Books

Pride and Prejudice Characters Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses

Aubrey Leaman

Jane Austen with wand

What if your favorite Pride and Prejudice characters lived in the world of Harry Potter? What houses would they be sorted into and what can that tell us about the similarities between (and functions of) various characters?

Jane Bennett = Hufflepuff

She is incredibly kind.  She can’t think ill of anyone! The reader also has a sense of her loyalty to Bingley.

Mr. Bingley = Hufflepuff

Like Jane, Bingley is very trusting of others and kind-hearted to boot.  He trusts Darcy’s opinion of Jane and the Bennetts over his own opinion because he believes in Darcy’s loyalty and intelligence.

Lizzy Bennett = Gryffindor

She’s courageous enough to decline Mr. Darcy’s AND Mr. Collins’s marriage proposal.  How many more marriage proposals does one get in a lifetime??? Also, I can totally see her fighting trolls and whatnot.  Please take a moment to bask in that image.

Mr. Darcy = Ravenclaw

He strikes me as incredibly intelligent, well-read, and generally intellectual.  Of course, Lizzy is, too, but in a bolder and more audacious way.

Mr. Wickham = Slytherin

His main goals throughout the book are to gain wealth and have a good time.  While these goals aren’t necessarily evil in and of themselves, he pursues them to a fault by lying and cheating to gain a higher level of living.

Mrs. Bennett = Slytherin

This is not to say that she’s evil, but she IS driven by ambition.  Actually, she is driven by ambitions for her daughters and not for herself as the other Slytherins in this story generally are.  It is her life’s purpose to see her daughters happily and advantageously married and she will do whatever it takes to convince them to act in (what she believes to be) their best interest.

Lady Catherine = Slytherin

Like Mrs. Bennett, her ambition is also directed in part to others through joining her daughter and Mr. Darcy in holy matrimony.  We can sense, though, that other areas of her ambition were once money and the various personal accomplishments valued at that time, but now she feels she has attained those and lords it over those who have not.

Charlotte = ???

While the wisdom of Charlotte’s decision to marry Mr. Collins may be heavily debated, she is a rational thinker who acts in the way she believes to be best.  She acts somewhat independently by marrying Mr. Collins when she knows she does not love him and despite Lizzy’s inevitable disapproval.  She is sure enough of herself to do what SHE feels to be right no matter what anyone else says.  All of these things would suggest that she may be a Ravenclaw.  However, the decision to marry Mr. Collins is actually much less of a “choice” than I have proposed (no pun intended).  While no one is actively forcing her to get married, she knows that as she grows older her prospects are worse and worse and that she will become a burden to her parents.  The social pressures that “encourage” a woman to be married during this time could be enough to rob her of free will to a certain extent.  So where does that put her???

Mr. Collins = Squib

That’s right.  Can you REALLY picture Mr. Collins with a wand, attempting to concoct potions under the hawkish eyes of Professor Snape? Neither can I.

Lydia and Kitty = Too immature to be sorted

Once they get past their childlike ways, perhaps they could be sorted then.  But I am optimistic enough to hope that by delaying their sorting they will find themselves, as cheesy as that sounds.

An important note about the Slytherins:

The Slytherins of the Victorian era appear to be those searching for wealth and accomplishment.  Not only that, but that single house is fighting against all three of the other houses.  It’s interesting that the “good guys” in this story are so varied in their goals and ideas while the “bad guys” all seem to have one major goal and flaw, though they manifest it in different ways.  (Poor Mr. Collins is an outlier.  He tries to participate almost like Filch, but just can’t.)

These Harry Potter pairings actually fit well with Jane Austen’s apparent message.  The vicious ambition of people (the Slytherins) while disregarding logic, intelligence, and even kindness, is constantly grating against the other characters’ lives.  In the ideal world, people are varied in personalities and goals, but those personalities and goals are balanced so that ambition doesn’t drive them over the edge.

Do you agree with my sortings? What else can Hogwarts houses tell us about the characters (either individually or in groups) and how they interact?

 

If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy Classical Music Stories: Pride and Prejudice, Classical Music Stories: Harry Potter, and Bilbo Baggins in Rapunzel’s Tower (And Other Rapunzel Character Swaps).

64 thoughts on “Pride and Prejudice Characters Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses”

  1. This is literally a combination of my two favorite things! I think I would put Charlotte in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. I love that you made Mr. Collins a Squib!!! Where would you put Mary Bennet? I’m thinking also Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff….maybe Ravenclaw

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      2. I think because she seems like a good friend and person, but just not much of a risk-taker. That leaves out Gryffindor. She’s not sneaky like a Slytherin, and she doesn’t seem imaginative or clever enough to be Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff seems like the only other option that makes the most sense. Maybe she’s a Huffleclaw or Ravenpuff lol.

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      3. Haha makes sense to me! Honestly, I was sort of toying with the idea that she might be a squib, too, but she’s on such a higher level than Mr. Collins that I think Hufflepuff may be the best call!

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    1. I’ve been leaning towards Hufflepuff for him, too! It’s funny because some of the characters seemed to clearly fit in one house or another. Others I’m less certain about. WAIT the characters we’ve been debating are presented a little more ambiguously in the book…they aren’t presented as clearly “good” or “bad”…maybe that’s why their houses are more confusing?

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  7. What a great post! I’d like to add my two cents about Lydia and Kitty – just like Fred and George were, in my opinion, immature, they got sorted anyway, and I think it’s no reason to exclude Lydia and Kitty.

    Lydia is a person who follows her own path, always with a smile and out for a laugh. She’s bold enough to do as she wishes and finds adventure and romance in everything worthwhile in life – what screams Gryffindor louder than that?
    Kitty on the other hand is a follower, easily taken by Lydia’s far stronger personality, but at the end of the book it’s implied that thanks to Elizabeth’s and Jane’s influence and the long miles apart from Lydia, Kitty actually grows to become a kind, well-mannered individual. I’d say she belongs to Hufflepuff.

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  10. Great fun but I think Mr. Collins never would have been able to find, or enter, the Hogwarts school grounds. Charlotte may have ended up working for the school, trying to calm Moaning Myrtle and keep Peeves from causing more harm than necessary.

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  11. I got drawn in by the title of your blog, it made me chuckle, but it’s great content. Personally, I think Mr. Collins is the Pride & Prejudice equivalent of Dobby, totally subserviant to a fault with no independence. But that’s me. 🙂

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      1. But Dobby was kind and loyal. He was sincere and true. Mr. Collins was none of those things. He was pompous and all show. Dobby was a good friend and so much better than Collins.

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  12. Collins was fake and always posturing to gain favor that would move him up in the world. He wasn’t a “real boy,” as Geppetto would say. He would throw anyone under the bus to get ahead. Cold, cruel, heartless and self absorbed, at least that’s what I think. LOL

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  14. What a playful pairing! I love it.

    And your observation is very keen about the varied motives of good characters vs. the shared motive of bad characters.

    Thanks again for sharing! Can’t wait to read more.

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  15. Reblogged this on M. Miles and commented:
    Aubrey Leaman, from If Mermaids Wore Suspenders, is the queen of unexpected, insightful connections. Here, she unleashes her powers on two of my beloved literary entities: the characters from Pride and Prejudice and the world from Harry Potter.

    Enjoy and make sure to check out this intelligent, offbeat blog!

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  16. great idea! two of my favorites coming together. I think Charlotte should be in Revenclaw. Her actions are very calculated but she never wants evil for anyone, although by marrying Collins she has done a great deal of evil to herself… something she did for her family.

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  18. Love this concept! I have to say, I kind of see Charlotte as a Gryffindor. Deciding to marry a rather annoying man whom she knows she will never love in order to relieve her parents of the burden of caring for her is a decidedly, though quietly, courageous move. Despite the fact that Charlotte is constantly talked about as being plain and an old maid – pretty much the worst insults for a woman of the time – she still holds her head high. A different sort of bravery, but if Lizzy found herself fighting a troll, I have no doubt that Charlotte would be right there beside her best friend.

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  26. I love this post so much! I read through all the comments so I’ll go ahead and share my thoughts too since no one said them all outright:
    Charlotte, definitely a Ravenclaw. I was thinking that before you said it. I like the suggestion someone made about her being Gryffindor but don’t think she is adventurous in the first place to be in that house.
    Lydia is Slytherin. She’s selfish, vain, and dumb (not that all slytherins are)
    Kitty – Hufflepuff, like someone else said, a follower (again, not that all Hufflepuffs are)

    One thing you didn’t really mention that I think is key about all the Slytherins here, is that they are selfish. They are all out for number one (another reason why I think Lydia fits really well with them). I think Lady Catherine really fits in as a Slytherin too because she cares so much about her daughter marrying a PURE BLOOD! Hahaha!

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    1. Hahaha great point about Lady Catherine! Great points about everything, actually! Slytherins do seem to be fairly selfish, but I have to wonder about that. Harry was almost put in Slytherin…could it be that ambition almost always translates to selfishness in real life, but doesn’t technically have to in theory?? Just a thought.

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      1. Yeah, I think selfishness is the major difference between the two houses. Ambition, drive, greatness, influence, and power are in both. SelfLESSness and team behavior though are inherent to Gryffindors in my opinion.

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