I konw Mrs Bennet was banking on all the girls making fabulous marraiges( which luckliy for the whole family two of them managed- in spite, not because of Mrs Bennets efforts in both cases) but she was the daughter of a small town attourney and none too high on the social scale.

She married very well, IMHO,as Mr Bennet has a nice but small estate,and she is comfortably off- until teh prospect of his death is considerd.Then without adequate provision they would be in trouble.(N.B its only Mr Bennet's penchant for ecomomy that stops them from total finacial ruin, as she is terribly extravagant)

Looking at her confined society- what household would teh bennet girls ahve reasobably expected to ahve run on theri marraige?the reality check that JA was bringing to out attention here is that the best the girls could do in all common sense was a parsonage or town house in Meryton.

I think Jane Austen was poking fun at Mrs Bennet when she was declaring that teeh girls were not used to working in thr kitchen unlike the Lucas sisters.She was aping teh asporatons of those much higher placed in life than she.

The Lucas girls might not have actually physically worked in the kitchen( Mrs Bennet was not above being spiteful and the Lucas girls were,we should remember, rivals for any single mans hand ) but they did have a good knwledge of how a well run hosuehold had to be manitained- which stood Charlotte Lucas in very good stead.And such knowledge was reccommended to be acquired by all ladies with hosueholds to run by the conduct and advise books of the period.

Keeping the Bennet girls ignorant of how a household was to be maintained put them at risk of being swindled by servants and did nto make them attractive propositions on the marraige market.

I often wonder if Elizabeth Bennet knew just how lucky she was when, on her marriage ,she acquired the help and knowledge of the devoted and efficient Mrs Reynolds?

And I do think that Vickery aruging that the women of the 18th century were not that far removed from the domestic picture as suggested by 17th century womens experience.She is arguing against teh sterotypical response.It all depends on ones station in life and ones resources- finacncial and mental.I dare say there have been idle rich women with us throughout history, together with idle poor;-).