MR. BENNET'S property consisted almost entirely in an estate of two thousand a year, which, unfortunately for his daughters, was entailed, in default of heirs male, on a distant relation; and their mother's fortune, though ample for her situation in life, could but ill supply the deficiency of his. Her father had been an attorney in Meryton, and had left her four thousand pounds. - Ch. 7 pt 1
A similar problem besets the main family in Sense and Sensibility, where the husband, by his second marriage, has only produced daughters. His decease takes place early in the novel, and his estate quickly passes along to his son, born of a previous marriage. This son is more or less talked completely out of helping his father's widow and her daughters. The women must survive on the good graces of other relatives, hoping and praying for wealthy spouses who might relieve them of their poverty.
While Mr. Bennet's decease does not at all seem imminent, the thought is no doubt prominent that the Bennet women will be pressed into a situation similar to that of Sense and Sensibility when the unfortunate event should finally take place.
Out of curiosity, would anyone be able to shed light on what this somewhat morbid beginning has to do with the rest of the chapter?
