] JA seems to have it out, in a way, for first/only sons -- indulged, expensive, idle, too early independence..... I just finished MP, and we have both Tom Bertram and Henry Crawford "gone bad" from causes related to this. There's Willoughby from S&S. I wonder how many first/only sons in her acquaintance/knowlege suffered thusly? Or, is it just human nature?

I don't know about JA's experience, but I remember reading a (rather well-researched, IMO) novel set in Regency times where there was a matter-of-fact discussion about there being no money to spare to buy the second son's army comission because his older brother had run up even more than the usual number of gambling debts to be expected from an eldest son!