In Pride and Prejudice what problems do the Bennets have by having so many daughters?

Answer 1

They do not have too much dowry to give their daughters, as they live on an income which will disappear after Mr Bennet's death. He had not saved money in the hope he would father a son who will inherit the estate, but that did not happen, so his wife and daughters will be relatively poor at his death. Mrs Bennet must therefore marry them up as soon (and as well) as possible. It was quite difficult to find suitable husbands for 3 daughters, not to mention for 5! It was practically Mission: Impossible! Desperate, Mrs Bennet decided not to observe a generally accepted custom and she let her daughters "come out" all at once (a phrase with a completely different meaning back then!). It was customary then to be presented to your social milieu only after your older sister's marriage, so to see Mrs Bennet followed by a 5-daughter-strong group was something quite out of the ordinary! Another problem arises from the fact they lived in a small village, characterised by a lack of "suitable bachelors".