]

] Then again, I could be entirely wrong and it could be just JA not letting her pen dwell on guilt or misery - it's just a theory!

I think the reason there was not more resentment toward a system that we would consider blatantly unfair (and also why women put up with inheriting so much less than their brothers!)is simply that they were conditioned from the cradle to revere hierarchy. It's amazing what people will put up with if they believe it's "normal". The benefit of this system (though that doesn't make it right) is that a title meant something. As I understand it,in other European countries where they didn't have the system of primogeniture, social circles were full of penniless counts and barons, since not only was the family estate divided among all the sons (probably not the daughters, though!), but younger sons were given titles as well.