The women from the first class of courtesan, the honest courtesan, were often born into patrician or merchant family they were raised as educated and cultured women. But in a society that dictated exorbitant dowries that could often bankrupt a family, extra daughters were often given no opportunity to marry. They could go into a convent and become a nun, but that still required a dowry, though not as large. They could remain in the household an ageing spinster tending to family member, forever dependent and submissive perhaps to a new mistress of the household if it should pass to a brother and his wife. Or circumstances, like poverty from funding a dowry to an older sister, or failed commercial activities could encourage a young woman to consider the life of a courtesan. Often, in these situations, a courtesan could end up being the sole support of their family.
– Kristin Gleeson, Veronica Franco and the Courtesans of Renaissance #Venice https://the-history-girls.blogspot.com/2026/08/veronica-franco-and-courtesans-of.html
I guess the Venetian equivalent of Jane Austen, i.e. the fortunes of the unpropertied gentry woman, would have been quite a different genre 
Convent, caregiver, or courtesan, what a slate of choices!
@ljwrites anglican monastic orders exist! though i’ll grant you austen did live in the time period where they were perhaps least common
@ljwrites there’s also becoming a governess, if you’re REALLY desperate
@Satsuma Ah, the Jane Eyre route! Though she was more educated working class, IIRC.
@Satsuma That's too bad, the availability of monastic options would have added an extra array of characters and plots xD
@Satsuma Yeah maybe the unprosperous English gentlewoman had a better chance at marrying without a dowry, as long as she drastically lowered her sights or found a Mr. Darcy — but convent? What Popism is this? *crosses self in Anglican*