Chapter 8 of Cambridge Companion

This chapter explains the important of class ranking in English society during the time of Pride and Prejudice. It explains that the order of children (including sex) was to determine their wealth in the future. For example, the first male born in the family was to inherit the land which was of very high value while the fourth son would get little to nothing from the family. The first daughter was also superior to the rest of the daughters, but not above the son. This shows that "power" is biased-ly given based on sex, age, and lineage. The social ranking of people then determined who they could marry and associate with. This explains that Austen was born as the second daughter after a line of sons. For this reason, Austen was to inherit little of the family's current wealth. The women of this time often look to marry a man (typically a first born son) who HAS inherited his family's wealth. The more money a family possessed, the more power they had in society. Prefixes were even given to a persons name to announce their power and financial state! The entirety of societal living was based on sex, money, and power.