ShannaG Wrote:
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> All right-you've convinced me. I'll grant she
> probably has more. However, since she would also
> have a settlement, from my research, I still think
> 1,000 constitutes respectable.
Actually, since I merely quoted what you had written, it was
you who convinced
us.
Whether 1,000 pounds was respectable depends on what you mean. It was about 40 times the average per capita income in England at the time, so it was certainly quite a bit of money, and only a few people on planet Earth had so much at the time; but it wouldn't generate enough income to keep anybody in sufficient style to be considered gentry.
If, after Mr and Mrs Bennet's deaths, the novel's Miss Bennets tried to live off their fortunes and didn't pool their resources by living together, they would be living like the other 90% of humanity instead of like the daughters of a rich man: no servants; hardly any clothes; transportation by foot only; plain food; lots of dirt; cold, cramped quarters; etc.
Except they wouldn't have to work for a living just to survive, so in that they'd be different from the other 90%.