It was a world which revolved around impeccable manners and pure reputations, when fortunes were lost and made at the altar. As the lastest remake of Pride and Prejudice hits the big screen, women's editor Lindsay Jennings looks at what life was really like for women in Jane Austen's era.

IT IS a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in Regency times in possession of very little, would have been in want of a wealthy husband. Indeed, the pressure on single women in the early 19th century was such that without a good marriage, they and their entire families could be plunged into a life of poverty.

That Elizabeth Bennet, one of literature's most enduring heroines, went on to become mistress of the grand mansion Pemberley, was without doubt a huge relief to her parents. For, like many of her day, the future stability of the Bennet family rested on Elizabeth and her four sisters making advantageous matches.

The era in which Jane Austen penned her novels was one in which impeccable manners and pure reputations ruled, alongside a strict code of ethics and etiquette.

From a young age, most ladies of the Regency period (from 1811 to 1820) would be occupied with thoughts of marriage and heirs. Fortunes could be made or lost depending on the person you happened to marry, and money and marriage were inextricably linked to power and inheritance - the latter owned by the husband once the ink was dry on the wedding certificate.

In Austen's world, the feudal laws of primogeniture meant that a daughter could not inherit her father's estate. Upon a father's death and without a male heir, a wife and his daughters would be forced to move out of the family home, relying on donations from family members to survive. Sometimes, the closest male relative was a distant cousin, hardly known by the family, as in Pride and Prejudice's Mr Collins.

Little surprise then, that the pressure on women to marry well was immense.

Says Pamela Clemit, Professor of English Studies at Durham University: "Women like the Bennet sisters would obviously have to marry and they would have to find an economically suitable partner. (The pressure) is played up in a comic way in the character of Mrs Bennet, but there was a real serious point that if they didn't marry, they would end up penniless."

How women in Regency times set about catching themselves a husband, varied depending on the class from which they came.

Among the upper classes, it was common for a relative or close family friend to "out" the lady during the season, either by travelling to London or one of the fashionable spa towns such as Bath or Brighton, where the lady would be introduced to society.

For the gentry or emerging middle-classes, such as the Bennet sisters, it would be much less formal.

But for all social classes, timing would be of the essence. A lady out in society would have a couple of seasons at most to find herself a husband or be dubbed an old maid or even worse - some single women were dubbed mentally ill. Popular places to meet husbands would be dances or events at the local assembly rooms or evenings of entertainment at grand houses.

In the large country houses, such as Pemberley, the day-to-day lives were considerably different for both men and women. A gentleman's day would be filled with sports such as hunting, shooting or fishing, but a lady would be expected to write letters or embroider, read or perfect other "accomplishments" such as singing or musical skills. In reality, the life of a lady in Regency times could be very dull indeed.

"It could be a great problem, especially for intelligent women because what on earth would you do with your time?" says Professor Clemit.

"In gentrified circles there was a lot of emphasis on accomplishments such as sewing, music, enjoying books - but only certain kinds of novels. Anything that was too passionate would be seen as suspect. You would then use those accomplishments to catch your husband and once you were caught, your husband would then be able to exhibit you."

In all things, ladies were expected to act with decorum, and as such would not be expected to be found running across muddy fields, as Elizabeth Bennet is so fond of doing.

They would go outdoors to take some air, but they would be expected to avoid the midday sun and the early evening when there was dew about, and to wear a bonnet to protect their fair complexions.

It was also unusual for a young lady to be out alone, without a chaperone, and she would never be allowed to meet a young man on her own.

But, a chaperone could be invaluable when giving advice and tutelage on how to catch a husband, and would have benefited herself by an advantageous match. Scheming and back-stabbing was not uncommon in order for her charge to secure her man.

Perhaps what most young women today would struggle with would be the need to be alone.

"We like a lot of our own space nowadays, but in Jane Austen's novels we hardly ever see characters on their own. But I suppose it is hard to know if you have never had privacy whether or not you would miss it," says Professor Clemit.

If a woman did succumb to passion and fall for the wrong kind of man, such as one who was beneath her in status or one who was particularly caddish, it was certain to cause a scandal. A banishment abroad or far away from the family seat was not unknown.

But once married, and for the aristocracy in particular, there could be found a certain relaxing of the corsets. For all the etiquette and manners, the Regency era was also an age of gluttony, gambling and dubious sexual morals.

Once the female upper classes had married and produced an heir (and a spare) it was not uncommon for them to find a lover or two - just as their husbands did. The Duke of Devonshire lived for years with his wife and his mistress Lady Elizabeth Foster under one roof. (Lady Foster was also his wife's best friend). Emma Hamilton was another famous mistress, companion of Lord Nelson. For those women who were prepared to be discreet and act with decorum, an affair could last for years.

Says Dr Barry Doyle, assistant dean of research at Teesside University's School of Social Sciences: "For the upper classes, the women were like trading commodities, but they also had a certain amount of freedom. There was a sense that once a woman had given birth to a couple of legitimate male heirs, then she could go off and have affairs - as long as no-one rocked the boat. As long as she didn't bother him, then he wouldn't bother her."

So does this mean that women of the Regency era had to forego love in order to make advantageous matches, hoping that once married and with the heirs in place they could find more romantic lovers?

Certainly Jane Austen questions the notion of romantic love in Pride and Prejudice, and although Elizabeth falls in love with Mr Darcy, it is the beauty of Pemberley and his vast estate which initially sets her heart a flutter.

"The romantic love of Lydia (who runs off with the incorrigible Mr Wickham in Pride and Prejudice) gets her into trouble and there is the notion that romantic love is dangerous," says Dr Doyle. "Then there is Elizabeth who is, frankly, calculating, which is seen as a much more appropriate way of marriage.

"The amazing thing with Elizabeth Bennet is that she falls in love with Darcy when she sees the size of his house. She is clearly going to marry above her station, which wasn't unknown, but was relatively unusual. "Certainly 10,000 acres would put you in the top ten richest men in the country, so it was a very good marriage for her to make."