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"Marriages were arranged based on status and wealth. Jane Austen wrote like 50 zillion books about it, and my ex-gf made me watch all the movies."
Jane Austen also sharply skewered husband-hunting women and heiress-grabbing men in her (many less than 50 zillion) books. Some of her heroines "married up" (eliza Bennett in "P&P", title characters in "Emma"), but only when there was mutual affection as well. And other heroines married "poorly" (particularly Elinor Dashwood in "Sense and Sensibility"), but happily. Most women who married solely for money/status (Lucy Steele in same; Maria Bertram in "Mansfield Park"; Lydia Bennett in "Pride and Prejudice"; Willoughby in "Sense", and on and on) suffered.
