Jane Austen

Professor

Dr.Behtash

Student

Z.Dehghan

November 2013

Chabahar Maritime University

Faculty of Humanities

Jane Austen

I . Introduction

II. Life

III. Early works

IV. Later works

V. Illness and Death

VI. Pride and Prejudice

VII. Reasons for novel's everlasting popularity

Jane Austen (1775-1817) was an English

novelist.

Noted for her witty studies of early-19th-

century English society.

Austen portrayed the quiet, day-to-day life

of members of the upper middle class.

Her works combine romantic comedy with

social satire and psychological insight.

There are two common themes in Austen’s

books:

The loss of illusions—usually leading characters

to a more mature outlook

The clash between traditional moral ideals and

the everyday demands of life

Because of her sensitivity to universal patterns

of human behavior, Austen was one of the

greatest novelists of the 19th and 20th centuries

Jane Austen was born on16 December 1775 in Steventon , Hampshire, England.

Jane was the seventh child of eight.

Apart from three years of school in Oxford which she attended with her older sister, Cassandra, she was educated at home.

At age 13, she was writing amusing and instructive parodies and variations on 18th-century literature—from sentimental novels to serious histories.

At age 23, she had written three novels:

Elinor and Marianne

First Impressions

Susan

In 1801 the family moved to the town of Bath.

After Jane’s father death in 1805 Jane,

Cassandra, and their mother moved to the

village of Chawton, very near Steventon.

She led a secluded life with her family, never

marrying.

The first period of her writing lasted from

1795 to 1798. During this time she wrote the

first versions of:

Sense and Sensibility

Pride and Prejudice

Northanger Abbey

Austen’s family preserved the writing she did

as a teenager which was published more than

a century after her death as:

Love & Friendship

It is a comic parody of 18th-century

melodramatic fiction.

Austen’s second important period of writing

lasted from 1811 to 1816:

revised and prepared Sense and Sensibility

and Pride and Prejudice for publication

Wrote her last three completed novels:

Mansfield Park (1814)

Emma(1816)

Persuasion (1818)

Several other incomplete works were

published after Austen's death.

The Watsons (1923)

Fragment of a Novel (1925)

Plan of a Novel (1926)

Her correspondence has been published as

Jane Austen’s Letters (1932; revised edition,

1952).

Although the cause of Austen's final illness is

not known for certain, the symptoms seem to

suggest that she may have been affected by

Addison's disease.

Austen died in Winchester on 18 July, 1817,

at the age of 41.

She was buried in Winchester Cathedral on

24 July , 1817.

Winchester Cathedral

Pride and Prejudice is a complex novel

mixing romance with realism.

Austen used a variety of features to make

this novel seem more realistic and relevant

to the period of the 19th century.

At the same time it has also the touch of

romance.

The plot of Pride and Prejudice is like the

plot of a romance.

The social reality for women during 19th

century was that it was almost impossible to

survive without a man’s care, so it was

typical for a young woman to live in her

father’s house until she moved into her

husbands.

Because of this social climate, the reality is

that the five Bennet sisters do not have a

choice about marriage. They must marry in

order to secure their financial future.

Austen addresses the social realities of thetime and also satisfies the reader’s desire forromance by having Jane and Elizabeth’ssuitors not only be rich but also be dashing,attractive and moral.

Realism of characters makes the novel more

believable and they also contribute to fulfill

romantic appeal of the novel.

A special emphasis has been placed on theway Austen portrays her character’s speechand thoughts. Dialogue is described as themost appropriate means in order to achieve aclose approach to reality.

We also find the touch of romance in the

dialogues.

There are elements of conventional romance

in the novel. Since the picture drawn is of

everyday life and activities, it is easy for us

to comprehend it and is that much more real

to us.

Her most famous works

include six well-read

novels:

1. Limitations and range

she takes the reader into the minds of the

characters, and her acute observation makes

us really feel we know them.

Her use of irony is masterly.

She has a good ear for dialogue, and her

characters represent universal failings and

strengths, and so are instantly recognizable

and interesting.

Jane Austen’s world, with its ability to ignore the

outside world and comforting absence of disaster and

horrific suffering is one to which the modern reader

can escape and find a certainty and tranquility that

perhaps his life does not offer.

2. Manners and morality

Manners matter greatly in Jane Austen's world.

Behavior must be controlled.

Austen admires love, generosity, compassion and

common sense.

She can sometimes be seen as callous, mercenary and

heartless.

3. Style

Clarity, economy , skillful use of dialogue, tight

plotting and satisfying completeness to her plots

are the main features of Jane Austen's style.

4. Other themes and topics

Houses ,estates, and family wealth run like an

undercurrent through many of the novels.

Duty and decorum are used to describe manners.

Rank and money matter greatly in the novels.

“It isn't what we

say or think that

defines us, but

what we do”

Jane Austen