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Quote 1. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Explanation and Analysis. With this, one of the most famous opening lines in literature, Pride and Prejudice begins. Austen will quickly move into greater specifics, as she describes the goings-on at the Bennet house, but it is telling that it is a general statement, and not a description of a particular family in general, that sets the tone for the book. It is ironic that Austen's "universal" is, of course, limited to a particular moment in history and to a particular, upper-class social environment. However, for that group, this fact is so widespread as to be universal as well as obvious - even if another aspect of that environment is that people tend no to explicitly talk about such facts. In Austen's universe, people seek order and stability through two main venues: fortune and marriage. Men who have a certain income, and thus can comfortably imagine starting a family, seek wives who can give one to them: women, on the other hand, who are barred from holding fortunes themselves, can only find an equivalent stability in marrying a man who is wealthy enough to support them. For the rest of the book, Austen will explore in intricate detail the lives of a single family and the people around them, but here she suggests that their story is not unique but typical and representative - and that this makes their story more, not less, interesting and relevant.