5 Jane Austen characters that could easily be villains

Jane Austen wrote six finished novels over her life, including Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, and Persuasion. She wrote some of the best characters in literature, and they continue to be relevant and memorable today. But which of her characters could have easily turned to the dark side if a few things were different? Let's take a look!

Emma Woodhouse

Emma Woodhouse is probably the easiest Jane Austen character to imagine as a villain. She has a very high opinion of herself, she's rich AF, she meddles in other people's lives, and she can be cruel when she wants to be. While she learns from her ways in the book, if she was a little less aware or didn't have Mr. Knightley, she could have easily become a Regina George in Hartfield.

Fanny Price

Fanny Price is possibly one of the most polarizing characters of Jane Austen's. You either love her or you hate her, and with her naivete and strong ideals, I could see her easily becoming a puritanical, righteous villain (maybe without even trying to be). Any character who is that set in their ways could easily turn to the dark side.

Elizabeth Bennet

Ok, before you yell at me hear me out! I love Elizabeth Bennet. She is tied for my favorite character ever with Mr. Darcy and Anne Elliot. But with a little less introspection, she could have easily been a villain. What if she spread even more rumors about Mr. Darcy? What if she was a little more silly like her sisters? What if she spread what Mr. Darcy did to Jane? She could have easily sought revenge in a much more substantial way than saying no to his proposal. Elizabeth is incredibly smart, and that can be used for good or it can be used for evil.

Marianne Dashwood

Marianne Dashwood is the younger and much more impulsive sister of Elinor Dashwood and impulsiveness can often lead to less than great results. Just look at what happened with Mr. Willoughby! Marianne could have easily taken that heartbreak and destroyed Willoughby. Sure, it would have probably ended with her being harmed more than him, but with all that emotion focused on one target...that can turn evil really quickly. Imagine if one of the characters in a Jane Austen novel burned down someone's estate!!

Mr. Darcy

Again, please don't yell at me! Mr. Darcy is my favorite of Austen's heroes, but imagine if he didn't take Elizabeth's words to heart? If he didn't change but turned toward revenge? He could have completely ruined her life, and because of his wealth and high standing, he could have done it very easily. And who wouldn't believe him? Sure, the people of Herefordshire would still think of him as a prideful, unsociable turd, but they wouldn't protect Elizabeth. Also, would we really have blamed him if he had killed Wickham? Especially with what he did to his sister. It would have been justifiable, but it's still closer to villainy than anything he did in the book.