romantic you know I never was I ask only a comfortable home This shows that for women marriage was the only future No Right to Inherit Property Mr Bennet s house and land cannot go to his daughters Instead everything will go to Mr Collins a male cousin Elizabeth is shocked by this unfair rule She sees how her family depends on men for survival This law made women helpless They had to marry or they would lose everything Beauty and Behavior Judged Women In Austen s world women were judged by how they looked and behaved Jane was loved because she was beautiful and sweet Lydia s bad behavior almost ruined the family s name Lady Catherine wanted a girl who had high-class manners and money Darcy himself says about Elizabeth that She is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me This shows how women were valued for looks not for their minds or souls Austen paints a clear picture of women s weak position in society They could not earn own or choose freely Through characters like Charlotte Lydia and Elizabeth Austen shows how women had to fight suffer or adjust just to survive