jane austen biography of a great thinker

Jane Austen: biography, feminism, works, phrases

Biography  

Early years, literary beginnings, moving to bath, single women, acclaimed writer, health problems, relationship with feminism  , sense and sensibility, pride and prejudice, mansfield park, other novels, other works, jane austen quotes.

Jane Austen (1775 - 1817) was a British author who portrayed the reality of middle class women in the early 19th century. He wrote six novels of which he published four during his life and the rest of his works reached the public posthumously.

His first work to be published was Sense and Sensibility (1811). He also ventured into other genres apart from the novel, such as poetry, theater and short narrative, but his greatest mark was in the literary manners in which he portrayed the English Georgian period of the 19th century.

After his death, an illustrated reissue of his work was made, which was received in an excellent way. In addition, his novels have had an important influence on popular culture and have been adapted in various formats such as theater, film and television.

Although for a time Austen was considered a classic author, it is also believed that her work was full of social criticism and that she was influenced by the ideas of Mary Wollstonecraft, whose thoughts on education and women's rights were a mainstay for feminism. .

It is remarkable that in Austen's novels the protagonists never marry for money or social pressure, but instead try to find true love.

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 in Steventon, Hampshire, England. His mother was Cassandra Leigh and his father George Austen, a parish rector of the Anglican church. The couple had eight children, six were boys and two girls, of which Jane was the youngest.

George Austen's family was wealthy, but the inheritance was not passed on from the father of the future author. He studied at Oxford and at that time he met Cassandra Leigh, who was a member of an important family.

Young Austen then secured a position as a parish priest in Steventon and married Cassandra in 1764. The Austen household encouraged the intelligentsia for both women and men.

The whole family was very interested in the theater; in fact, they mounted plays and invited family and friends to serve as audiences. Jane and her sister Cassandra were also great friends. Among the males of the Henry family he was the closest to the English writer.

From 1783 Jane and Cassandra Austen were sent to a boarding school run by Mrs. Ann Cawley, at Oxford. Later when Ann moved to Southampton she did so with both girls, but shortly afterwards Jane was sent back home with her sister, because she contracted typhus and almost died.

From then on, it was decided that the girls were educated at home, something that was not very complicated because George Austen served as a tutor for several young people to have a second income. That is why it is known that the educational encouragement in Jane Austen's home was evident.

In any case, the Austens wanted to provide their daughters with a proper education and in 1785 they sent them back to a boarding school called Reading Abbey Girl’s School. The young women were there until the end of 1786 and had to leave because the costs were too high for their father.

From the age of 11 Jane Austen had started to write, but it seems that when she was about 14 she began to write in a more professional way. Between 1787 and 1793 are framed the works of Austen that became known as her “juvenilia”.

Thanks to these early works Austen forged her style and charted her course towards the literary maturity that she achieved years later.

Between 1793 and 1794 Austen wrote an epistolary novel entitled Lady susan (1871), considered her first official work, although it was not published until decades after the death of the writer.

After completing that text, Jane began working on another novel which she originally called " Elinor and Marianne ”And that was later published as Sense and Sensibility (written before 1796).

Between 1795 and 1796 a young man visited the small town of Steventon, where Jane Austen and her family lived. The boy's name was Tom Lefroy and he met Jane at a dance, the two of them immediately hit it off.

He was going to prepare to become a litigator ( barrister ) in London. When Lefroy's family realized the romance that was emerging between Jane and Tom, they decided to shorten the young man's visit and send him to the English capital soon.

The boys did not see each other again, and Jane apparently never received a "proposal" from him. However, Austen came to comment to her sister Cassandra in a letter that she was waiting for an offer from Lefroy.

It is believed that Lefroy may have been the inspiration for the character of Mr. Darcy in Pride and prejudice , which was written around the time Austen met the boy. When he began to draft that paper, he called it “ First impressions "Or" First impressions ”.

Pride and prejudice it was ready in August 1797 and was the favorite work of both Austen and her family. Later he dedicated himself to correcting “ Elinor and Marianne ”, A task that culminated in 1798.

In December 1800 George Austen resigned as rector of Steventon Parish and moved with his family to Bath. During that time it can be said that Jane suffered from an artistic block.

During those years Austen devoted herself to creating another piece of literature, a novel that at that time was titled " Susan ”, Although it was published as Northanger Abbey . In 1803 Henry - Jane's brother - managed to sell the manuscript to a London publisher who never published it.

Although the British did not stop writing completely, it is thought that her time was spent in leading a more active social life than she had while living together with her family in the countryside. During the Bath period, Austen began writing a novel called The Watsons .

In 1802 Jane received the only marriage proposal ever made to her, or at least the only one for which there are records. Young Harris Bigg-Wither, heir to a large estate in Hampshire and Austen's childhood acquaintance, asked for her hand.

Out of the benefits a marriage represented for Austen and her family, Jane originally accepted Bigg-Wither's proposal, but the next day she backed off.

Austen put aside her novel project, The Watsons, when his father passed away in 1805 unexpectedly. Although the male siblings promised to help support their mother and unmarried sisters, they faced financial difficulties.

They spent some time visiting relatives and then settled briefly at Stanford Cottage in Wothing, Sussex. Physical losses were common for Austen at the time, since her friend Anne Lefroy had died in 1804.

In 1806 Frank Austen, one of Jane's brothers, invited his sisters and their mother to live with him and his new wife in Southampton. They stayed there for several years because they could not afford to live independently.

When the Austens had already spent three years at Frank's residence, another of the brothers offered a better accommodation to both their widowed mother and sisters.

Edward Austen had inherited several properties from the Knight, relatives of his father, who, having no children, took him as heir. Edward offered to have the Austens move into a separate cabin on his property in Chawton Village.

Jane, Cassandra and her mother moved to Chawton in July 1809. The author adjusted well to her new way of life: her days became calmer and the women were engaged in social work, as well as teaching reading and write to some children in the community.

The tranquility she found in Chawton allowed Jane to resume her life as a writer, which she had put aside after the instability that followed her father's death in 1805.

His brother Henry helped him close a deal with a publisher named Thomas Egerton to finalize the publication of Sense and Sensibility . The work was published anonymously, as was the custom for English women writing at that time.

Jane Austen's first work was well received by both audiences and critics. It generated favorable reviews and became a best-seller: Austen's book performed so well on the market that she saw £ 140 in profit.

That was the main incentive that drove her to continue publishing her novels: knowing that she could achieve some financial independence for herself, her sister, and her mother from their brothers.

After the success of the first publication, Austen signed the rest of her works as "The author of Sense and Sensibility ”. In 1813 his second work was published Pride and prejudice , whose rights he sold to his publisher for 110 pounds.

The second of her works was one of the most popular by the British author. The following year he published Mansfield Park and at that same time Austen dedicated herself to writing another novel which she titled Emma, which was published in December 1815.

England was then ruled by the Prince Regent, George of Wales, who was the son of George III and who after the death of his father began to officially hold the throne under the name of George IV.

The English regent was a great admirer of Austen's work and, although he did not sympathize with the figure of the Prince of Wales, she dedicated her novel to him Emma .

In 1816 the draft of “ The Elliots ", Which was later published as" Persuasion ”. That same year he recovered the rights to “ Susan "Or Northanger Abbey .

In addition, Austen began work on a satirical novel which she titled Plan of a novel, according to Hints from various Quarters ( Plan of a novel, according to clues from various barracks ).

Jane Austen's health began to deteriorate since 1816, but she did not give it much importance and continued to dedicate herself to the production of her literary work. During the following year he wrote 12 chapters corresponding to a novel that he left unfinished.

He called that last novel Sandition . It was a satire about disability and hypochondria, Austen probably made it as a reference to her own situation during that last year.

Jane Austen stopped writing in March 1817. The author is believed to have suffered from Addison's disease at the time, a hormonal deficiency that causes fatigue, muscle hypofunction, anorexia and general decay in patients.

In May, her relatives transferred her to Winchester in the hope that more advanced medical treatment could be offered there.

Jane Austen passed away on July 18, 1817, in Winchester. He had endured great pain in his last days, so death seemed a relief in his final moments. The writer was buried in Winchester Cathedral on July 24.

Henry and Cassandra, Jane Austen's brothers, arranged for it to be published in 1817 Persuasion Y Northanger Abbey . Henry was commissioned to write a biography that accompanied the publication of his sister.

In Henry's text that accompanied both works, it was the first time that Jane Austen was publicly credited with authorship of his novels.

Female education in Jane Austen's time used to be limited to certain aspects such as housekeeping, religious customs, and some arts such as music, dance, drawing, and languages.

All of these were seen as useful tools or "talents" to serve as good hostesses and thus be ideal wives.

Not only was Austen raised in a different way, but in her work the heroines were always inclined towards the idea of ​​a liberal feminine education, in which women were allowed to know the same subjects as men.

In addition, the protagonists of Austen's main works, like herself, did not seek to marry as the greatest achievement in their lives, but if they decided to join a man they did so out of love.

This is why Austen is said to echo the ideals set forth by Mary Wollstonecraft regarding female education and her rights as an individual.

Perhaps Austen's greatest achievement in her work was to carry out a social criticism, thanks to the satire to which she frequently resorted, without being considered a reactionary author. In fact, his work was admired by Prince Regent George of Wales.

The English author also criticized the firm separation between social classes in 19th century England.

It was Austen's first work to be published, in 1811. It deals with the women of the Dashwood family, especially around Elinor (19) and Marianne (16).

Both young women along with their mother and Margaret, the younger sister, fall into a bad financial situation at the beginning of the story.

After the death of their father, the three sisters and the widow must leave their home because it is inherited by their older half brother. The inheritance passed to the closest man in the family according to the laws and customs of England at that time.

When stripped of their home, the protagonists move into a modest cabin. There the young women know love and spite thanks to experiences that lead them to reach maturity, but without betraying their principles.

With this 1813 novel, Austen established herself as one of the most acclaimed authors in her country, although her name was not even publicly known.

It tells the story of Elizabeth Bennet, a young woman from the lower middle class, and Fitzwilliam Darcy, a single heir to a great fortune.

Both characters have a personal development throughout the plot and learn to appreciate the value of what is in the background and not with the naked eye when it comes to a relationship.

In this work, the British author criticizes the preconceptions that exist about social classes.

It is Austen's third book, which was published in 1814. In this the British author showed the story of a young woman named Fanny Price, who at the beginning of the story was still a girl.

Her family sent her to live in the home of wealthy uncles, hoping that she would find a better future there, although at the same time they had financial relief. At her uncles' house, Fanny went from being a girl to becoming a woman.

Despite her low expectations if she could not find a wealthy husband, Fanny demonstrated moral rectitude in her actions rather than interest in a marriage of convenience.

– Emma , 1815.

– Northanger Abbey , 1818 (posthumous).

– Persuasion , 1818 (posthumous).

– Lady Susan, 1871 (posthumous) .

- The Watsons. Unfinished, written between 1793 and 1794.

– Sandition . Unfinished, written in 1817.

– Sir Charles Grandison. Play, written between 1783 and 1800.

– Plan of a novel, according to clues from various barracks . Written in 1815.

– Poems, 1796 to 1817.

– Letters , 1796 to 1817.

– Prayers , 1796 to 1817.

Some of the works of Jane Austen's training stage (1787 to 1793) were compiled in an edition that was christened Juvenilia. In them you can see the transition and the search for a style of the author from the beginning.

These texts were organized in three volumes and contain works of different genres that, despite containing some beginner's errors, are relevant in the study of Austen's evolution.

Among the literary pieces that are included in this compendium are:

– The Beautifull Cassandra (sic).

– Love and freindship (sic).

– The History of England.

– Catherine, or The Bower.

- I don't want people to be nice, since it saves me the problem of liking them a lot.

- I must keep my own style and follow my own way; and while I may never be successful at that again, I am convinced that I would totally fail at any other.

- Images of perfection, as you know, make me sick and hurt me.

- I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were good ladies instead of rational creatures.

- He is a gentleman, and I am the daughter of a gentleman. So far we are the same.

- Big income is the best recipe for happiness I've ever heard of.

- Certainly there are not as many men of great fortune in the world as there are pretty women to deserve them.

- A woman, especially if she has the misfortune to know something, should hide it as best she can.

- I wish, like everyone else, to be perfectly happy; But, like everyone else, it must be my way.

- A woman, without a family, was the best furniture curator in the world.

Other phrases from Austen.

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Jane Austen . [online] Available at: en.wikipedia.org [Accessed 24 July 2020].
• Southam, B., 2020. Jane Austen | Biography & Novels . [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: britannica.com [Accessed 24 July 2020].
• Bbc.co.uk. 2020. BBC - History - Jane Austen . [online] Available at: bbc.co.uk [Accessed 24 July 2020].
• Chipublib.org. 2020. Jane Austen Biography . [online] Available at: chipublib.org [Accessed 24 July 2020].
• Janeaustensoci.freeuk.com. 2020. Jane Austen Society UK: Brief Biography Of Jane Austen . [online] Available at: janeaustensoci.freeuk.com [Accessed 24 July 2020].
• Literaturepage.com. 2020. Read Jane Austen Books Online - The Literature Page . [online] Available at: literaturepage.com [Accessed 24 July 2020].

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Jane Austen Biography

by EILeditor · Published January 5, 2015 · Updated November 15, 2023

A Brief Biography of Jane Austen

David cody , associate professor of english, hartwick college.

Jane Austen was born December 16, 1775, to Rev. George Austen and the former Cassandra Leigh in Steventon, Hampshire, the seventh of eight children. Like the central characters in most of her novels, the Austens were a large family of respectable lineage but no fortune; her father supplemented his “living” — his clergyman’s income — by farming. This lively and cheerful family frequently passed their evenings in novel-reading, charades and amateur theatrics. Among her siblings, her sister Cassandra, three years older, was her lifelong friend and confidant.

Jane Austen, engraving by Lizars based on watercolor by James Andrews after unfinished work by Cassandra Austen, published 1870

Her large family supplied material for the kind of novels popular when she wrote, but she chose not to draw upon any of it: her mother, for example, was related to a Duke who was master of Balliol College, Oxford; one aunt married an admiral; another, Mrs. Leigh Perrot, was falsely imprisoned for petty theft in 1799; a cousin, the Comtesse de Feuillide, fled the Reign of Terror after the execution of her husband, came to live with the Austens at Steventon, later fell in love with and married Jane’s handsome and cheerful brother Henry (a particular favorite of Jane’s), who later went bankrupt and then went into the ( Anglican ) priesthood; her eldest brother James married a duke’s granddaughter; her brothers Frank (a friend of Nelson) and Charles (who married the daughter of the Attorney-General of Bermuda) became naval officers, saw action in the Napoleonic wars, and eventually wound up admirals; and her charming and amiable brother Edward was adopted by the first family of Steventon, the Thomas Knights, a wealthy and childless couple. They educated him, sent him on the grand tour, married him to the daughter of a baronet, and made him their heir. Why do you suppose she chose not to use such potentially sensational subject matter or draw upon her family’s relatively close connection to important contemporary events?

In 1801, Rev. Austen retired and the family moved to Bath (much to Jane’s dismay), probably so that the still-unmarried Jane and Cassandra might have a better chance of meeting marriageable men. Although she never married, Jane had several romantic liasons, the most serious with a Rev. Blackall who died suddenly, just before they were to become formally engaged. How does this history change your estimate of Elizabeth Bennet? Of Jane Bennet? After her father’s death in 1805 the family moved to Southampton, and in 1809 her wealthy brother Edward was able to install Jane, Cassandra, and their mother in a “pretty cottage” back in Hampshire.

During the eight years she lived away from Hampshire, Austen did not write very much (apparently — biographical information is sketchy), doing little more than revising Northanger Abbey . From what you know of her work, can you suggest a reason for this? What does the setting of her novels have to do with their content?

As the timeline shows, she was a writer from her teens until her death, although hardly anyone outside her immediate family knew it, since all her novels were published anonymously. Indeed, when she was living with relatives after her father’s death and writing in the family parlor, she asked that a squeaky hinge on the room’s swinging door not be oiled so that she would have time to hide her manuscripts when her nephews and nieces ran into the room. Gilbert and Gubar point out in The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination (1979) that “authorship for Austen is an escape from the very restraints she imposes on her female characters. And in this respect she seems typical, for women may have contributed so siginificantly to narrative fiction precisely because it effectively objectifies, even as it sustains and hides, the subjectivity of the author” (168). Test this assertion by your experience of the novel. Incidentally, Austen’s identity finally became known in 1814, after Pride and Prejudice .

From 1809 on Austen lived happily with her mother and sister, her time employed in writing. Her fatal illness, then thought to be consumption, now known to be Addison’s disease, first appeared in 1816. She died the following year.

This Jane Austen biography was originally published on The Victorian Web .

You may also enjoy watching this overview of Jane Austen’s life and work as presented by scholar Dr. Lorraine Murphy, associate professor of English at Hillsdale College:

To learn more about Austen from Dr. Murphy, listen to the interviews available here .

You may also find it helpful to read Pamela Whalan’s explanation of the social background of Pride and Prejudice , as well as her stage adaptation of Pride and Prejudice .

When will you read Jane Austen’s work in Excellence in Literature?

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Jane Austen Biography

Life and times of english author jane austen, jane austen's life was relatively short but it nonetheless produced a lasting legacy including six major published works..

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Jane Austen Biography

It is said that Jane Austen lived a quiet life. Only a few of her manuscripts remain in existence and the majority of her correspondence was either burned or heavily edited by her sister, Cassandra, shortly before she died. As a result, the details that are known about her are rare and inconsistent. What can be surmised through remaining letters and personal acquaintances is that she was a woman of stature, humor and keen intelligence. Family remembrances of Austen portray her in a kind, almost saintly light, but critics who have studied her books and the remnants of her letters believe she was sharper than her family wished the public to think.

Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire on December 16, 1775 and grew up in a tight-knit family. She was the seventh of eight children, with six brothers and one sister. Her parents, George Austen and Cassandra Leigh, were married in 1764. Her father was an orphan but with the help of a rich uncle he attended school and was ordained by the Church of England. Subsequently, he was elevated enough in social standing to provide Cassandra a worthy match whose family was of a considerably higher social status. In 1765, they moved to Steventon, a village in north Hampshire, about 60 miles southwest of London, where her father was appointed rector.

Like their father, two of Austen’s older brothers, James and Henry, were ordained and spent most of their lives in the Church of England. Of all her brothers, Austen was closest to Henry; he served as her agent, and then after her death, as her biographer. George, the second oldest son, was born mentally deficient and spent the majority of his life in institutions. The third son, Edward, was adopted by their father’s wealthy cousin, Thomas Knight, and eventually inherited the Knight estate in Chawton, where Austen would later complete most of her novels. Cassandra, Austen’s only sister, was born in 1773. Austen and Cassandra were close friends and companions throughout their entire lives. It is through the remaining letters to Cassandra that biographers are able to piece Austen’s life together. The two youngest Austen boys, Francis and Charles, both served in the Navy as highly decorated admirals.

When Austen was 7, she and Cassandra were sent to Oxford to attend school but sometime later the girls came down with typhus and were brought back to Steventon. When Austen was 9 they attended the Abbey School in Reading. Shortly after enrolling however, the girls were withdrawn, because their father could no longer afford tuition. Though this completed their formal schooling, the girls continued their education at home, with the help of their brothers and father.

The Austens often read aloud to one another. This evolved into short theatrical performances that Austen had a hand in composing. The Austen family plays were performed in their barn and were attended by family members and a few close neighbors. By the age of 12, Austen was writing for herself as well as for her family. She wrote poems and several parodies of the dramatic fiction that was popular at the time, such as History of England and Love and Freindship [sic]. She then compiled and titled them: Volume the First , Volume the Second and Volume the Third .

Austen is said to have looked like her brother Henry, with bright hazel eyes and curly hair, over which she always wore a cap. She won the attention of a young Irish gentleman named Tom Lefroy. Unfortunately, Lefroy was in a position that required him to marry into money. He later married an heiress and became a prominent political figure in Ireland.

In 1795, when she was 20, Austen entered a productive phase and created what was later referred to as her “First Trilogy.” Prompted by increasing social engagements and flirtations, she began writing Elinor and Marianne , a novel in letters, which would eventually be reworked and retitled Sense and Sensibility . The following year, she wrote First Impressions , which was rejected by a publisher in 1797. It was the first version of Pride and Prejudice . She began another novel in 1798, titled Susan , which evolved into Northanger Abbey .

The Austens lived happily in Steventon until 1801, when her father suddenly announced he was moving the family to Bath. Austen was unhappy with the news. At the time, Bath was a resort town for the nearly wealthy with many gossips and social climbers. As they traveled that summer, however, she fell in love with a young clergyman who promised to meet them at the end of their journey. Several months later he fell ill and died.

Bath was difficult for Austen. She started but did not finish The Watsons and had a hard time adjusting to social demands. She accepted a marriage proposal from Harris Bigg-Wither, the son of an old family friend, but changed her mind the next day. A few years later, in 1805, her father died, leaving Jane, Cassandra and their mother without enough money to live comfortably. As a result, the Austen women relied on the hospitality of friends and family until they were permanently relocated to a cottage in Chawton, Hampshire, belonging to her brother Edward Austen-Knight. There, Austen began the most productive period of her life, publishing several books and completing her “Second Trilogy.”

Austen finished the final drafts of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice in 1811. They were published shortly after and she immediately set to work on Mansfield Park . In 1814, Mansfield Park was published and Emma was started. By this time, Austen was gaining some recognition for her writing, despite the fact that neither Sense and Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice were published under her name.

Austen began showing symptoms of illness while she worked on Persuasion , her last completed novel. It was published with Northanger Abbey after her death. Unknown at the time, Austen most likely suffered from Addison’s disease, whose symptoms include fever, back pain, nausea and irregular skin pigmentation. On her deathbed, when asked by her sister Cassandra if there was anything she required, she requested only “death itself.” She died at the age of 41 on July 18, 1817 with her sister at her side.

Jane Austen’s Enduring Popularity

When asked why Jane Austen’s works are so popular, Richard Jenkyns, author of A Fine Brush on Ivory: An Appreciation of Jane Austen and descendant of Austen’s older brother, said: “I don’t think it’s nostalgia for the past and all those empire-line dresses and britches tight on the thigh, all that sort of thing. I guess that she is popular because she is modern… I think her popularity is in her representing a world, in its most important aspects, that we know.”

Although living in a world that seems remote in time and place, Jane Austen’s characters have experiences and emotions that are familiar to us. They misjudge people based on appearances, they’re embarrassed by their parents, they flirt and they fall in love. Her characters face social restrictions that can be translated into any environment, from a California high school in Clueless to an interracial romance in Bride and Prejudice . The critical and commercial success of the numerous recent film and television adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels, including nine of Pride and Prejudice , testifies to her timeless and universal appeal. Yet they fail to fully capture the genius of her writing. She was a great writer, a sharp wit and a wonderful satirist.

Takeoffs of Austen’s work, such as Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary and Clueless , have been huge successes. A number of sequels to Pride and Prejudice have been written such as Lady Catherine’s Necklace by Joan Aiken; Mr. Darcy’s Daughters by Elizabeth Aston; and Pemberley: or Pride and Prejudice Continued by Emma Tennant. Other novels such as Karen Joy Fowler’s The Jane Austen Book Club and Kate Fenton’s Vanity and Vexation: A Novel of Pride and Prejudice have contemporary settings using Austen’s characters or plots.

In The Eye of the Story , Eudora Welty wrote that Austen’s novels withstand time because “they pertain not to the outside world but to the interior, to what goes on perpetually in the mind and heart.” Perhaps, for these reasons, Austen’s work continues to fascinate, entertain and inspire us.

• Tucker, George Holbert. Jane Austen the Woman . St. Martin’s Press, 1994.
• Laski, Marghanita. Jane Austen and Her World . Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1975.
• “Jane Austen.” Concise Dictionary of British Literary Biography, Volume 3: Writers of the Romantic Period, 1789-1832 . Gale Research, 1992.

Content last updated: October 31, 2005

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