Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The first sentence talks about something that it presumes every person

understands and agrees with as it says, ‘It is a truth universally

acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must

be in want of a wife’. It is a statement that related back to the era

that Jane Austen wrote in: an era when people not only married for

love but also on the grounds of rising up the social hierarchy, making

useful connections and acquiring a large wealth. This is a theme that

is discussed during Pride and Prejudice through the actions of the

characters.

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813 and we can

tell this through lexis and style in the first few paragraphs. For

example, the lexical choices such as ‘ Michaelmas’ and ‘chaise and

four’. At this time it was common for many wealthier people to travel

around in a horse-drawn carriage. The fact that this chaise is driven

by four horses indicates the fortune of the owner. This is perhaps

what Mrs Bennet saw as she discusses whether the new neighbour may be

suitable for any of her daughters. This is proved further as it is

said that he had ‘ servants [that] are to be in the house by the end

of the week’. Many middle- and upper-class families had some sort of

servant or maid service in the household.

We can also tell that this novel was written a long time ago is that

Mrs Bennet says that the man must have at least four or five thousand,

making him a fine thing for her girls. This amount of money may not

seem an extraordinary amount and yet in the 19th century, this would

have been a lot of money to people.

The sentences are also quite long compared with what we might find

today. For example, one sentence is “Why ,my dear, you must know…and

some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.”