Jane Austen
(1775–1817)

If nothing else, the life and work of Jane Austen explode the myth that it is impossible to produce a great novel without having first sampled a broad range of life experience. Her social comedies are considered by critics today to be masterpieces of character portrayal and dialogue.

Born at Steventon in southwestern England to loving parents of modest means, Austen was the seventh of eight children. From an early age she enjoyed writing, and entertained her family with parodies, or humorous sendups, of the syrupy, sentimental fiction and drama that were fashionable at the time. When she was in her late teens she began her first novel, Sense and Sensibility, which is the story of two sisters. Prior to its completion, however, she put it aside to concentrate on another novel, First Impressions. Written as a series of letters, the work that would eventually be reshaped into her highly acclaimed Pride and Prejudice rapidly became the family favorite. So certain, in fact, was her father of its merits that he offered the work to a book publisher, who rejected it. Not easily discouraged, Austen plunged into a third novel, Northanger Abbey, a mock horror tale, which she finished in 1797.

In 1801, the family relocated to Bath, near the sea. Austen for the first time in her life experienced unhappiness. In letters she described herself as an "exile" from the rural surroundings that she loved so much. When her father died in 1806, the family, or what remained of it—by now all the male children had married—left Bath for a cottage on an estate outside London. Upon the death of his wife, Austen's brother Edward and his eleven children came to live on the estate, and once again Austen found herself surrounded by relatives in a bustling household. The writer's block that had plagued her during her period of sadness vanished, and she eagerly returned to work, revising her early novels and completing three new ones.

Sense and Sensibility, the first to be published, appeared in 1811. It was followed two years later by Pride and Prejudice, and a year after that by Mansfield Park. In 1816 Austen became ill but continued to write, completing two more novels, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, before her death. Her brother Henry saw to the publication of both works, including a biographical sketch of his sister, who during her life had insisted on anonymity.

Since in her writing Austen places intellect above emotion, she is seen by some as more neoclassic than Romantic. What all critics seem to be in agreement on, however, is her ranking as one of the greatest English novelists writing in any period.

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