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).