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Jane Austen was a late 18 th century, early 19 th century English writer, known for her novels which include "Pride and Prejudice", and "Sense and Sensibility." (Richard, G. Tansey) She was born on December 16 th, 1775, in the parish of Stevenson, in Hampshire, England. Her father, the Reverend George Austen, was a rector of the Village. She was the seventh of eight children, and was educated at home, by her father. Jane started at the age of 15 for her family.
For them, she wrote plays and sketches for their amusement. Two of her most famous novels, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, were written before she was 22 years old, although, they were not published until 1813 and 1811 respectively. (Bazin, German) First published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has consistently been Jane Austen's most popular novel. It portrays life in the genteel rural society of the day, and tells of the initial misunderstandings and later mutual enlightenment between Elizabeth Bennet and the haughty Darcy. The title Pride and Prejudice refers (among other things) to the ways in which Elizabeth and Darcy first view each other.
The original version of the novel was written in 1796 - 1797 under the title First Impressions, and was probably in the form After that, while in her thirties, she wrote four more novels, the last one published in 1818. (Martin, John R. ) In 1809 Jane Austen, her mother, sister Cassandra, and Martha Lloyd moved to Chawton, near Alton and Winchester, where her brother Edward provided a small house on one of his estates. This was in Hampshire, not far from her childhood home of Stevenson. Before leaving Southampton, she corresponded with the dilatory publisher to whom she had sold Susan (i. e. Northanger Abbey), but without receiving any satisfaction. Jane Austen resumed her literary activities soon after returning into Hampshire, and revised Sense and Sensibility, which was accepted in late 1810 or early 1811 by a publisher, for publication at her own risk.
It appeared anonymously ("By a Lady") in October 1811, and at first only her immediate family knew of her authorship: Fanny Knight's diary for September 28, 1811 records a "Letter from Aunt Cass. to beg we would not mention that Aunt Jane wrote Sense and Sensibility"; and one day in 1812 when Jane Austen and Cassandra and their niece Anna were in a "circulating library" at Alton, Anna threw down a copy of Sense and Sensibility on offer there, "exclaiming to the great amusement of her Aunts who stood by, "Oh that must be rubbish, I am sure from the title. "" There were at least two fairly favourable reviews, and the first edition eventually turned a profit of 140 for her. (Bazin, German) Encouraged by this success, Jane Austen turned to revising First Impressions, previously called Pride and Prejudice. She sold it in November 1812, and her "own darling child" (as she called it in a letter) was published in late January 1813. She had already started work on Mansfield Park by 1812, and worked on it during 1813.
It was during 1813 that knowledge of her authorship started to spread outside her family. Jane Austen wrote in a letter of September 25 th 1813: "Henry heard P. & P. warmly praised in Scotland, by Lady Robert Kerr & another Lady; -- & and what does he do in the warmth of his brotherly vanity and Love, but immediately tell them who wrote it!" Since she had sold the copyright of Pride and Prejudice outright for 110 (presumably in order to receive a convenient payment up front, rather than having to wait for the profits on sales to trickle in), she did not receive anything more when a second edition was published later in 1813. A second edition of Sense and Sensibility was also published in October 1813. In May 1814, Mansfield Park appeared, and was sold out in six months; she had already started work on Emma. Her brother Henry, who then conveniently lived in London, often acted as Jane Austen's go-between with publishers, and on several occasions she stayed with him in London to revise proof-sheets.
In October 1813, one of the Prince Regent's physicians was brought in to treat an illness that Henry was suffering from; it was through this connection that Jane Austen was brought into contact with Mr. Clarke. James Stanley Clarke was the Prince Regent's librarian, and transmitted to her the Prince's request that she dedicate her work Emma to him, an honour that Jane Austen would probably rather have done without. Some of Mr.
Clarke's "helpful" suggestions showed up in the Plan for a Novel. (Bazin, German) Emma, published in 1815, has been described as a "mystery story without a murder." The eponymous heroine is the charming (but perhaps too clever for her own good) Emma Woodhouse, who manages to deceive herself in a number of ways (including as to who is really the object of her own affections), even though she (and the reader) are often in possession of evidence pointing toward the truth. Like Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey, Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility, and Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, she overcomes self-delusion during the course of her novel. The book describes a year in the life of the village of Highbury and its vicinity, portraying many of the various inhabitants. (White, Christopher) All of Jane's books were based as romance novels, although they all had an undermining purpose. They portrayed 19 th century life in rural England. Specifically, it was the life of the clergy and gentry. They were all based in small rural English villages, although a couple were in Bath or London.
Her novels were also deeply infused with a strong wit and a sense of detachment. Overall, Austen was a phenomenal writer. (White, Christopher) Jane Austen lived about 42 years. During her life she never married. Austen was once proposed to, by Harris Bigg-Wither, but never married him because she felt it would be wrong to marry someone if you did not love that person.
Jane Austen disagreed with society's view on marriage. Austen felt that people should marry for love, while the rest of society felt it was ok to marry for status. She displayed her feelings on marriage in her books Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. The women characters throughout Austen's works often went to balls to find a husband of good wealth. By these women going to balls to find a husband with money, it shows the importance of money in Austen's society. (Waterhouse, Ellis Kirkham) Jane Austen died on July 18 th, 1817, in Winchester, England.
She spent the last weeks of her life there from a long illness she had. This was because it was where her physician lived. She was never recognized while she was alive, since most of her books were not even published during her lifetime, but after her death, her works influenced others such as Virginia Wolff. References Bazin, German. (1974) Life of Jane Austen. New York: Praeger. White, Christopher. (1987) Criticism of Jane Austen's works.
New Haven: Yale University Press. Waterhouse, Ellis Kirkham. (1976) Jane Austen: A woman and a writer. London: Pahidon. Martin, John R. (1977) Pride and Prejudice New York. Harper & Row. Richard, G.
Tansey. (1987) Literature of 18 th- 19 th centuries. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company
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Research essay sample on Pride And Prejudice Sense And Sensibility
