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“It is a truth universally acknowledged”: the first line of Pride and Prejudice, explained
An article · November 2026 · Leer en español
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
That is how Pride and Prejudice begins. It came out on 28 January 1813, without the author’s name on it (the title page said only “by the author of Sense and Sensibility”), and the sentence has been quoted, parodied and printed on things ever since. Here is what it actually says, and why it is funnier than it looks.
What it says
Read straight, the sentence states a general law: a rich, unmarried man needs a wife, and everyone knows it. “In want of” meant “lacking” as much as “wanting”, so he is short of a wife the way a house is short of a roof.
But nobody in the novel believes the rich man feels that way. The people who are sure of it are the families with daughters to marry. The “truth universally acknowledged” is really their wish, dressed up as a law of nature. Austen says the opposite of what she means and lets you notice: that is the irony.
The second sentence gives it away
“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.”
Here the joke turns round. The man does not choose: he is “considered as the rightful property” of somebody’s daughter before anyone has asked what he thinks. The single man who supposedly wants a wife is in fact the one being hunted. One of the notes on our sweatshirt says it in four words: “poor guy, no say in it”.
Then Mrs. Bennet speaks
“My dear Mr. Bennet,” said his lady to him one day, “have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?”
Right after the general law, Austen shows it at work. Mrs. Bennet has five unmarried daughters, and a young man of large fortune, Mr. Bingley, has just rented the big house nearby. “A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!” The grand opening sentence turns out to be what Mrs. Bennet thinks, put in the voice of a philosopher.
Why it mattered in 1813
The joke has a serious side. The Bennets’ house, Longbourn, is entailed: when Mr. Bennet dies it goes to the nearest male relative, a cousin, and not to his daughters. Women of their class had very few respectable ways to earn a living, so marriage was the surest future on offer. Mrs. Bennet is ridiculous, but her worry is real, and the first line holds both at once.
Why it is so famous
- It works on its own. You do not need to have read the book to get the joke, which is why it travels so well.
- It sets the tone. In one sentence you learn what the novel is about (marriage and money) and how it will talk about it (with a straight face and a raised eyebrow).
- It is easy to borrow. “It is a truth universally acknowledged that…” has become a ready-made opening for anything, from newspaper columns to wedding speeches.
Austen herself was pleased with the book. When her first copy arrived she wrote to her sister Cassandra that she had “got my own darling child from London”.
The first page, annotated
We liked the idea of the first page as a reader leaves it, with a highlighter and a pencil. So we made one, notes and all, and put it on a mug and a sweatshirt. Austen’s text is from 1813; the scribbles in the margins are ours.
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Annotated Pride and Prejudice Mug
$24.99
The first line on one side, Mrs. Bennet and Netherfield Park on the other, each with its note in the margin. 11 oz, dishwasher and microwave safe.
Printed to order in the US · choose your country on the product page to confirm delivery
See it -
Annotated Pride and Prejudice Sweatshirt
from $46.99
The whole opening, highlighted and underlined, with “irony!!” and “poor guy, no say in it” in the margins. Unisex crewneck, sizes S to 2XL.
Printed to order in the US · choose your country on the product page to confirm delivery
See it
Try it yourself
Take any copy of the novel and annotate the first page before you read on. Underline what the narrator says, circle what she means, and write in the margin who is really “in want of” what. Then read the first chapter and see if you were right. If you want more, The Jane Austen Puzzle Book has a “Who said it?” page for Pride and Prejudice, and our free 2027 reading challenge has a prompt for “a classic you pretended to have read”.
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Questions
What is the first line of Pride and Prejudice?
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
What does the first line of Pride and Prejudice mean?
On the surface it says that a rich single man must want a wife. In fact it is the families with daughters who want him, and the next sentence calls him the “rightful property” of one of their daughters. The line says the opposite of what it means, which is the irony.
What does “in want of a wife” mean?
In Austen's English, “in want of” meant lacking or needing, not only wishing for. The man is said to be short of a wife.
When was Pride and Prejudice published?
On 28 January 1813, without the author's name. The title page said “by the author of Sense and Sensibility”.