Question

PLEASE HELP 20 POINTS

Answer 1

Answer:

The significance of the phrase is:

C. ironically shows a rich man needing a wife, when women in those days needed one more significantly for financial stability.

Explanation:

This is the opening line in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". The whole idea of a rich man needing a wife as a universal truth is ironic, and Austen's novel is proof of that. The whole plot is based on women searching for potential husbands as a means to secure their financial stability. Of course, that was never the purpose of the main character and her favorite sister, who would both much rather marry for love than for money. Still, they end up marrying extremely wealthy man who, in a sense, rescue them from being left in a dire situation once their father comes to die. Their mother and sisters, on the other hand, do not share their ideology, and openly look for matches that are well settled in life to provide for them.