In the book "Pride and Prejudice" Mrs. Bennet and her husband have five daughters.  Two of her girls are well mannered proper young women.  Elizabeth is her oldest and is the most responsible of the daughters.  Her mother looks to her to help with the other girls and as a confidant.  She has high expectations for her daughter’s marriage.  Elizabeth behaves in the proper manner of a young woman of her day.

Lydia is her youngest child. She is more demanding and spoiled.  She wants what she wants and will do whatever it takes to get it.  She does not follow the conventions of her day and gives her mother problems.  She falls in love with a man who gambles everything away and elopes with him.

Jane is her second oldest child.  Jane is closest with her sister Elizabeth but loves her mother.  She confides mostly to Elizabeth about her loves and losses.  She falls deeply in love with a man that the family believes is of good measure but turns out to be in need of funds more than marriage.

Mary is more quiet and reflective.

Mrs. Bennet is a very silly and gossipy woman.  She is very different from her older two daughters.  Her fuction is to try and find suitable suitors for her daughters.