Pride and Prejudice

...

of marriage for a young woman at the time. Her character therefore brings a new dimension to the meaning of the opening extract. It also allows the reader to mock Mrs bennet and therefore as a result mock the so called social norms of the time. Meaning that Mrs Bennet’s humorous personality, is Austin’s way of concealing the mocking connotation behind this extract.

In a similar way, the satirical irony within this opening statement conceals the highly critical tone behind it. The focus of the extract is on ‘a single man… in want of a wife’ however Austin’s novel is centred around the female characters and their ways to succeed in a society dominated by men. At this time, it was crucial for a woman to marry as they risked life as a spinster if they did not. Therefore, the irony of this quote is clear- it’s not the men who are in want of a wife, it’s the women who are in need of a husband. The author continues to use irony in the narrative sections of the novel to make many sharp- but often unnoticed- judgements and to veil her bitter observations of the society. Austen manages to imply this sexist reality in a superficially straightforward and amusing opening line.

Therefore, this short and seemingly simple quotation sets the tone of the entire novel. The novel as a whole could be summed up in this one extract as it encapsulates not only some of the main themes and characters, but also the mocking criticism that Austin held for the society and the hierarchy that existed between men and woman, and also people of different classes. Hence this quote could arguably be the most significant in the novel, and also to literature as a whole.