Jane Austen was an English Georgian era novelist whose books, set among the English middle and upper classes, are notable for their wit, social observation and insights into the lives of early 19th century women.
Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire in 1775. She was the seventh child and second daughter of Cassandra and George Austen who were well-respected community members. In 1783, Austen and her sister, Cassandra were sent to Oxford to be educated by Mrs. Ann Cawley, later moving with her to Southampton where they both caught typhus. Austen nearly died and was then educated at home before briefly being sent to Abbey boarding school in Reading in 1785. After having to leave boarding school due to her parents being unable to continue to fund her education, Austen continued to learn by reading books. Her father and brothers, James and Henry assisted in her learning and she had access to the extensive libraries of both her father and Warren Hastings, a family friend. Austen’s parents encouraged creative thinking and her experiments with writing. Between the ages of 7 and 13, Austen’s family and close friends staged a series of plays when she was 7 to 13. The plays were often comedic, and may have provided her with inspiration for her later comedic and satirical writing.
Austen was fascinated by stories, and wrote poems, stories, and plays for both her, and her families amusement. She would later compiled copies of 29 of these early pieces of writing into three bound notebooks, now known as the Juvenilia. Included in these notebooks, are The History of England, in which she parodied popular historical writing and a satirical novel in a series of love letters titled Love and Freindship [sic], in which she parodied romantic fiction popular in novels of sensibility and romantic hysteria. After writing Love and Friendship, Austen decided that she wanted to write for profit, and become a professional writer. She began writing longer, more sophisticated works and would read these aloud to her family in the evenings.
Austen spent the majority of her early adulthood helping to run the family home, playing piano, attended female relatives during childbirth and older relatives on their deathbeds as befitting to women of her age and social standing. She attended church regularly and socialised with her neighbours. She would also regularly attend balls held at the assembly rooms in the town hall and became an accomplished dancer.
In 1793, Austen began writing more ambitious works such as Lady Susan, a short epistolary novel (a novel written as a series of letters, like her earlier work ‘Love and Friendship’). It is a study of an adult woman who uses her intelligence, sexuality and force of character to manipulate others, it is unlike any of her other works. After writing Lady Susan, Austen attempted to write her first novel, creating a draft of Elinor and Marianne, another epistolary novel as well as the beginning of First Impressions which she completed in 1797. First Impressions was a firm favourite with her family, as she had read it aloud to them while working on it. Austen’s father attempted to publish one of her novels in November of that year, and wrote to publisher Thomas Cadell to ask if he would consider publishing First Impressions. The letter was returned unopened. Austen returned to Elinor and Marianne in 1797 – mid-1798 and revised it, changing it from an epistolary format to third-person narration.
In 1801, Austen and her father, mother and sister, Cassandra moved to Bath. Her father died three years later and the family struggled financially, forced to move from place to place and live in either the homes of various family members or rented flats. In 1809 they finally found a stable living situation in Austen’s brother Edward’s cottage. Austen began to have her novel’s published anonymously, her brother Henry assisted her in gaining a publisher and in 1811 Thomas Egerton published Sense and Sensibility. The book was favourably received and became fashionable, selling out by mid-1813. Sense and Sensibility was followed by Pride and Prejudice, formerly known as First Impressions which received critical acclaim. A year after, Mansfield Park was published and sold out within six months. Mansfield Park earned Austen more than any of her other novels. In 1815, Austen published Emma through John Murray, a better known publisher than Egerton. It was the last of her novels to be published during her lifetime.
Austen began writing a new novel, first known as The Elliots and later published as Persuasion and finished her first draft in 1816. That same year, she began to feel unwell but ignored it, continuing to work on revising The Elliots and beginning a new novel she called The Brothers – later titled Sanditon. In March of 1817, Austen stopped work and a month later was confined to her bed. She died in July of that year, her cause of death is listed as Addison’s disease. Austen’s sister Cassandra and Henry Austen arranged with John Murray for Persuasion and Northanger Abbey to be published and for the first time, Austen was identified as the author of the novels.
Austen is now considered one of the greatest writers in English history. Recognition for her work began in the 1920’s, when scholars began to see her literary talent. Her work has been adapted into many films and TV series. In addition to this, her novel Emma was used as the basis of the film Clueless. In 2002, in a BBC poll she was voted No. 70 on a list of “100 Most Famous Britons of All Time.