10 questions · Society & Everyday
Jane Austen is born in 1775, one of eight children of an English country clergyman, in Steventon. The family is not rich but well educated and fond of reading: in the rectory they read aloud, put on plays and write. As a teenager Jane already pens witty parodies of the overwrought novels of her day. Her home remains her observation post all her life: the narrow world of the English landed gentry, where everything turns on marriage, rank and money. It is precisely this milieu that becomes the material of her novels, with a sharpness and irony that has few equals. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife," begins 'Pride and Prejudice', her most famous work. Her heroines (above all the clever, headstrong Elizabeth Bennet) seek love without surrendering their reason. In her lifetime Austen publishes her novels anonymously; the title page of the first reads only "By a Lady", and the later ones merely point to the author of the earlier books. Only a small circle knows who the author is. 'Sense and Sensibility', 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Mansfield Park' and 'Emma' appear in quick succession and find an audience, but great fame and wealth elude her. Jane Austen dies in 1817 at just 41, of an illness never conclusively identified; she never marries. Only after her death, and especially over the course of the 20th century, does her fame grow immensely. Today she is regarded as one of the greatest storytellers in the English language, her books are filmed again and again and since 2017 her portrait has appeared on the Bank of England ten-pound note.
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Pride and Prejudice
Its heroine Elizabeth Bennet is considered one of the wittiest characters in English literature.
💡 Did you know? „Pride and Prejudice,“ with the quick-witted Elizabeth Bennet, has been filmed countless times and is one of the best-loved books in the world.
e.g. Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park
Her novels appeared in quick succession between 1811 and 1817.
💡 Did you know? In just six completed novels Austen created a whole world of the English gentry: still read in the millions.
anonymously ("By a Lady")
In her lifetime Austen's novels appeared anonymously „by a Lady“: her name became public only after her death.
💡 Did you know? Only a small circle knew during her lifetime who was behind the books.
love, marriage and rank
Her sharp, ironic view of her own social class keeps the novels alive to this day.
💡 Did you know? With fine irony Austen showed how much women's happiness depended on marriage, money and rank.
England
She was born the daughter of a country clergyman in Steventon.
💡 Did you know? Austen scarcely left southern England: her material was the closely observed life of parsonages and country houses.
41 years old
The exact cause of death is still not certain.
💡 Did you know? Austen died at just 41 of an unclear illness: only later was she recognised as one of the greatest English authors.
grew greatly after her death
After her death Austen's fame grew steadily; today fans make pilgrimages to her settings and film adaptations keep her stories alive.
💡 Did you know? Her portrait appeared on the English ten-pound note; her novels are still filmed constantly.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged …"
„It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife“: one of the most famous opening lines in literature.
💡 Did you know? It is one of the most famous opening lines in the history of literature.
Foto: Cassandra Austen · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (1775 to 1817) was an English novelist, famous for ironic novels of manners like „Pride and Prejudice.“
💡 Did you know? In Britain, Austen's portrait has adorned the 10-pound note since 2017: over 200 years after her death.
1775
Born: 16 December 1775 in Steventon, England
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