Catherine “Kitty” Bennet, Basic Character Information

Catherine Bennet is almost always called Kitty by those close enough to use her given name and is the fourth Bennet daughter.

Basic Information:

Age: 17/18, she says she is two years older than Lydia, who turns 16 in June.

Spouse: A clergyman near Pemberley, according to James Edward Austen-Leigh’s A Memoir of Jane Austen.
Primary Residence: Longbourn, however after the marriages of her two eldest sisters, she spends most of her time visiting the two of them.

Physical Characteristics: We know that Kitty is pretty because Mary is the only plain sister and we know she is shorter than Lydia.

Personality Characteristics: During the course of the novel, Kitty is “weak-spirited,” “irritable” and, even though she is two years older than Lydia, completely under her younger sister’s guidance. The two of them together are described as being “ignorant, idle and vain.” She does enjoy dancing and flirting. The closing chapter of the novel says that her personality improves after she begins spending most of her time visiting Jane and Elizabeth after their marriages and being kept away from Lydia.

What to call her:

• Kitty – close friends and family, the narrator also frequently refers to her as Kitty.
• Catherine – the narrator sometimes calls her Catherine, and it is entirely possible that there are other people who do as well.
• Miss Kitty Bennet / Miss Catherine Bennet – people who are not close enough to use her first or nickname alone. My guess is that it would depend on the level of formality of the situation and how well she knew the person talking.
• Miss Bennet – if none of her elder, unmarried sisters were present. It is likely that when she visits Jane and Elizabeth without Mary she will usually be called Miss Bennet.