资源描述：
《prideandprejudice》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在行业资料-天天文库。
1、Itisatruthuniversallyacknowledged,thatasinglemaninpossessionofagoodfortune,mustbeinwantofawife.ThisisthefirstsentenceofPrideandPrejudiceandstandsasoneofthemostfamousfirstlinesinliterature.EvenasitbrisklyintroducesthearrivalofMr.BingleyatNetherfield,theeventthatsetstheno
2、velinmotion,thissentencealsooffersaminiaturesketchoftheentireplot,whichconcernsitselfwiththepursuitof“singlemeninpossessionofagoodfortune”byvariousfemalecharacters.Thepreoccupationwithsociallyadvantageousmarriageinnineteenth-centuryEnglishsocietymanifestsitselfhere,fori
3、nclaimingthatasingleman“mustbeinwantofawife,”thenarratorrevealsthatthereverseisalsotrue:asinglewoman,whosesociallyprescribedoptionsarequitelimited,isin(perhapsdesperate)wantofahusband.ThenewsthatawealthyyounggentlemannamedCharlesBingleyhasrentedthemanorknownasNetherfiel
4、dParkcausesagreatstirintheneighboringvillageofLongbourn,especiallyintheBennethousehold.TheBennetshavefiveunmarrieddaughters,andMrs.Bennet,afoolishandfussygossip,isthesortwhoagreeswiththenovel'sopeningwords:“Itisatruthuniversallyacknowledged,thatasinglemaninpossessionofa
5、goodfortune,mustbeinwantofawife.”SheseesBingley'sarrivalasanopportunityforoneofthegirlstoobtainawealthyspouse,andshethereforeinsiststhatherhusbandcallonthenewarrivalimmediately.Mr.Bennettormentshisfamilybypretendingtohavenointerestindoingso,butheeventuallymeetswithMr.Bi
6、ngleywithouttheirknowing.WhenherevealstoMrs.Bennetandhisdaughtersthathehasmadetheirnewneighbor'sacquaintance,theyareoverjoyedandexcited.Mr.BennetisthepatriarchoftheBennethousehold—thehusbandofMrs.BennetandthefatherofJane,Elizabeth,Lydia,Kitty,andMary.Heisamandriventoexa
7、sperationbyhisridiculouswifeanddifficultdaughters.Hereactsbywithdrawingfromhisfamilyandassumingadetachedattitudepunctuatedbyburstsofsarcastichumor.HeisclosesttoElizabethbecausetheyarethetwomostintelligentBennets.Initially,hisdrywitandself-possessioninthefaceofhiswife'sh
8、ysteriamakehimasympatheticfigure,but,thoughheremainslikablethroughout,thereadergraduallylosesrespectforhimasit
