The Destination of a Novel

The destination of a novel is the place or event which all the little details concealed inside of a novel are leading to. Whether this be discovering a new and mysterious island or simply a dreaded visit to the dentist.

In Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, the destination of the novel is crystal clear from the very first chapter. In fact, the first sentence gives the reader a fine idea of what to expect from the novel.


"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."


The novel begins with an idea rather than a character which shows that this idea is much more important to the novel than the introduction of a character. In this first sentence the reader can pick out just three words which sum up the destination of the novel straight away; "good fortune" and "wife." Therefore, the reader has already learnt that the novel is about marrying into wealth. This sentence is also set apart from the rest of the chapter as it is a paragraph on its own. This makes the sentence stand out on paper and also in the mind of the reader, making it more memorable. So, later on in the novel when you read about the daughters meeting officers and taking a fancy to them, you are reminded of the first sentence and are hit with the realisation, if you didn't get it at first, that the destination of the novel is finding a young, single man with a large fortune and taking him for your own.

The main and only conversation within the first chapter is based upon the arrival of a "single man of large fortune" who is the new possessor of a fine estate. This again highlights the destination of the novel as the character speaking, Mrs Bennet, fixates the topic of conversation purely on her hopes of him marrying one of her daughters, "You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them." Therefore, the reader is introduced to the fact that the novel will concern Mrs Bennet's daughters and them searching for a rich man to marry.


During the first chapter, there is a lack of setting and description until the last paragraph. This shows that the topic of conversation must be important to the novel because all of the focus is set on what the characters are talking about, which is Mrs Bennet's wish for her husband to "visit [Mr Bingley] as soon as he comes" in the hope that "he may fall in love with one of them" (being one of Mrs Bennet's daughters).

The last paragraph in the chapter finally reveals setting and description to the readers, where we learn Mr and Mrs Bennet's characteristics. However, the final sentence to the first chapter, alike the first, is boldly written and shows importance to the novel. "The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news." This final sentence does well to highlight the destination of the novel and readers will be expecting a novel solely to do with five young women trying to find a single man of good fortune and become his wife.