silver

... I was pushing 30 before I discovered P & P. I started it with the rather parochial intuition that 18th century writers couldn't possibly be funny, let alone 18th century romance writers!

Of course, as you said, it's a satire (with the shape of a romance) and why shouldn't old writers be funny!

I hadn't thought about how little we see of the men, but you're quite right; and the explanation for why makes a lot of sense. And indeed, Austen's real-life isolation makes her accomplishments all that much more remarkable.