Lydia Bennet

Lydia, who at 15 is the youngest Bennet sister, is ultimately the least sympathetic. She is bold, reckless, self-absorbed, unperceptive, and obsessed with men. Although the narrator has little sympathy for her and her lack of regard for the consequences of her actions, she is not motivated by malice and is ultimately well-meaning with a “good-humoured countenance.” She is also spoiled and has every one of her negative traits encouraged by her mother, and mostly ignored by her father, so is in large part a product of their bad parenting. Unlike Kitty, who at the beginning of the novel fulfils almost the same function as Lydia, Lydia never manages to overcome her faults and is instead (it is implied) punished for her actions through her hasty marriage to Wickham, which will likely leave her unhappy.