|
\"Single women have a dreadful propensity for being poor, which is one very strong argument in favour of matrimony\"
(Jane Austen, letter of March 13, 1816)
In Jane Austen's time there was no way for a young woman to be independent. Professions, the universities, politics, etc. were not open to women. Few occupations were available, such as being a governess. But they were not highly respected, and did not generally pay well or have very good working conditions. Therefore women could not get money except by marrying for it or inheriting it. Only a rather small number of women were what could be called professionals, who though their own efforts earned an income sufficient to make themselves independent, or had a recognised career .
Unmarried women also had to live with their families, or with family-approved protectors . Only in the relatively uncommon case of an orphan heiress who has already inherited, can a young never-married female set herself up as the head of a household and even here she must hire a respectable older lady to be a so called companion.
Therefore, a woman who did not marry could generally only look forward to living with her relatives as a dependant, which was the only way of ever getting out from under the parental roof, unless her family could not support her. A woman with no relations or employer was in danger of slipping off the scale of gentility altogether.
There are also reasons why marriage was not a state to be entered into lightly. Because of the English divorce law during the pre-1857 marriage was almost always for life. The only grounds for divorce was the sexual infidelity of the wife. A husband who wished to divorce his wife for this reason had to get the permission of Parliament to sue for divorce. The divorce trial was between the husband and the wife\'s alleged lover.
There was also the possibility of legal separations on grounds of cruelty, but the husband generally had absolute custody rights over any children, and could prevent the wife from seeing them.
2.1 Money and Marriage
Women were willing to marry because marriage was the only allowed route to financial security, or to escape an uncongenial family situation. Any property that a woman possessed before her marriage automatically becomes her husband\'s, unless it is settled on her.
2.3 Settlements
In the context of marriage, a settlement is a legal document that usually ensures that some or all of the property that the wife brings to the marriage ultimately belongs to her, and will revert to her or her children, otherwise it would basically belong entirely to her husband. And a settlement can also specify a guaranteed minimum that the children of the marriage are to inherit.
2.4 Entail and Inheritance
An entail was a legal device used to prevent a landed property from being broken up, and/or from descending in a female line. This is a logical extension of the then-prevalent practice of leaving the bulk of one\'s wealth to one\'s eldest son or heir.
|
