Weekend Writing: Celebrating Jane Austen

(photo/My Hero)

There are few novelists quite like Jane Austen. She was one of the brightest, most romantic, and most influential British writers of the early 19th-century. Her six major novels largely interpret, critique, and comment upon British society, often exploring the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of social standing and economics. Her writing helped establish 19th-century realism, and for that, we should be very grateful.

I'm celebrating Jane Austen because today, December 16, is her birthday. Born on December 16, 1775, in Steventon, Hampshire, England, she was the seventh child and second daughter of Cassandra and George Austen. Her parents, and the entire family, were well-respected in the community--her father serving as the Oxford-educated rector for the Anglican parish.

Jane was very close to her siblings. When she was young, her parents encouraged her and her siblings to read from their father's extensive library. Jane also wrote and performed various plays with her siblings.

(photo/Wikipedia)

But while Jane was close to her whole family, she grew up to be especially close to her father and older sister, Cassandra. As a teenager, Jane and Cassandra were sent to boarding schools to acquire a more formal education. But unfortunately, the sisters caught typhus and Jane nearly died from the illness. The sisters returned home and lived with the family from that time forward.

From an early age, Jane was fascinated by fiction. Because of all her years spent reading nearly every book in her father's library, it makes sense why she would eventually want to write her own stories. She began to write her own novels in the 1790s when she was still a teenager. She discovered her incredible wit. She wrote 29 short stories and novels in three notebooks, now referred to as the Juvenilia. 

Jane continued to write manuscripts, including Lady Susan, which would later be published by Jane's brother, Henry, following her death; Elinor and Marianne, published as Sense and Sensibility; Susan, published as Northanger Abbey; and, First Impressions, published as her most-famous novel, Pride and Prejudice, which she referred to as her "darling child." She also wrote and published Mansfield Park and Emma. 

Jane Austen's six famous books (photo/Ode to Jo & Katniss).

But in 1816, at the age of 41, Jane became ill with what many believe was Addison's disease. She worked hard to continue writing, editing previously-written works. She published another novel, Persuasion. But eventually, her condition deteriorated to a degree that she was forced to stop writing. She passed away on July 18, 1817, in Winchester, Hampshire, England.

(photo/Jane Austen Society of North America)

But today, Jane Austen is considered one of the greatest writers in literary history. She was a writer with incredible humor and wit. She wrote about society the way she viewed it. She wasn't afraid to be critical of societal standards. She wrote about how she felt, making her one of the most important and beloved feminist writers of all time.

Hopefully, her writing will forever impact readers--teach them about early 19th-century British history, societal standards, romance, and inspire us to be bold and daring, in whichever way possible.

Happy birthday, Jane Austen.

-KJL-