Lizzy

"Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters," Mr. Bennet said of his favorite daughter, and she's always been one of my favorites too.

An unquestionable classic, Pride and Prejudice introduces readers to the kind of female protagonist sorely lacking in much of today's fiction. Jane Austen challenged convention and thus earned a place in the hearts of readers for generations.

Elizabeth Bennet is saucy, principled, cynical, and yes, prejudiced, all while maintaining a certain sort of charm and sweetness. Unimpressed by wealth, protective of her family, Elizabeth is as refreshing now as she was in 1813. She entertained us - and Darcy too, the whole bunch of them really - and we went on a journey with her that rarely left drawing rooms, but was nothing less than adventurous. And that's the whole point, isn't it? If a character is a beautiful specimen of human traits and shortcomings, then she is the source of entertainment in a novel, and however mundane her daily life, I'll lap it up and ask for more.

Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy earn one another, you could say. And their love story is one of my very favorites.