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Jane Austen - Biography & Works

Fiction

Persuasion

Pride and Prejudice

Sense and Sensibility





Jane AustenJane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 in Hampshire, England. She was the seventh of eight children in her family. Jane Austen was educated at home and had an enjoyable childhood. Jane’s father had an extensive library from which she read many books.

When Jane Austen was 14, she wrote her first novel ”Love and Friendship”. She started to write “Elinor and Marianne”, which was a story told through letters, in 1775. That story would letter be reworked and become “Sense and Sensibility”. The following year she started work on “First Impressions”, which would later become “Pride and Prejudice”. It was around this time that she also began work on “Susan” which became “Northanger Abbey”. “Sense and Sensibility” and “Pride and Prejudice” were published in 1811 and 1813. Her novel “Mansfield Park” became available in 1814. Between 1815 and 1816, she wrote “Persuasion” also published in our literature collection

Jane Austen started writing “Sanditon” in 1816. However, due to illness she was not able to finish. Jane had contracted Addisons Disease. By May of 1817, Jane was very ill. There was no cure for the disease and Jane died on July 18, 1817 at the age of 41. Although Jane Austen had written a lot about marriage, she herself was never married.

After Jane’s death, “Persuasion” and “Northanger Abbey” were published in December of 1817. It was through her brother Henry’s efforts that this was possible. Jane Austen was named as the author of these stories. The novels published during her lifetime had not reflected her name but instead said, “written by a lady.”

Jane Austen had become a major English novelist. Her writing style was elegant and satirical. Jane’s work marked the transition in English literature from neo-classicism to romanticism.




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