Author+Biography

=Jane Austen Biography=

Jane Austen was an English novelist born on December 16, 1775. She was the seventh of eight children and grew up in the Parsonage House of Steventon, Hampshire. Austen was a witness to much political unrest and change in her environment. Her father, Reverend George Austen, was an intelligent clergyman. Her mother, Cassandra Leigh came from a long line of clergymen. The Austens led a comfortable life even though they were not very wealthy. Most of Jane and her sister’s education occurred at home. They put on theatrical performances in their barn at home. Jane loved reading from a young age and was an avid writer by age twelve. She was greatly encouraged by her family.

Austen was briefly engaged in 1802, but never married. Writing and family were her true loves. After he father retired in 1801, the family moved to Bath. Jane used the events she experienced in her new city to inspire some of her books. She was not used to life outside of her country setting and found the new area exciting.

Following the death of her father, Jane, her sister, and mother moved to Southampton in 1805. After spending a few years there, they women moved to Chewton Cottage in Hampshire. This is where Jane spent the rest of her life. This estate was the site of many of Austen’s publications; however they were published anonymously, so she was not a well known author.

The last years of Austen’s life were spent relaxing and writing. Her last work was entitled //Sanditon//, but it was never finished. Jane fell ill in 1817 and was taken to Winchester for care where it is believed she died from Addison’s disease on June 18, 1817. She is buried at Winchester Cathedral.

__Northanger Abbey__
Jane Austen's first major novel was written in 1798-99, when she was in her early twenties. It is a comic love story set in Bath about a young reader who must learn how to separate fantasy from reality. Miss Austen sold the novel (then entitled Susan) to a publisher in 1803, and the work was advertised but never published. She bought it back many years later, and her brother Henry Austen published the novel as Northanger Abbey after her death in 1817.

__Sense and Sensibility__
Sense and Sensibility was the first of Jane Austen's novels to be published. She began to write it sometime around 1797, and she worked on it for many years before its publication in 1811. The title page said that it was written "By a Lady", and only her immediate family knew that Jane Austen was the author. Impetuous Marianne Dashwood tumbles into a fairytale romance that goes sour, and her practical older sister Elinor copes with the family's financial problems while hiding her own frustrated romantic hopes. The book was a success, and it even earned a profit!

__Pride and Prejudice__
Pride and Prejudice was first written in the late 1700's, then rewritten in 1811-1812 and finally published in early 1813. It is probably the most-read of all of Jane Austen's novels and is a popular favorite among many. Originally entitled First Impressions, the novel deals with the misjudgments that often occur at the beginning of an acquaintance and how those misjudgments can change as individuals learn more about each other.

__Mansfield Park__
Mansfield Park was written between February, 1811 and the summer of 1813. It was the third novel Jane Austen had published and it first appeared on May 4, 1814. During her lifetime, it was attributed only to "The author of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice", and the author's identity was unknown beyond her family and friends. It is Jane Austen's most complex novel and deals with many different themes, from the education of children, to the differences between appearances and reality. The version of the novel housed here at Austen.com is slightly annotated. Lovers' Vows: This is the play that the Bertrams wish to enact in the first volume of Mansfield Park. In addition to the text of the play, a synopsis is provided here, as well as a short analysis explaining some of the objections to the play within the novel and a cast list.

__Emma__
Emma was written in 1814-1815, and while Jane Austen was writing it, it was suggested to her by a member of the Prince Regents' household that she dedicate it to His Royal Highness. Austen took the suggestion as it was intended--as a command--and Emma was thus dedicated, but the dedication itself is rather slyly worded. Emma deals with a young woman's maturation into adulthood and the trouble she gets herself into along the way. The version of the novel housed here at Austen.com is slightly annotated.

__Persuasion__
Persuasion was written in 1815-1816, while Jane Austen was suffering from her fatal illness. She was still working on some revisions at the time of her death in 1817. The novel was published posthumously by her brother, Henry Austen. Persuasion is a novel of second chances, expectations of society, and the constancy of love. You can also read the preface which Henry wrote telling the world of his sister's authorship, life, and untimely death. ([])