Feminism became a recognized movement in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but it didn't effect the lives of many women until the twentieth century. Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice, by Jane Austen, are two brilliant examples of this. The female characters in both books had little money, and few family connections. They faced serious social restrictions, and, because of unwritten social rules, spent most of their time in the company of other women. There were also social expectations for upper class women, concerning everything from dress to language.

Many women in the nineteenth century, even if they were born into upper class, were not born wealthy. `Those who have some means think that the most important thing in the world is love. The poor know it is money' - Gerald Brenan. Money was literally the most important thing in the lives of most upper class females in the...