Jane Austen Research Paper

Born on December 16, 1776 in Steventon, England, Jane Austen is easily one of the greatest writers in English history. While not especially popular in her own time, Austen’s novels reached impressive heights around the late 1800s and so forth into the 20th century where her works became regarded as literary classics. As a child, Jane was raised in a well respected English family with seven other brothers and sisters. Among them were six boys and one girl: James, George, Edward, Henry, Francis, and Cassandra. Jane herself became especially close to her only sister, Cassandra. They were not only sister’s, but best friends. Even when the two were apart, they wrote detailed letters to each other so often that it was almost as if they were

At the time, there was no centrally organized education system. Children were usually taught at home by their parents (such as the Morland children in Northanger Abbey.) If a family was particularly wealthy, they would hire a live-in governess or tutor to teach the children at home(such as Miss Taylor in Emma). Jane and her sister were both taught at home by their mother and father before being sent to boarding school in an effort to gain higher education. While in attendance, however, both girls came down with Typhus that nearly claimed Jane’s life, forcing them to return back home

For instance, the character Mr. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice very closely resembles Jane's own father, George Austen. Like Mr. Bennet, Jane's father had a respectable income, but not enough to properly give his children due to the fact that there were simply so many. Another example can be seen in Jane's later novel, Persuasion which is suspected to have been modeled after an incident while living in Bath. Little is known about the incident itself, except for what was mentioned by Jane's sister, Cassandra, in some letters to a few family and friends. The incident between Jane and another man by the name of Tom Lefroy is believed to have been Jane's inspiration for the novel. While living in Bath, Jane and Tom supposedly engaged in some sort of romantic relationship, but nothing ever came of it. The protagonist of the story, Anne Elliot, would have been Jane's same age of 27 years and living in the same