---
type: Concept
title: Entail
description: An inheritance restriction that channels an estate to a designated heir,
  bypassing daughters.
resource: raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt
tags:
- entail
- inheritance
- gentry
- hertfordshire
timestamp: '2026-07-16T17:35:47Z'
citadel_version: 0.3.0
---

An entail restricts inheritance of an estate to a designated line of heirs, regardless of the
current owner's wishes.[^s1] [Mr. Bennet](../persons/mr-bennet.md)'s estate,
[Longbourn](../misc/longbourn.md), is entailed "in default of heirs male" onto his cousin
[Mr. Collins](../persons/mr-collins.md), bypassing all five Bennet daughters.[^s1]

[Mrs. Bennet](../persons/mrs-bennet.md) rails "bitterly against the cruelty of settling an estate
away from a family of five daughters," despite repeated attempts by
[Jane](../persons/jane-bennet.md) and [Elizabeth](../persons/elizabeth-bennet.md) to explain how an
entail works; the narration says she remains "beyond the reach of reason" on the subject.[^s2] Mr.
Bennet himself calls it "a most iniquitous affair," while noting that "nothing can clear Mr.
Collins from the guilt of inheriting Longbourn."[^s3] Collins, for his part, calls it "a grievous
affair" to his cousins and frames his marriage proposal to Elizabeth partly as an attempt at
amends for benefiting from it.[^s4]

## See also

- [Longbourn](../misc/longbourn.md)
- [Mr. Bennet](../persons/mr-bennet.md)
- [Mr. Collins](../persons/mr-collins.md)

## Sources

[^s1]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 1655-1658 — the Longbourn entail (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s2]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 2979-2983 — Mrs. Bennet's incomprehension of the entail (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s3]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 2984-2986 — Mr. Bennet on the entail (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s4]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 3097-3098 — Collins on the entail (ingested 2026-07-16)
