Jane Austen really seems to like having a captivating first line at the start of each novel, doesn't she?

"No-one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be a heroine."

Immediately, we get that great sense of parody - making fun of novels which feature 'a beauty from her cradle' as the perfect heroine. By contrast, Catherine has grown up in a normal environment as a rather plain girl, with very few interruptions or excitements.