“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” (5)

Austen lays out a thesis statement of sorts in the opening line of Pride and Prejudice. The idea that a man must want a wife is one that is supported with examples and proven throughout the novel – just as the thesis statement of an essay must be proven before its conclusion. In this case, the thesis is proven through the Bennet sisters’ search for husbands. This is significant because of how universal the truth is: the girls are all very different, as are their future husbands, but yet the idea of wanting to marry is one that they all share.