With great irony and wit Austen shows how the tenderest human feelings interact with and are influenced by financial considerations. ... It lies in the interest of a woman to marry a man with a fortune, or at least some good deal of money. The husband is meant to support his wife, since he is the one with a profession and she is not. ... Or as Jane says when she hears of Lydia's elopement with Wickham: "So imprudent a match on both sides!... A blunt restatement of this sentence would read, " it is an acknowledged truth in our particular society that a single woman without a fortune mu...

• Word Count: 4276
• Approx Pages: 17
• Grade Level: High School