The Men of Austen
While perusing the Masterpiece/PBS site, I found this page about the men of Jane Austen’s novels. You need to click “see the men” and then scroll over each photograph to get the details on each. It isn’t totally correct, I’m sure, but it does tell us a little about each man and (this was the interesting part for me) translates the amount of money then — however many pounds per year — into the amount that it would equal today. So, Darcy’s 10,000 pounds per year would be 6 million.

The possession or want of fortune plays such an important part in her novels. It makes it all the more understandable, to me, having it in modern day amounts.

Check it out.