Mrs Bennet’s reaction contrasts with her husband’s silence in this incipit. She is overexcited, almost ecstatic at the thought of Mr Bingley’s arrival because all she thinks about is marrying one of her daughters with this single, wealthy man. That’s why she asks Mr Bennet to visit Mr Bingley so that he can introduce his daughters to the newcomer. The exclamation marks and italics (which emphasize some key words) reveal Mrs Bennet’s state of mind. She can’t wait! This event might be the chance of her life to marry one of her daughters.

This passage is highly ironical since men are presented as if they were the ones who were desperately looking for a wife. Moreover, this is presented as a universal truth, which totally contradicts the passage because it is Mrs Bennet who, as the text puts it, ‘is in want of’ a husband for her daughters, as were most women at that time.