voice and speech

prone to scolding and exclamation

“unable to contain herself, began scolding one of her daughters” (Pride And Prejudice, part 2)

speaks in a doleful voice when distressed

“In a doleful voice Mrs. Bennet thus began the projected conversation” (Pride And Prejudice, part 20)

uses emphatic expressions and exclamations

“Good gracious!” cried Mrs. Bennet” (Pride And Prejudice, part 59)

Signature words

Nonsense

“Mrs. Bennet said only, “Nonsense, nonsense” (Pride And Prejudice, part 2)

Oh, my dear

“Oh, my dear,” continued Mrs. Bennet, “I am quite delighted with him” (Pride And Prejudice, part 3)

my dear brother

“Oh, my dear brother,” replied Mrs. Bennet” (Pride And Prejudice, part 47)

Good Lord

“But—good Lord! how unlucky! there is not a bit of fish to be got to-day” (Pride And Prejudice, part 13)

I assure you

“Yes, indeed,” cried Mrs. Bennet, offended by his manner of mentioning a country neighbourhood. “I assure you there is quite as much of that going on in the country as in town” (Pride And Prejudice, part 9)

Gait and mannerisms

fidgets and moves restlessly when anxious

“Mrs. Bennet was quite in the fidgets. She looked at Jane, and smiled, and shook her head, by turns” (Pride And Prejudice, part 53)

winks at her daughters to manipulate situations

“Mrs. Bennet sat looking and winking at Elizabeth and Catherine for a considerable time” (Pride And Prejudice, part 55)

follows her daughter upstairs to communicate important news

“When her mother went up to her dressing-room at night, she followed her, and made the important communication” (Pride And Prejudice, part 59)

Strengths

energetic and determined in pursuing her daughters' marriages

“Mrs. Bennet seemed incapable of fatigue while enumerating the advantages of the match” (Pride And Prejudice, part 18)

keeps a good table and manages her household well

“though she always kept a very good table, she did not think anything less than two courses could be good enough” (Pride And Prejudice, part 53)

quick to seize social opportunities

“Mrs. Bennet was privileged to whisper it to Mrs. Philips, and she ventured, without any permission, to do the same by all her neighbours in Meryton” (Pride And Prejudice, part 55)

Flaws

lacks reason and cannot be reasoned with on certain subjects

“it was a subject on which Mrs. Bennet was beyond the reach of reason” (Pride And Prejudice, part 13)

nervous and prone to exaggerating her ailments

“People who suffer as I do from nervous complaints can have no great inclination for talking. Nobody can tell what I suffer” (Pride And Prejudice, part 20)

silly and makes ill-judged remarks

“he bore with the ill-judged officiousness of the mother, and heard all her silly remarks” (Pride And Prejudice, part 55)

lacks shame about her daughter's elopement

“No sentiment of shame gave a damp to her triumph” (Pride And Prejudice, part 50)

holds grudges and is slow to forgive

“many months were gone before she could at all forgive their daughter” (Pride And Prejudice, part 23)

Traits

obsessed with marrying off her daughters

“The marriage of a daughter, which had been the first object of her wishes since Jane was sixteen, was now on the point of accomplishment” (Pride And Prejudice, part 50)

easily flattered by compliments

“Mrs. Bennet, who quarrelled with no compliments, answered most readily” (Pride And Prejudice, part 13)

volatile and subject to extreme emotional swings

“She was now in an irritation as violent from delight as she had ever been fidgety from alarm and vexation” (Pride And Prejudice, part 49)

concerned with social status and wealth

“His being such a charming young man, and so rich, and living but three miles from them, were the first points of self-gratulation” (Pride And Prejudice, part 18)

Lines in their own words

“I tell you what, Miss Lizzy, if you take it into your head to go on refusing every offer of marriage in this way, you will never get a husband at all” (Pride And Prejudice, part 20)

complaining of her nerves

“You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves” (Pride And Prejudice, part 1)

scolding Kitty

“Have a little compassion on my nerves. You tear them to pieces” (Pride And Prejudice, part 2)

feeling ill used

“nobody is on my side, nobody takes part with me; I am cruelly used, nobody feels for my poor nerves” (Pride And Prejudice, part 20)