<P> In her letter to Cassandra dated 29 January 1813, Jane Austen wrote: "I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least I do not know". Austen herself wrote to Cassandra about one fan of her books that "Her liking Darcy & Elizth is enough". The book notes that "Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies" are what delight Elizabeth, which Brownstein noted also applied to Austen as well . This mix of energy and intelligence, and her gaiety and resilience make Elizabeth a true Stendhal heroine according to Tony Tanner, and he adds that there are not many English heroines that we can say that of . Elizabeth Bowen, however, found her charmless, whilst to Gervase Fen she and her sisters were "intolerable...those husband - hunting minxes in Pride and Prejudice". </P> <P> The character of Elizabeth Bennet, marked by intelligence and independent thinking, and her romance with the proud Mr Darcy have carried over into various theatrical retellings . Helen Fielding's novel Bridget Jones's Diary, as well as the film series of the same name, is a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, with Elizabeth as Renée Zellweger's title character . In Gurinder Chadha's Bollywood adaptation, Bride and Prejudice, Aishwarya Rai plays the Elizabeth character, Lalita Bakshi . In the 2008 television film Lost in Austen, actress Gemma Arterton plays a version of Lizzy who switches places with a modern - day young woman . Lily James starred as the zombie - slaying Elizabeth Bennet in the film version of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a popular novel by Seth Grahame - Smith . </P> <P> One of the most notable portrayals of the character has been that of Keira Knightley in Pride & Prejudice, directed by Joe Wright . Knightley received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance . </P> <P> The character has most recently been used in The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a project which is partly headed by YouTube vlogger Hank Green, and depicts Elizabeth (played by Ashley Clements) as a modern - day woman in America posting video blogs about her life along with her friend' Charlotte Lu' a character based on Charlotte Lucas . </P>

Who played elizabeth bennet in pride and prejudice