Age
As of the beginning of the novel, he’s only been “of age” for two years. As the age of majority was often 25, it’s quite likely that he’s around 27. This would also put him of an age with Darcy, which would make sense given their relationship.
Family and Situation
Charles is the heir of Mr. Bingley Senior and brother of Caroline and Louisa, making him brother-in-law to Mr. Hurst.
We know that he comes from “a respectable family from the North of England” and the neighborhood gossips insist that he has £4-5 thousand per anum through a fortune that “had been acquired by trade” and must now be invested in financial or industrial holdings. Likely, Bingley has no house in town as he spends his time in London at the Hursts' house in Grosvenor Street.
Mr. Bingley jettisons the plot of the novel by renting Netherfield Park, seemingly the largest great house in the vicinity of Meryton, Hertfoldshire with the possible intention of eventually buying the estate. The narrator tells us that “Mr. Bingley inherited property to the amount of nearly a hundred thousand pounds from his father, who had intended to purchase an estate, but did not live to do it. Mr. Bingley intended it likewise, and sometimes made choice of his county; but as he was now provided with a good house and the liberty of a manor, it was doubtful to many of those who best knew the easiness of his temper, whether he might not spend the remainder of his days at Netherfield, and leave the next generation to purchase.” More dramatically, we’re told that Bingley had only been of age for two years before making this decision and signed the lease on the house after looking at it for only half an hour.
Other Connections
We’re led to believe that Fitzwilliam Darcy has been helping Bingley along as a big brother or social mentor which he explains by saying Bingley “has great natural modesty, with a stronger dependence on my judgement than on his own.” This may also affect Bingley’s circle of friends, which Darcy may be helping him to cultivate, evidenced by the fact that he says “the want of connection [offered by the Bennets] could not be so great an evil to my friend as to me.” Col. Fitzwilliam indicates that he knows him as a “great friend of Darcy’s” and pronounces him “a pleasant gentlemanlike man,” while Darcy says at one point that Bingley “has many friends, and is at a time of life when friends and engagements are continually increasing.” We’re also led to believe that Darcy may have originally planned to marry his sister off to Bingley (he goes to great lengths to establish that his wishes did not impact his judgment of Jane and Bingley’s romance); it is certainly clear that the Bingleys all know Georgiana quite well.
Character
Bingley is consistently characterized as being pleasant; Lady Lucas says he’s “quite young” and “extremely agreeable” and the narrator tells us that he’s “good-looking and gentlemanlike” with “a pleasant countenace, and easy, unaffectd manners.”
As we get to know Bingley better, however, we also learn that he can be rash, impulsive and even careless. Caroline tells us that “‘Charles writes in the most careless was imaginable. He leaves out half his words, and blots the rest,’” which he defends by saying “‘My ideas flow so rapidly that I have not time to express them—by which means my letters sometimes convey no ideas at all to my correspondents.’” While this trait is cute in letter writing, it can have more serious consequences. Darcy leads us to believe that Bingley is forever falling in and out of love and making rash decisions - the rental of Netherfield possibly being among them. Bingley professes humility about this rashness before Darcy suggests that he’s actually proud of it, believing it to stem from a “quickness of mind”, to which Bingley ultimately concedes saying “‘Whatever I do is done in a hurry,’” and foreshadowing that he would decide to give up Netherfield in a moment if it ever came to that.
Bingley is good friends with Fitzwilliam Darcy, whose personality he compliments. The narrator tells us that “Between [Bingley] and Darcy there was a very steady friendship, in spite of great opposition of character. Bingley was endeared to Darcy by the easiness, openness, and ductility of his temper, though no disposition could offer a greater contrast to his own, and though with his own he never appeared dissatisfied. On the strength of Darcy's regard, Bingley had the firmest reliance, and of his judgement the highest opinion. In understanding, Darcy was the superior. Bingley was by no means deficient, but Darcy was clever...Bingley was sure of being liked wherever he appeared, Darcy was continually giving offense.”
Habits and Hobbies
Of Bingley’s hobbies and accomplishments, we know very little. We know that he rides a black horse into town in the beginning of the novel and that he pays lipservice to wishing he had more books but then counters by saying “I am an idle fellow, and though I have not many, I have more than I ever looked into.”
