"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." (Austen 1)
This famous line in the first sentence of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice describes how marriage depended mainly on financial status, rather than actual love for your spouse. A man had contentment on just the assurance of having a life time companion. This quote is also true vice versa, a single woman in need of money is inevitably in want of a husband. A rich man during this time would of "had it made" because marriage back in the 1700’s generally resulted from the desperation of women who needed financial stability due to the unstable financial status of their families. Of course, majority of all women didn’t belong to the upper class, so marrying a man with a good financial status would give them a stable life, although the true essence of love may not be present on both parties. This didn’t matter that much because women were so preoccupied by the idea that if they don’t get married soon, they will end up, most likely, in poverty and turn into old maids. The misuse of getting married for money and not because you love your spouse is a recurring goal that sets the stage for the entire novel.
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