Are You More Elizabeth Bennet or Jane Eyre?

By: Elisabeth Henderson
Estimated Completion Time
6 min
Are You More Elizabeth Bennet or Jane Eyre?
Image: StudioCanal / Working Title Films

About This Quiz

Elizabeth Bennett, the leading character of Jane Austen’s "Pride and Prejudice," is known for her wit, sharp tongue and willingness to act against social conventions. She came from a well-established family and grew up on a large estate, but neither she nor her sisters would be able to inherit their father’s fortune. Elizabeth’s story is one of a woman navigating the social and financial pressures to marry along with her own tumultuous search for love. 

Jane Eyre developed in nearly opposite circumstances to those of Elizabeth Bennett. She was orphaned at a young age and sent to live with relatives who despised her. A strict boarding school and the early death of her best friend gave her further knowledge of life’s harsh realities at a young age. Rather than learning to leverage her social status, Jane grew up fighting for her sense of identity in a world that stood against her. 

Elizabeth and Jane’s characters are further revealed in their developing romantic relationships. Elizabeth faces multiple marriage proposals by Mr. Darcy, whom she at first rebuffs, mistaking his social awkwardness for pride. Elizabeth has to learn to slow down her quick judgment and give him a chance before she can see his loyal and authentic character. Jane falls in love with her employer, Mr. Rochester, the owner of the estate where she works as a governess. After an intense descent into love, she realizes he is not who he seems and is forced to abandon her love. Later, Jane follows her fiery passions back to find that he has been changed through suffering. 

What about you? Are you stunningly beautiful, haughty and quick to judgment, like Elizabeth, or more plain on the surface with a deep and faithful passion, like Jane? Let’s find out what novel you belong in! 

What do you fear about marriage?
A loveless marriage
The Madwoman in the Attic
Boredom
Losing my identity

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What was your childhood like?
Pleasant and simple
Solitary and tragic
Magical
Quiet and educational

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When you meet a dashing gentleman, what do you assume?
He probably wants to marry me.
He probably doesn’t see me.
I don’t even think about him.
He just sees me as a prop.

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Do you have siblings?
Several
None
I should have had a sister.
One

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How do others describe your looks?
Beautiful
Plain
Nerdy
Delicate

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If you are at a party, where do you like to be?
At the center of the action
In the background
Reading
Hosting

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What is your conversational style?
I have a quick wit, and I love to use it to skewer a conversational opponent.
I’m quiet most of the time; then I say what I’ve really been thinking.
I listen, and then I dissect the argument I’ve just heard.
I mostly listen and nod and inwardly disagree.

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What literary category describes your narrative?
Novel of manners
Gothic novel
A series of fantasy novels
A play

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How do you find happiness?
“I am resolved to act in that manner which will constitute my happiness, with or without reference to you, or to any other person wholly unconnected to me.”
“There is no happiness like that of being loved by your fellow-creatures, and feeling that your presence is an addition to their happiness.”
“Books! And Cleverness!”
“I must think things out for myself, and try to find my own answer.''

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How did your family care for you as a child?
They protected me and provided for me as best as they could.
What family?
They encouraged me and wondered what I was doing.
They raised me to be a perfect doll.

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What ignites your self-respect?
“There is a stubbornness about me that cannot bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”
“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.”
“I’m hoping to do some good in the world.”
“My duty to myself.”

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How have you had to navigate the will of others for your life?
Everyone has an opinion about who I should marry.
No one cares enough about me to impose their will on my life.
I’ve had to follow my own magic despite the common expectations of these around me.
I’ve had to leave all expectations behind.

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What advice do your friends give you?
“In nine cases out of ten a woman had better show more affection than she feels.”
“It is far better to endure patiently a smart which nobody feels but yourself than to commit a hasty action whose evil consequences will extend to all connected with you.“
“How about a nice book?”
“When you've sold yourself once for the sake of others, you don't do it a second time.“

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In what circumstances are you most likely to meet the love of your life?
At a formal social gathering
In a solitary lane in the evening
At school
At a formal dance

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What would you do you if you needed to break off a relationship?
Write a strongly-worded letter
Escape in the dark of night
Hide in a book
Leave in the full light of day

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What is a fault of a man you have loved?
Unwillingness to admit he has been wrong
Hiding a crazed wife in the attic
He’s a buffoon.
He never cared to know me.

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What difficulties did you encounter with friends as a child?
Falling in love with the same boy
Losing a best friend to a deadly illness
Doing battle with the embodiment of evil
Feeling forced to all be the same

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What was your experience of school?
Repetition of verses and training in manners
Public humiliation and physical deprivation
Memorization of incantations and lots of practice in the field
Training in how to be a lady

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How do you feel about dancing?
Dancing is one step toward falling in love.
Dancing would reveal me to be a fool.
I’m not sure I understand it.
It’s a show for the pleasure of others.

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What kind of man are you attracted to?
A “fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien, and the report, which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year.“
“Many associations, positive and genial, make his face the object I like to see ... He was moody, too, unaccountably so.”
“Tall, thin and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose”
“Anyone who's sold herself for somebody else once isn't going to do it again.”

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How would you describe your mind?
Easily diverted
Intensely focused
Wild and ranging
Brainwashed but waking up

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Left to contemplate, where does your mind go?
“She began now to comprehend that he was exactly the man who, in disposition and talents, would most suit her. His understanding and temper, though unlike her own, would have answered all her wishes.”
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will.”
“Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself.”
“I must stand on my own two feet if I'm to get to know myself and the world outside.”

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Before you settle on your true love, what is another romantic option you encounter?
Another wealthy gentleman who wanted to take me into his estate
A devout, religious man who wanted to take me as a missionary wife
The adventure of independent exploration
The romance of leaving my former love

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Would you rather be alone or in a loveless marriage?
I would rather be alone, but, for financial reasons, I would probably marry.
I would rather be alone.
I would rather be with friends.
I am going to be alone.

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What has been your main profession?
Becoming cultured
Teaching children
Fighting evil and pursuing the good
Being a doll

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Who has been a guide in your life?
My many friends and family
A single childhood friend
My teacher and mentor
My own intuition

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It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune ...
... must be in want of a wife.
... must have a wife hidden somewhere.
... must have a wand up his sleeve.
... must have a doll.

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What will reconciling yourself with your love require you to do?
Forgive his harsh words and demeanor
Forgive his incomprehensible past
Swallow my pride
Betray myself

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What is your love’s estate like?
Sprawling hills and pastures with a well-groomed mansion
A dark and mysterious mansion with secret, forbidden rooms
What estate?
Well-furnished, perfectly clean and eerily silent

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What can you expect from your love?
“By her ease and liveliness, his mind might have been softened, his manners improved; and from his judgement, information, and knowledge of the world, she must have received benefit of greater importance.“
“You must neither expect nor exact anything celestial of me–for you will not get it, any more than I shall get it of you: which I do not at all anticipate.”
"Just because you have the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have!"
“You arranged everything according to your own taste, and so I got the same tastes as you - or else I pretended to.“

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You Got: