Jane Austen

Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 in Steventon Rectory, Hampshire, England. She was the seventh child and second daughter of George Austen, a clergyman, and Cassandra Leigh Austen, a descendant of a noble family. She had six brothers and one sister, Cassandra, who was her closest friend and confidante. Jane grew up in a close-knit and loving family that encouraged her education and creativity. She began writing stories and poems at a young age, some of which were later published as her Juvenilia. She also enjoyed reading, dancing, playing the piano, and visiting her relatives and friends.³ In 1783, Jane and Cassandra were sent to Oxford to be educated by their aunt and uncle. However, they soon returned home after contracting typhus. In 1785, they attended the Abbey School in Reading for a year, where they received a more formal education. After that, they continued their studies at home under their father's guidance. Jane read widely from his extensive library, which included works of history, philosophy, poetry, drama, and fiction. She was especially fond of Samuel Johnson, William Cowper, George Crabbe, Fanny Burney, Maria Edgeworth, and Ann Radcliffe.³ Jane began writing her first novel, Elinor and Marianne (later revised as Sense and Sensibility), around 1795. She also wrote First Impressions (later revised as Pride and Prejudice) and Susan (later revised as Northanger Abbey) in the following years. These novels were circulated among her family and friends but were not published during her lifetime. In 1801, Jane moved with her parents and sister to Bath, a fashionable spa town. She did not like the change of scenery and missed her rural life in Hampshire. She also stopped writing for a while. In 1802, she received a proposal of marriage from Harris Bigg-Wither, a wealthy but unattractive suitor. She accepted him at first but changed her mind the next day.³ In 1805, Jane's father died, leaving his wife and daughters in financial difficulties. They moved around several places until they settled in Chawton Cottage in Hampshire in 1809. This was provided by Jane's brother Edward Austen Knight, who had inherited a large estate from his adoptive family. Jane resumed her writing career and revised her earlier novels for publication. She also wrote three new novels: Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1816), and Persuasion (1818). Her novels were published anonymously as "By a Lady" or "By the Author of ..." and received favourable reviews from critics and readers. However, Jane did not reveal her identity as the author and remained obscure during her lifetime.³ In 1816, Jane began to suffer from an illness that has not been conclusively identified by modern scholars. Some have suggested that she had tuberculosis or Addison's disease or some other condition that affected her hormones or immune system. She continued to write despite her declining health and started a new novel called Sanditon but left it unfinished. She also wrote some poems and prayers that reflected her faith and resignation. In May 1817, she moved to Winchester with Cassandra to seek medical treatment. She died there on 18 July 1817 at the age of 41. She was buried in Winchester Cathedral, where a brass plaque and a stained glass window were later erected in her memory.³ Jane Austen's novels were not widely known until after her death, when her brother Henry and her sister Cassandra arranged for the publication of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion in 1818. They also revealed her name as the author for the first time. In 1833, her novels were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series and gained more popularity. In 1869, her nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh published A Memoir of Jane Austen, which introduced a biographical account of her life and works to a wider audience. Since then, Jane Austen has been regarded as one of the greatest writers in English literature and one of the most influential figures in the history of the novel. Her novels have been translated into many languages and adapted into numerous films, television shows, plays, and books.³