Jane Austen

Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for
her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the
end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in
the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works critique the novels of
sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-
century literary realism. Her use of biting irony, along with her realism and social commentary,
have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars.
With the publication of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield
Park (1814), and Emma (1816), she achieved modest success but only little fame in her lifetime
since the books were published anonymously. She wrote two other novels—Northanger Abbey
and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818—and began another, eventually
titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile
writings in manuscript, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan, and the unfinished novel The
Watsons.
Austen gained far more status after her death, and her six full-length novels have rarely been out
of print. A significant transition in her posthumous reputation occurred in 1833, when her novels
were republished in Richard Bentley’s Standard Novels series, illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering,
and sold as a set. They gradually gained wider acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-two
years after her death, her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a
compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience.

List of works
Novels

 Sense and Sensibility (1811)

 Pride and Prejudice (1813)
 Mansfield Park (1814)
 Emma (1815)
 Northanger Abbey (1818, posthumous)
 Persuasion (1818, posthumous)
 Lady Susan (1871, posthumous)
Unfinished fiction

 The Watsons (1804)
 Sanditon (1817)
Other works

 Sir Charles Grandison (adapted play) (1793, 1800)[q]

 Plan of a Novel (1815)
 Poems (1796–1817)
 Prayers (1796–1817)
 Letters (1796–1817)
Juvenilia—Volume the First (1787–1793)[r] Juvenilia—Volume the Second (1787–1793)

 Frederic & Elfrida  Love and Freindship

 Jack & Alice  Lesley Castle
 Edgar & Emma  The History of England
 Henry and Eliza  A Collection of Letters
 The Adventures of Mr. Harley  The female philosopher
 Sir William Mountague  The first Act of a Comedy
 Memoirs of Mr. Clifford  A Letter from a Young Lady
 The Beautifull Cassandra  A Tour through Wales
 Amelia Webster  A Tale
 The Visit Juvenilia—Volume the Third (1787–1793)
 The Mystery
 The Three Sisters  Evelyn
 A Fragment  Catharine, or The Bower
 A beautiful description
 The generous Curate
 Ode to Pity