most of the action of the book centers around are in fact wealthy, eligible young men. The plot itself revolves around the conflicts that these two men and the Bennet family encounter in love.

The next few lines introduce what will be the conflict for most of the book. When the text says "however little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering the neighbourhood," this speaks to the fact that Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley are indeed new to the neighborhood, and there is a lot of confusion through the majority of the text about exactly what their feelings are. Misinterpretations of their feelings create most of the problems throughout the text. After flirting with Mr. Bingley and then having him suddenly disappear, Jane assumes that Bingley does not actually care for her. Meanwhile, Elizabeth despises Mr. Darcy for most of the novel because she assumes that he is proud, aloof, and unfeeling.

The final part of the quote says that regardless of the designs that the man himself might hold, "this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters". This last sentiment is also a major problem in the text. Mrs. Bennet assumes that these wealthy men should, by right, belong to her daughters, and her loud discussion of marriage prospects embarrasses her family and prejudices Mr. Darcy against them.

Jane Austen's novel Pride & Prejudice is a novel which depicts the importance of conquering one's pride (as denoted by the title). IN the opening of the novel, the pride of Mr. Darcy is recognized and repeated multiple times. Upon the other characters meeting him, his wish to stand apart from the others, and refuse to dance, depicts him as prideful. Many of the characters refuse to accept him based upon this snap judgement, but Jane and her mother refuse to recognize his pride (Mrs. Bennet wishes to marry a daughter off to a wealthy man).

Therefore, the pride mentioned, and characterized, in the opening of the novel is a theme which extends throughout. It is not until Elizabeth, or Eliza, and Mr. Darcy come to push aside their pride that they can accept their feelings for each other. This aspect of the novel makes the novel into a self-contained whole.

The opening line of this novel is quite famous:

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

Such a line begins to establish the narrative voice of the text: it is wry and ironic but often lighthearted and amused as well. This line states, ironically, that everyone knows that every rich bachelor is looking for and in need of a wife. We can tell that the statement is meant ironically because such a belief is certainly not an acknowledged universal truth; rather, it is the belief of a select segment of the population, to those whose main ambition is "to get [their] daughters married [and whose] solace [is] visiting and news." For example, we might expect Mrs. Bennet, a rather ridiculous and silly character, to say something like this, and because she is so obviously ridiculous, we are given to understand that we are not meant to identify or agree with her. The narrator describes her as a "woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper." Thus, we are not supposed to agree with this opening line, and neither does the narrator (who is much more sympathetic to Elizabeth Bennet's character than she is to Mrs. Bennet).

In fact, shortly after this opening line, Mrs. Bennet actually says to her husband,

A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!

She assumes, automatically, that this wealthy bachelor will be interested in marrying one of her daughters. She has no idea what kind of person he is—he could be a horrible person without scruple for all Mrs. Bennet knows—and what matters most to her is that he is single and rich.

This first chapter also introduces readers to the mildly and amusingly antagonistic relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet as well as Mr. Bennet's preference for their daughter Elizabeth. Thus, it does quite a good job of introducing us to the major elements that will continue through the rest of the text.