Jane Austen Biography

Jane Austen; A Biography

Multiple Choice

Jane Austen became popular as a....

• poet

• writer

• actress

A great female writer

Jane Austen's life was relatively short but it nonetheless produced a lasting legacy including six major published works (1775-1817).

Multiple Select

Which novels are written by Austen? (3 correct options)

• Sense & Sensibility

• Jane Eyre

• Pride & Prejudice

• Wuthering Heights

• Persuasion

Multiple Select

Which novels are written by Austen? (3 correct options)

• Great Expectations

• Northanger Abbey

• Mrs Dalloway

• Mansfield Park

• Emma

Birth and Family Life

Jane Austen was born in Steventon, England, in 1775. Her father, George Austen, was the rector of the local parish and taught her largely at home. The seventh of eight children, Austen lived with her parents for her entire life, first in Steventon and later in Bath. Even though, they were not wealthy, her family was well connected and well educated.

The house where Jane Austen grew up in Steventon.

Multiple Choice

Jane Austen had ______ more brothers and sisters.

• 6

• 8

• 7

Jane and Cassandra

Both Jane and her sister Cassandra were mostly educated at home. Jane's relationship with her sister was perhaps the strongest connection which existed in her life. Her numerous letters to and from Cassandra provide the basis for much of the knowledge of Austen's life.

Multiple Choice

We receive much information regarding Jane Austen's life through....

• her letters

• her novels

• her diaries

Romance

In 1795, a nephew of neighbors began visiting Steventon. His name was Tom Lefroy, studying to be a lawyer. Jane and Tom began spending much time with one another. This marks the one documented instance of Jane Austen admitting to falling in love.

Romance

The family of Tom Lefroy reviewed any engagement as impractical. Jane herself, and her family, had no more to offer in the pairing. As such, Lefroy's family intervened and sent Tom away. Every effort to keep Tom from Jane was made and Jane was never to see her love again for the rest of her life.

Multiple Choice

Jane Austen's courtship with Tom Lefroy had a happy ending.

• True

• False

Marriage

Neither Jane nor Cassandra ever married, though they had offers. Perhaps due to the added burden of finding a suitable mate within one's social class, between 10–35% of people in Jane Austen's time remained single. Yet Jane's status as a single woman did not upset her. The lack of a husband allowed her the freedom to concentrate on her writing.

Multiple Choice

Why did a fairly high number of people remain unmarried in Austen's time?

• People preferred the freedom of being single.

• People should choose a partners of a same as theirs social class and, as a result, options were limited.

• Uneven numbers. Male shortage. There were more men than women. As a result, there wasn't a man for every woman.

Writing novels

Austen began writing stories at a very young age and completed her first novel in her early twenties. All of her work was published anonymously. In the 19th century, publishing was one of the ways middle-class women could earn money, and Austen used her modest earnings to supplement her income. In 1813, Pride and Prejudice, her second novel, was published and proved to be extremely popular, ending Austen's anonymity.

Multiple Choice

Which was Austen's first novel? (guess)

• Sense & Sensibility

• Pride & Prejudice

• Emma

Austen's society

The society of Austen’s Regency England was particularly stratified. In her work, Austen is critical of the prejudices of upper-class England. She distinguishes between internal merit (goodness of person) and external merit (rank and possessions).

Multiple Choice

The society of Austen’s Regency England was particularly stratified.

What is the meaning of this sentence?

• Society was unified into one level/class.

• Society was divided into different levels / classes.

Austen's society

Though she frequently satirizes snobs, she also pokes fun at the poor breeding and misbehavior of those lower on the social scale. Nevertheless, Austen was in many ways a realist, and the England she depicts is one in which social mobility is limited and class-consciousness is strong.

Multiple Choice

Define 'social mobility'.

• The movement of individuals, families, or groups through a system of social hierarchy or stratification.

• Someone who is socially active and can communicate equally well with people of different social classes.

A Limited World

Critics often accuse Austen of portraying a limited world. Even though, she was aware of the poor around her, she wrote about her own world, not theirs. The critiques she makes of class structure seem to include only the middle class and upper class; the lower classes, if they appear at all, are generally servants who seem perfectly pleased with their lot. This lack of interest in the lives of the poor may be a failure on Austen’s part, but it should be understood as a failure shared by almost all of English society at the time.

Multiple Choice

Austen's novels help the reader get a good understanding of the lives of the poor.

• True

• False

Austen and Gender

Socially formed ideas of appropriate behavior for each gender are present in Austen’s work. While social advancement for young men lay in the military, church, or law, the chief method of self-improvement for women was the acquisition of wealth. Women could only accomplish this goal through successful marriage. Though young women of Austen’s day had more freedom to choose their husbands, practical considerations continued to limit their options.

Multiple Choice

In Austen's time, women could improve their situation by....

• a wealthy marriage

• finding employment

Love that (Never) Ends

At the age of 41, Jane Austen dies taking with her the conclusions of her unfinished works. In many ways, Jane Austen embodied the very strong-natured women that were her stories. They came from different circumstances with different backgrounds, yet all sought the same thing in true love. It is an irony that such a thing eluded Austen herself. Jane Austen has left all readers with truly timeless pieces of art along with the fanciful notion of love revealed, love enduring...

Multiple Choice

Jane Austen's female characters were in search of...

• a wealthy, profitable life

• the true love