How does the first chapter introduce us to the main themes and central concerns in 'Pride and Prejudice'?

'Pride and Prejudice', first published in 1813, is Jane Austen's most popular novel. It tells the story of the Bennet family; a genteel family living in rural Britain in the early 19th century. The novel explores the social conventions of its time; social class and wealth, marriage, love and of course, pride and prejudice. 'Pride and Prejudice' discusses all of these themes from Jane Austen's point of view and with a doubt, she is the main …

…reading the novel we see how frequently our first impressions are wrong (remember the original title). Within this novel, prejudice has a lot to do with the confusion between reality and a person's appearance, especially in judgement of character. Elizabeth makes this mistake about both Wickham and Darcy and one that Darcy makes about Elizabeth and Jane. Mrs Bennet is constantly wrong or changing her opinion of people based on their social status or wealth.