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"<u>. </u><u>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.</u> <u>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.</u> Still, <u>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. </u><u>Their mother and sisters,</u><u> on the other hand, do not share their ideology, and</u><u> openly look for matches that are well settled in life to provide for them.</u>
