'Pride and Prejudice', 'Sense and Sensibility', 'Emma' - you must have heard about these novels and have probably read at least one of them. How much do you know about the author - Jane Austen?
Below are some truly interesting facts about this 18th century English writer. Enjoy!
On the 16th of December in 1775 Jane Austen, the 19th century novelist, was born in the Hampshire village of Steventon. Though Jane Austen led the quiet life of an unmarried clergyman’s daughter and wrote only five complete novels, her name has not been consigned to the dustbin of history. On the contrary, today, in the age of the Internet and mobile phones, digital television and supersonic aircraft, Jane Austen is enjoying a huge and enthusiastic following and there have been numerous TV adaptations, films, books and events devoted to her in the past thirty years.
It is remarkable that Jane Austen was little known in her lifetime as her books were published anonymously. Her first novel ‘Sense and Sensibility’ came out in 1811 and the book cover said that it had been written ‘By a Lady’. Her second published novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ was ‘By the Author of 'Sense and Sensibility’. Although the publication of the novels did not make her popular, it gave Jane Austen financial independence. When her father died, he left Jane, her mother and her sister a modest income of only £210 a year but in 1812 Jane sold the rights to 'Pride and Prejudice' for £110 and the publication of her third novel 'Mansfield Park' in 1814 brought her more than £320.
When Jane Austen died at the age of 41, it seemed that her books would soon go out of print as her contemporaries found them insipid and provincial. In her letter to George Henry Lewis, a literary critic, Charlotte Bronte made the following comment on Jane Austen’s prose: ‘Anything like warmth or enthusiasm, anything energetic, poignant, heartfelt is utterly out of place…I should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen, in their elegant but confined houses.’
A Memoir of Jane Austen written by her nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh in 1869 sparked general interest in Jane Austen’s novels and they started to gain popularity, particularly, with men. The term ‘Janeite’ was introduced by the literary scholar George Saintsbury, who used it to describe someone with a deep appreciation of Jane’s literary talent. Later, Rudyard Kipling in his short story ‘The Janeites’ described a group of soldiers brought together by their passion for the works of Austen.
Nowadays Janeitism is principally a female mania: a great number of women organize and attend Jane Austen-themed tea parties and balls, write sequels to her novels and actively contribute to blogs and forums dedicated to their favourite author. In October 2012, more than 700 Janeites dressed in bonnets and early 19th Century-style dresses gathered in Brooklyn, New York for three days of lectures, dance workshops and exhibitions.
Jane Austen wrote: ‘There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort’. She certainly knew and could vividly depict the charm of a stable and happy life among your family, neighbours and friends. Her books do not describe wars or social transformations, murder or violence and that might be the reason why her novels have timeless appeal and are still read avidly all over the world.
Below are some truly interesting facts about this 18th century English writer. Enjoy!
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| Jane Austen's famous characters - Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet |
On the 16th of December in 1775 Jane Austen, the 19th century novelist, was born in the Hampshire village of Steventon. Though Jane Austen led the quiet life of an unmarried clergyman’s daughter and wrote only five complete novels, her name has not been consigned to the dustbin of history. On the contrary, today, in the age of the Internet and mobile phones, digital television and supersonic aircraft, Jane Austen is enjoying a huge and enthusiastic following and there have been numerous TV adaptations, films, books and events devoted to her in the past thirty years.
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| Jane Austen's house in Steventon, Hampshire |
When Jane Austen died at the age of 41, it seemed that her books would soon go out of print as her contemporaries found them insipid and provincial. In her letter to George Henry Lewis, a literary critic, Charlotte Bronte made the following comment on Jane Austen’s prose: ‘Anything like warmth or enthusiasm, anything energetic, poignant, heartfelt is utterly out of place…I should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen, in their elegant but confined houses.’
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| JANE AUSTEN (1775-1817) |
Nowadays Janeitism is principally a female mania: a great number of women organize and attend Jane Austen-themed tea parties and balls, write sequels to her novels and actively contribute to blogs and forums dedicated to their favourite author. In October 2012, more than 700 Janeites dressed in bonnets and early 19th Century-style dresses gathered in Brooklyn, New York for three days of lectures, dance workshops and exhibitions.
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| JANE AUSTEN'S FANS TODAY |
Jane Austen wrote: ‘There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort’. She certainly knew and could vividly depict the charm of a stable and happy life among your family, neighbours and friends. Her books do not describe wars or social transformations, murder or violence and that might be the reason why her novels have timeless appeal and are still read avidly all over the world.
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