Jane Austen:

Author of many sensible novels

If you study English Literature in school, Jane Austen may not be an unfamiliar name to you. She is the author of the well-known and much-loved classics Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park. Though these may be her most famous creations, they are by no means her only works. She wrote many works, some of which were published after her death.

Austen was one of the most famous women writers ever. Her writing and comments about the society of the time, and masterful use of the language have made her one of the most influential and honoured novelists in English literature.

An interest in Austen was rekindled over the past decade as a result of some of her novels such as Sense and

 Sensibility, Emma, Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion being adapted into movies and television dramas.

The English novelist was born on December 16, 1775 in Steventon, Hampshire, the seventh of eight children of the reverend George Austen and his wife Cassandra. She had six brothers and a sister named Cassandra, who continued to be her friend and companion throughout her life. The correspondence between the two sisters has provided historians with the greatest insight into Austen's thoughts.

Austen received her initial education from relatives and then attended the Reading Ladies boarding school in Reading, Berkshire from 1785 to 1786. Although her formal education was minimal, she read extensively and critically.

She began writing her first novel in 1789, at the age of 14. Her family was very helpful to her writing; they often enacted plays, which gave the opportunity to present her stories. The many novels borrowed from the local library also influenced her writing.

She was encouraged to write, especially by her brother Henry, who wrote a little himself.

By the time she was 23 years old, Austen had written three novels: Elinor and Marianne, First Impressions, and Susan, which were early versions of, respectively, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey.

Austen based her stories on the limited world she saw around her. She explored the relationships, values and shortcomings of the people in her society and wrote about them without becoming too attached, and with wit and humour.

It was only in 1811, six years before her death, that one of her novels, Sense and Sensibility, was published. As was the custom for female authors of the time, most of her novels were initially published anonymously.

Her works, when published, received only moderate praise and attracted many critics as well. However, 20th century scholars rank her among the greatest literary geniuses of the English language, with some even comparing her to Shakespeare.

Among Austen's influences were Henry Fielding, Samuel Richardson, Walter Scott, Samuel Johnson, William Cowper, George Crabbe and Fanny Burney.

Both Jane and Cassandra never married, although Jane is believed to have experienced two potential romances in her short life. It is suggested that one of these suitors, Tom Lefroy, may have been in Austen's mind when she created the character Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.

In 1801, after her father retired, the family moved to the fashionable spa city of Bath, which was the setting for many of her novels, although she herself hasn't much liked this area.

Her father died in 1805, and she, Cassandra, and their mother moved to Southampton. They lived there with Austen's brother, Frank, and his family for several years, before moving to Chawton in 1809, where they lived in a cottage owned by their wealthy brother, Edward. Austen wrote her later novels there; this cottage has now been turned into a museum.

Around 1816, Austen started suffering from health problems. Her condition worsened gradually, and on July 18, 1817, she died at the age of 41 and was buried in Winchester Cathedral.

She is said to have responded with her last words, "Nothing, but death" when asked by Cassandra whether there was anything she wanted.

There are two museums dedicated to Jane Austen. The Jane Austen Centre in Bath is a public museum located in a Georgian House in Gay Street, close to the house where Austen stayed in 1805. The Jane Austen's House Museum is located in Chawton cottage, in Hampshire, where Austen lived from 1809 to 1817.

Several of Austen's incomplete works were published after her death. These include The Watsons, Fragment of a Novel and Plan of a Novel. Her correspondence has been published as Jane Austen's Letters.

Jane Austen's works

Novels

In order of first publication:

* Sense and Sensibility (1811)
* Pride and Prejudice (1813)
* Mansfield Park (1814)
* Emma (1816)
* Persuasion (1818) (published after her death)
* Northanger Abbey (1818)(published after her death)

Shorter works
* Lady Susan (a short novel)
* The Watsons (incomplete novel; Austen's niece, Catherine Hubback, completed The Watsons and published it under the title The Younger Sister in the mid-19th century.)
* Sanditon (incomplete novel)

Juvenilia (works produced during author's childhood or youth)
* The Three Sisters
* Love and Freindship (the misspelling of "friendship" in the title is famous)
* The History of England
* Catharine, or the Bower
* The Beautiful Cassandra.