Major Themes, Influences, and Artistic Stlyes

Jane Austen had a few recurring major themes in her novels. First, she focuses on being individual and proper behavior of how one acts in society. Another is love, courtship, and marriage. Such as in Pride and Prejudice she talks about how men like accomplished women and also about how men should act around women. A formal cole of behavior or manners prescribes conduct and distances feelings. In her books, does she present characters who simply feel less, or feel strongly and can't express their true feelings. What are the advantages and the drawbacks of living in such a society as Austen presents them? The advantages and drawbacks may seem quite different from the perspective of someone today reading.

"Jane Austen lived in a time of violent change. Her birth, in 1775, coincided with the beginning of the American War of Independence and the perfection of James Watt's steam engine" (http://janeaustenlit.tripod.com/id14.html ). "Jane Austen's view of the world and of human nature was rooted in the 18th century. In Britain at least, the century turned its back on the excesses and enthusiasms of the previous century that had led to civil war. Order, and the management of life -both social and individual- according to the dictates of reason rather than emotion was considered necessary to hodl in check Man's violent, corrupt and fundamentally volatile nature" ( http://janeaustenlit.tripod.com/id14.html).

Her Career

Jane Austen was a phenomenal writer in her day and her works continue to be studied by many. This question still exists in my mind: how did she become this famous writer? "As a child, she wrote for her family's amusement. Her parents were avid readers; Austen's own favorite poet was Cowper" (Liukkonen). Austen's main inspiration was her family and their encouragement and assistance in reading and critiquing her writings to make her better writer. Austen was very shy about her writings, writing on a small piece of paper in case anyone came into the room. Her father supported her with necessary materials so she could write.
Jane Austen was very social and went to balls and parties often, however, she never married. She didn't start to sell any of her pieces till 1803; the first piece published was in 1811, and many pieces written before it in the early 1800's were revised and later published. "Her combination of irony, humor, sophisticated observations of the sociatal and cultural machinations between the classes epitomise the often obsurd problems of inheritance, courtship, morals, and marriage in Regency, England" (Online-literature.com). A major work, Sense and Sensability, was finally published in 1797, and early story she read aloud to her family members, and any others followed. Most novels were unpredicatble romantic stories based off love. Not every ending was a happy one, especially in Becoming Jane. Watching the movie, the character Jane falls in love with a man named Tom Lefroy and they try to be together twice, but both times it never works out. So they part ways never to see each other again. Then many years later, they end up at the same get to gether, he shows up married and she isn't; he names his daughter after her. Jane had a very successful life, and today we have made and remade films of her writings.

Biography

Jane Austen was born in Hampshire, England on December 16, 1775. "Born to Reverend George Austen of the Steventon Rectory and Cassandra Austen of the Leigh family" (JaneAusten.org). Jane was the seventh child in her family, however only the second to George and Cassandra. While in her childhood years, Jane was always close to her siblings and father while they wrote and acted out plays together. "Reading aloud was considered a highly valuable professional and social skill, and the reverend, Mr. Austen, suprisingly not, excelled at it" (Teuber).
When she turned eight years old, her and her sister, Cassandra, went to boarding school to learn music, dancing, and french. Jane began to become very involved with books and writing and her father supported and provided the necessary materials for her to continue to explore her interest. From the education she was able to receive at school, she began to work on her very first story First Impressions, which later was changed to Pride and Prejudice; the first draft was completed in 1799. Austen was rejected by publishers at first, but was able to get through to Thomas Egerton, who published Sense and Sensability, then Pride and Prejudice.
In 1816, Jane noticed her health deteriorating, but decided to follow through with everything she had started. At age 42, she was put on bed rest where she wasn't able to write anything else. On July 18, 1817, Jane passed away from an illness that had no cure. Her work lives on through her six completed works, the theme of love revealed, and love enduring (JaneAusten.org).

Day 1

This is a blog about the many workings of Jane Austen, what inspired her, and made her the famous woman that she was.