Jane Austens life & times her life

Jane Austen was born near Hampshire, England, in 1775, the youngest of 6 children of an Anglican clergyman & his wife, and died of tuberculosis in 1817 at age 41. She had 4 brothers but was closest to her sister Cassandra both never married but were briefly engaged. Jane also lived at Bath (England). Her life was quiet, sober, and reflective, and she came from a middle class family. From the age of 12, Austin was a prolific writer who produced a wide variety of work including sketches & tales in many styles, but is best known for her 6 completed novels. The first of these, Sense & Sensibility, was originally submitted to a publisher (& rejected) as a series of letters. It was rewritten & of course published. Austen then wrote Pride & Prejudice, Northanger Abbey (a Gothic novel), Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion. She also wrote 2 novels that were never completed. Jane Austen was not a professional writer and received little money for her work. Janes novels were published anonymously but she enjoyed critical success as her identity became known. She was a favorite writer of the Prince Regent (later King George 1V), & the first edition of Emma was published with a dedication to him at his request (though she is known to have despised the man).

Jane Austens life & times her times

Jane wrote at a time when the novel was in its infancy as a writing form. She was influenced by other novelists of her era including Charles Dickens (who like Austen wrote about social ills). William Makepeace Thackeray, Charlotte & Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell, & George Eliot (a male pseudonym for a female writer). Austens writing is concerned with exploring and satirizing middle class society & in turn she influenced other writers. In Austens time (18th/19th century England) social divisions were sharper than today. Jane wrote in the Romantic period but was also influenced by the Enlightenment or Age of Reason (18th Century). She lived during a time of social flux including the Industrial Revolution which produced many visible social ills. It was also a time of political revolution: the Napoleonic Wars (France); American War of Independence; and French Revolution all took place in Austens lifetime. Austen could best be described as a social satirist. Her 4th novel, Emma, is considered (by the writer below & many other critics) as Austens penultimate finished novel. In other words: her most accomplished work. [Precis of Darragh, S, Emma, York Notes Advanced. Pearson, 2005/www.pearson-bookscom/yorknotes]