With two such sisters, Elinor the wise and pragmatic one who excels at drawing, and Marriane the passionate and captivating one who plays, sings and has a great love for literature poor Maragaret really isn't left much scope! Could she not have excelled at languages or even been handy with a needle?

Austen informs us in ch1 that she "did not, at thirteen, bid fair to equal her sisters", which pretty much dooms her from the start. There is a small part of me that wants her to rebel and transform into a person of significance-but Austen must of had her reasons for determining Margaret's fate so soon.
Perhaps Margaret is necessary to the plot as it puts Mrs Daswood in an even more precarious position. With such a young daughter to manage as well as two older ones to provide for, combined with her lack of ever knowing what it is like to survive on a small income, her chances of improving Barton cottage look increasingly remote.