The exposition - Pride and Prejudice

The first lines

“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 neighborhood, 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.”

This is the first couple of lines in the book, and they definitely catch my interest because I want to know more about the man with a good income, and furthermore I want to get to know the families Austen writes about. I believe that the main subjects of this book are pride and prejudice, just as the name of the novel is, but also about how important it was for the women to find a man who could afford them, and that’s what I think the book will be about. In the first lines, Austen is presenting how important it is for a woman to marry a man with a good income. Moreover, that one of those men soon will arrive to a neighborhood where the families’ opinions are very strong, and finally that the families already have their prejudices about him, even though they’ve never met the man before.

The exposition

This book takes place during the 18th century in England when the women didn’t have the same equally rights as the men did. The novel is about the Bennet family and we get to be a part of their daily life. Mrs Bennet’s only wish is that her five daughters will find men with a good income who they can marry. One day, a man called Mr. Bingley rents a house, called Netherfield Park, close to the Bennets’ house. He is rich, single and handsome, and Mrs Bennet sees her opportunity to marrying away one of her daughters, so she asks her husband, Mr Bennet, to talk to the new neighbor. As a result, Mr Bingley will arrange a ball, and Mrs Bennet is very satisfied. Moreover, the ball is resulting in that Jane, who is the oldest sister, is the only one dancing with Mr. Bingley two times, and this, of course, makes Mrs Bennet happier than ever, and she is expecting a wedding to take place soon. In company with Mr Bingley at the ball, was his great friend Mr Darcy. Elizabeth, the second oldest daughter, believes that he is a man of pride, and when he says to his friends that Elizabeth is someone he doesn’t want to spend time with because she isn’t beautiful enough, her judgment about him confirms.

A couple of days later, a family member called Mr Collins arrives with the thoughts of finding a wife. His intention is to marrying one of the Bennet daughters, and the happy news makes Mrs Bennet very thrilled. The one that Mr Collins choses is Elizabeth, but his feelings aren’t returned, and even though her mother gets extremely disappointed, she kindly tells him that she can’t marry him. Another man who also is presented to us in the exposition of the book is Mr Wickham. He is an officer, and when he arrives, people seem to like him very much. We soon find out that he has a past with Mr Darcy, and they don’t seem to like each other at all.

The characters

Elizabeth Bennet is the second oldest daughter in the Bennet family. Her father thinks she is the smartest of his daughters, but her mother, on the other hand, believes that she doesn’t follow the typical rules for how to be a woman, and Elizabeth is therefor not her mothers’ first choice among the daughters. Miss Bennet seems to be intelligent, attractive, and a very caring person. She believes that a woman should marry a man she loves and not because of his fortune, and furthermore, she isn’t afraid to criticize the society she lives in. However, she has a tendency to judge people very quickly, and she is also rather sarcastic. Even though she can be tough sometimes, she loves her family very much, especially her older sister Jane.

Mr Darcy is described as a tall, intelligent and incredibly handsome person. He is from a respectable family with a large income. He seems to be very trusted by Mr Bingley, and he also has a younger sister, Miss Darcy who he loves and protects very much. So I believe that his love and protection for his sister and the trust Mr Bingley has in Mr Darcy, shows us that he is a caring and loving person, even though he is presented as a withdrawn and asocial man with a lot of pride.

The title

The title of the book I’m reading is Pride and Prejudice, and I couldn’t agree more to that title because I believe that the book is based on those words. It’s not only in the first lines of the book the subjects pride and prejudices are presented to us, but also continuing throughout the first third of the book. There are for example prejudices about how to act as a woman or a man, and on page 15, Austen writes “A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the world; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.” This shows us, readers, what people expected for a woman during the 18th century.