Jane Austen’s biography

She is one of the most widely read

and best-loved writer

in British literature.

Jane Austen was born on December

16, 1775, in the small village of

Steventon in Hampshire, England.

Her childhood was happy:

her home was full of books,

and many friends and relatives.

Her parents encouraged both their

children’s intellectual interests...

... and passion

for producing and performing

in amateur theatricals.

Austen’s closest relationship was

with her only sister,

Cassandra.

Jane Austen – watercolour produced by her sister, Cassandra

From about twelve years old, Jane

began writing spirited parodies of the

popular Gothic...

... and sentimental fiction

for the amusement of her family.

These early works reveal in nascent

form many of her literary gifts:

... particularly her ironic sensibility,

wit, and gift for comedy.

Serious works began around 1794:

Lady Susan,

Elinor and Marianne

and First Impressions.

In 1797, First Impressions (Pride and

Prejudice) was offered to a publisher

by Jane Austen’s father...

... but the publisher

declined to even

look at the manuscript.

After her father’s death, Jane,

Cassandra and her mother became

dependent on support from the

Austen brothers.

In 1808, they moved to a cottage in Chawton, which is today a museum.

Jane Austen revised her earlier works

which were entitled:

Sense and Sensibility (1811) and

Pride and Prejudice (1813).

She also wrote

Mansfield Park (1814)

and Emma (1815).

In 1816, Jane Austen’s health

began to fail.

She died at the age of 41

on July 18, 1817.

She loved balls, music, country walks,

conversation, children, novels.

Her works were concerned with

courtship, love and marriage

but she never married.

All Jane Austen’s work lifetime

appeared in print anonymously.

Just few months following her death a

biographical notice appeared in the

books revealing her name.

She lived in privacy and, after her

death, her family censored and

destroyed many of her letters.

On her grave

there was no mention of

her writings...

... just an allusion to

“the extraordinary endowments

of her mind.”

She represented

the ordinary world

of men and women

as it was...

... a place where love

and romance were constrained

by economics and human

imperfection...

... a place where characters were

never simply good or evil but more

complicated amalgams, reflecting both

their own moral nature...

... and the virtues

and failings of the families and society

that shaped them.

Because Jane Austen is still in tune

with today’s sensibilities,

her novels have been adapted to

many movies...

The more recent are...

(1995)

(1996)

(1999)

(2005)

(2007) (tv)

(2007) (tv)

(2007)

And others had

Jane Austen’s novel

like background...

(1998)

Paraphrasing Pride and Prejudice...

(2006)

Paraphrasing Persuasion...

(2007)

... paraphrasing five of her novels.

... And...

Jane Austen’s works are full of

intelligence and precisely crafted to

convey its often subtle meaning.

. . .

Sources

http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/janelife.html

http://www.jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk/

19th Century English Literature