The business of her life was to get her daughters married.
– Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 1. Here Mrs. Bennet’s life is metaphorically compared to a business, one with a single purpose – to marry off each of her five daughters to wealthy husbands in order that they achieve financial stability. That is her single goal and primary occupation in life. To Mrs. Bennet marriage for a woman is less about following one’s heart and more about economic stability. Austen is satirizing this view of marriage through the character of Mrs. Bennet and her obsession with finding beaux for her daughters.