IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.
~~~
Austen opens with a "universally acknowledged truth" that is probably more universally acknowledged by some (the neighbors) than others (the single man of wealth). Having seen several different film adaptations of the book, I know how this universally acknowledged truth ultimately plays out; yet as we progress through the novel, it may be worthwhile to come back to these opening words to see how they apply to the several different attachments that are formed in the novel.
(A question: How does Austen bring this truth to bear in the attachments formed in her other novels?)
As the first chapter unfolds, we are introduced to the Bennet family, and Mrs. Bennet seems to be the chief architect of a scheme on the part of the neighborhood in engaging one of her daughters to the blissfully ignorant (of the universally acknowledged truth,) Mr. Bingley. Though we know nothing of Bingley, he is introduced as a "young man of a large fortune" and a likely candidate for one of the Bennet daughters.
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