Jane Austen: Great Britain’s Greatest Novelist Essay (Biography)

Introduction

18th century in Britain was the time of the British landed gentry. Some female novelists wrote about this phenomenon and expressed their opinions and feelings in prose. However, women were not treated as capable of expressing sensible ideas and were regarded as a mere asset for marriage. One of these novelists was Jane Austen. Austen’s works provided commentary and critique of the landed gentry while expressing her personal experiences and emotions.

Biography

When it comes to describing Jane Austen’s life, biographers fall short on almost any evidence. As stated by Fergus and Wood, “Material for a biography of Austen’s life is scanty.” (1). The reason behind that is that there are almost no sources that elucidate Austen’s life. The letters that shed light on her biography were destroyed by her relatives. Generally, Jane Austin is described through her relatives or her social world (Fergus and Wood 1).

Nevertheless, there is a certain amount of information that is well known. She had six brothers: James, George, Edward, Francis William, Charles John, and, Jane’s favorite, Henry Thomas. Jane also had a sister Cassandra. Henry Thomas was married to Eliza, Comtesse de Feuillide, a French noble’s widow. Eliza has had a significant influence over Jane. However, the most special friendship Jane had with her sister Cassandra. They studied together in Oxford, Southampton, and Reading. She entrusted Cassandra with all of her secrets and ideas. It was in Cassandra’s arms that Jane passed away.

Literary Works

While talking about literary works of Jane Austen, it is important to remember what kind of society she lived in. 18th century in England from a feminine point of view can be characterized as highly patriarchal where women were seen as not capable of rationality and free will. In her article, Evans uses Mansfield Park by Austen as a fictional illustration of the way that women writers of that time used their works to uncover their personal and political agenda through literature (17). This points out to the fact that women had to do their best in the field of literature to succeed and to be recognized.

Although Austen was not able to become a successful writer during her lifetime, millions of fans still cherish her work and write their own sequels to Austen’s stories. Jane Austen’s fans are called janeites, and their devotion has only been increasing since 1920 (Steenhuyse). Needless to say that only an exceptional talent could have produced such devoted followers. Nevertheless, it is not only literary talent that brought Austen success but also a variety of themes that are of vital importance even in the modern time.

However, like any other author, Austen has been criticized for a variety of reasons. Most of the critique is aimed at the narrowness of her works as a whole picture, often describing only three to four families and their relationships, as stated by Dash and Behura (162). Her tendency to describe the day-to-day life and routine often received the same amount of criticism. However strong the criticism of Austen’s works could be, there is no doubt that she managed to achieve what most of her contemporaries could not. Using characters of her novel as an example, Jane Austen successfully conveyed the message that women of her time struggled to pass to the publicity.

One of the most notable works by Austen and, arguably, her pinnacle as a novelist is an 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. The plot is centered on Jane Bennet, the unmarried eldest daughter of the five. Over the course of the plot development, she meets a young gentleman Charles Bingley who possesses a small fortune of his own. Jane and Charles form a friendship and spend most of their time together which leads Jane to fall in love with Charles. At the same time, Jane’s younger sister Elizabeth falls in love with Charles’ close friend Mr. Darcy. The novel concludes with both Jane and Elizabeth getting married despite the misfortunes that happen to them.

While following a simple plot, Pride and Prejudice provides a bold commentary on the social environment of the 18th century Britain. As stated by Chin-Yi, “the social world of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is one in which women are reduced to commodities for marriage on account of their gender” (1). This means that women were not regarded as independent and capable of making their choices. Women were not even considered to have opinions. This is what drives the story of Pride and Prejudice. The title itself carries a message; despite the prejudice that people around Jane and Elizabeth had, they managed to hold onto their pride and become happy. Both of the sisters demonstrate an example of how female part of the population had pride and desire to accomplish their ambitions. Women wanted to set goals, too, and reach them.

Conclusion

Jane Austen was a talented writer, and her talent is still appreciated across the world. Over the decades, her works have become classic, and are reflected upon and analyzed even now. She possessed a rare gift of looking through time and in the heart of society itself which made her one of the greatest writers that ever lived. Moreover, she made an important step in an attempt to demonstrate the world that women should be treated equally to men and that they must be respected as individuals.

Works Cited

Chin-Yi, C. “Gender and Class Oppression in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.” IRWLE, vol. 9, no. 2, 2013, Web.

Dash, Abanikanta and Manoranjan Behura. “Jane Austen’s Shortcomings as a Novelist: A Critical Study.” Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, vol. 3, no. 11, 2015, pp. 162-163.

Evans, Rachel. “The Rationality and Femininity of Mary Wollstonecraft and Jane Austen.” Journal of International Women’s Studies, vol. 7, no. 3, 2013, pp. 17-23.

Fergus, Jan, and Luke Wood. Jane Austen: A Literary Life. Springer, 2016.

Steenhuyse, Veerle. “Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in Cyberspace: Charting the Worldmaking Practices of Online Fandom.” Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2013, Web.