Two sentences that quietly demolish a whole social system. Every word is doing something, especially the ones that sound like common sense.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
Underlined words and phrases can be tapped for a note
Everyone agrees that a rich single man must be looking for a wife.
However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.
Underlined words and phrases can be tapped for a note
However little anyone knows of such a man's feelings or opinions when he first arrives in a neighbourhood, the families nearby are so certain of this rule that they treat him as property that rightfully belongs to one of their daughters.
Second daughter, with no inheritance
Landowner
That's the whole thing.
Read it again slowly — it gets better the second time.