The dominant point of view in the novel is that of women in general, although not necessarily that of Austen’s. The memorable first line from the novel serves as evidence for this assertion: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”. There is an element of wishful thinking in this line, as if women of the era wanted it to be true. It also carries an air of presumption in that it thinks on behalf of men what they would want. Claiming it to be a universal truth is again a little pretentious. But this is not to say that this famous line is an indication of the author’s own mistaken preconceptions – either born of pride of her gender or out of ignorance. To the contrary, Austen seems to be using it as a ploy to invoke critical thinking on the part of the reader. The scrupulous reader will ask himself/herself the question, ‘Does she sincerely expect her readers to adhere to such a declaration in a gesture of passive acceptance?’. The answer is firmly in the negative, as
“implicit in this initial pronouncement is an invitation to the reader to disagree with the narrative point of view, to dismiss the authorial voice, on this occasion, as a stuffy advocate of bourgeois morality. Austen frequently “reverts to the first person in her fictions” as a way of tendering “an invitation to regard the narrator as a character with opinions of her own”. In proffering such an observation at the outset, Austen assumes that her reader is familiar with the tradition of the novel, in particular with the eighteenth-century ideology that frames the genre as a vehicle of moral improvement.” (Mathews, 2007)
Moving on to the socio-cultural aspects of the novel, it is fair to claim that class equations are an integral part of its living organism. The complex series of social rules and conventions that the characters follow amply bring to life the quality and atmosphere of the novel’s setting. All members of the Bennett family illustrate this quality through their numerous interactions with the outside world. For example, the sisters never fail to address members of their social circle through the titles they’ve earned – either through inheritance or through individual accomplishment. Lady Catherine de Bourgh is one such member, who also typifies another idiosyncrasy of her aristocratic status, namely, snobbishness. These complex social rules and conventions are also employed for the sake of politeness and civility. For example,
“To be civil involves a praxis of response, in which each participant is expected, by a set of unspoken rules, to act in a certain manner. Such reactions are not, however, simply mechanical, but are expected to reflect the deeper force of one’s beliefs…The truly polite or civil set of expectations thus contains not only a duty to perform a particular act, but also the implicit possibility of refusing that invitation. Austen thus examines the frequent tension between a desire “universally acknowledged” as being in one’s interest, and the adjustment of one’s actual desire in relation to that supposed universality.” (Mathews, 2007)