...Austen's letters, but there have been assertions from those who have that she commented on the propensity of spinsters to be poor. She already knew this; she says that either Charlotte would be a burden on her brothers, or (implies that) they would fail in their familial duty and she would sink into misery. Or maybe, if she were really lucky, find a respectable job somewhere.

I think we are supposed to stand with Lizzy and her principles, even though I think she is harder on Charlotte than JA was.

I, on the other hand, think there are a number of instances in P&P, and this is one of them, where Lizzy is less than wise, less than moral, less than loyal.

One of my reasons is that JA herself, after temporarily accepting the proposal ... she realized that she could not be happy with Harris Bigg-Wither.

I knew this, and I accept it as a possible argument. I don't accept it as being weightier than other arguments.

JA wrote P&P many years before this incident, when she was still young and hopeful. If anything, she would probably have been more romantic at that time than she was later.

I didn't know that particular timeline, but I do know that her first published book, S&S, openly argued really strongly against the cruel illusions of the Romantic ideals.