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Jane Austen |
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Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 in the city of Steventon, which is near Basingstoke. She was the seventh child of the rector of the parish. She lived with her family at Steventon until they moved to Bath, when her father retired in 1801. After his death in 1805, Austen moved around with her mother; in 1809 they settled in Chawton, near Alton, Hampshire. Here she remained, except for a few visits to London, until May 1817 when she moved to Winchester to be near her doctor. There she died on July 18, 1817. (Ballaster, 1992) |
Jane Austen was extremely modest about her own genius, describing her work to her nephew, Edward, as 'the little bit (two inches wide) of ivory, on which I work with so fine a brush, as produces little effect after much labour'. As a girl she wrote stories, including burlesques of popular romances. Her works were published only after much revision, four novels being published in her lifetime. They are Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1816). Two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were published posthumously in 1818 with a biographical notice by her brother, Henry Austen, the first formal announcement of her authorship. Persuasion was written in a race against failing health in 1815-16. She also left two earlier compositions, a short epistolary novel, Lady Susan, and an unfinished novel, The Watsons. At the time of her death, she was working on a new novel, Sanditon, a fragmentary draft of which survives. (Ballaster, 1992) |
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Austen published her novels between the years of 1811- 1816. Technically, this means she should be considered a romantic author. The romantic period lasted between the years of 1789-1837. Most of the works from this era placed a great emphasis on nature and physical beauty. Such a significant emphasis placed on appearance led to the demand of physical attractiveness in women. Because of this, women became a muse. So much attention was focused on their outward qualities and rarely on characteristics of merit such as intelligence, strength, and ambition. Typically, novels written during portray woman as sensitive, emotional, naïve, and submissive. Their main role was to seek out a suitable husband. Attention was also drawn on the social world and accomplishments in the arts . |
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these themes certainly are prolific in all of her novels, some critics consider her novels to have more of a neoclassical period theme. This period occurred before the romantic period and lasted from 1660-1800. This period is described as the time of reason. It mostly represented masculine ideals. Men were the providers for the family and held all social importance. There is also a focus on the mind, education, and economic security. |
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The reason why there is such debate over which literary time period to place Austen is both neoclassic and romantic ideals represent characters in her novels. She usually sets up a dichotomy between two characters, each character representing a different time period. In Sense and Sensibilty, this dichotomy is represented through her characters of Eleanor and Marianne. Eleanor represents the neoclassical period through her reason, practicality, and stability. Through Marianne's emotional instability, love of the arts, and physical attractiveness, she represents the romantic period. Both characters have good and bad aspects to their personalities and, in the end, both somewhat compromise themselves in order to achieve social success. Afterall. they both are rewarded by happy marriages after they each have become a bit more like the other: Eleanor by allowing herself to experience true love and Marianne by becoming a bit more practical and realizing that there is more to love than emotion. |
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