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Jane Austen (December 16, 1775-July 18, 1817)

Jane Austen was the seventh child and second girl born to the Reverend George Austen and his wife, Cassandra. She grew up in a household that valued learning and creativity, though when she reached the age of eight, she and her sister were sent to boarding school. Like other girls in her class, Jane learned French, dancing, and music. When she returned home, her father and brothers kept up her education and she had the use of her father's extensive literature collection. Jane's father indulged her writing by supplying paper, ink and pens, and the family would often produce plays for their own enjoyment. By 1787, Jane had started keeping notebooks of her writings, collecting all her poetry and stories in one place. Later, these early works would be referred to as the Juvenalia, and they filled three notebooks.

In 1789, Jane wrote a satirical comedy, Love and Friendship. She began taking writing seriously, and over the next four years, she tried her hand at playwriting. Her play, Sir Charles Garandison, or The Happy Man, contained six acts. In the end, she abandoned it, and began Susan, a novel made up entirely of a series of letters.

Jane fell in love in 1795 with Tom Lefroy, a student of the law. Tom's family saw no advantage to the match, and sent him away. Jane never saw him again. By 1799, Jane finished a novel she called First Impressions. It would later become Pride and Prejudice. In 1800, her father retired from the clergy, and the family moved from Steventon to Bath. In 1802, Jane received a proposal of marriage from Harris Bigg-Withers, a family friend. Jane agrees, because it is a practical solution. Her intended would inherit a sizable estate, however, Jane had no feelings for him at all. The day after accepting his proposal, Jane changed her mind, choosing to remain single for the rest of her days.

In 1803, Jane's brother, Henry, helped Susan get to a London publisher, though the book was not published. Jane kept writing. Her father passed away on January 21, 1805. This family crisis put writing on hold for Jane. The brothers help support their mother and two sisters, though the women find themselves in a constant state of moving from one rental to another. Eventually, they were able to settle into a small cottage owned by Jane's brother, Frank.

Jane's brother, Henry, had been launched into a banking career, but he took time to act as her literary agent. He submitted her manuscript of Sense and Sensibility to Thomas Egerton, a London publisher. A deal was struck and the novel made it to print in 1811. The first edition sold out by 1813, making the family more solvent.

Jane Austen second published work, Pride and Prejudice, was printed in 1813. The novel was a success, with a second printing ordered within the same year. After the publication of her third novel, Jane moved to a larger publisher, John Murray.

1816 found Jane in failing health. She continued writing in spite of it. Over the course of the year, her health declined, and eventually she was confined to bed. Jane Austen died in 1817 with more than one novel in progress. Her family worked diligently to get her two unpublished works in print, and finally revealed her name to her reading public.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• 1811 Sense and Sensibility
• 1813 Pride and Prejudice
• 1814 Mansfield Park
• 1815 Emma
• 1818 Northanger Abbey (published posthumously, previously titled Susan)
• 1818 Persuasion (published posthumously, previously titled The Elliots)

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