Why is the opening sentence of Pride and Prejudice ironic?
The first sentence of the novel Pride and Prejudice opens with an ironic statement about marriage, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” . A man with a fortune does not need a wife nearly so much as a woman is greatly in need of a wealthy husband. The entire novel is really an explanation of how women and men pursue each other prior to marriage. Jane Austen uses a variety of verbal, dramatic, situational and irony through the novel.
