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Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her realism, biting irony and social commentary have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics.
Firstly, let?s talk about the social background when Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice.
In economy, the Industrial Revolution was going on invisibly but orderly, which greatly improved Britain's industrial workshops productivity. Rapidly growing of the middle class and the culture, the
new industrial city continued to develop without good control which resulted in a lot of bad consequences of urbanization
In politics, as the struggle between the old and new nobility and commercial capitalism, making the British constitutional (no real constitutional) continued reforming. The two sides produced a corresponding equilibrium forces during a succession of the bills, Parliament finalized abolitionist bill in 1833.
In culture, Sentimentalism writers reflected the sentimental weakness of the small bourgeois in urban and rural. Faced great changes in the society and complained about the failures of their lives, they were dissatisfied with both aristocratic and bourgeois tyranny and didn?t understand the reasons for social changes, leading to a sentimental mood. Sentimentalism writers highlighted the feelings and emotions in the creation, focused on describing personal inner feelings, rendering the lower figures? hardship and misfortune, whose works full of sentimentality. Sentimentalism had a broad impact, and made preparations for the formation of romanticism. Gothic novel can be said to be the original of horror movies, Significant elements of Gothic novels, including horror, mystery, supernatural, doom, death, decadence, houses lived an old ghost, mania, family curse and so on
In military, British colonial areas developed to the East, Australia and New Zealand had been exploited. As for expansion of India, on the
one hand, due to the India's seven years of war, on the other hand, the East has become a new center of the output of goods because of American independence. Therefore, British colonialism was all over the world. Due to the success of the Seven Years War and the Napoleonic wars at sea, Britain eventually became naval supremacy over 200 years.
Secondly, it is about family of Jane Austen. Austen's parents, George Austen and his wife Cassandra were members of substantial gentry?s families. George was descended from a family of woolen manufacturers, which had risen through the professions to the lower ranks of the landed gentry. Cassandra was a member of the prominent Leigh family. From 1765 until 1801, that is, for much of Jane's life, George Austen served as the rector of the Anglican parishes at Steventon, Hampshire, and a nearby village. From 1773 until 1796, he supplemented this income by farming and by teaching three or four boys at a time who boarded at his home.
Austin had six brothers. Her elder brother, James who was melancholy liked literature. James inherited his father's job，to be a clergyman. Her second elder brother George suffered from illness. Austen had never seen him because he has been recuperating. Austin had a sister (Cassandra), and they were quite intimate. Austin admired her sister, and in Pride and Prejudice Jane Bennet character?s model is indeed similar to Cassandra. Austin 's mother said ，if Cassandra went to boarding school , Austin would also keep going , if someone wants to Cassandra 's head,
she would not hesitate to go with Austin . Sister relationship between them is the most close.
Finally, let?s come to the career of Jane Austen. Austen was subsequently educated at home, until leaving for boarding school with her sister Cassandra early in 1785. By December 1786, Jane and Cassandra had returned home because the Austens could not afford to send both of their daughters to school. Austen acquired the remainder of her education by reading books, guided by her father and her brothers James and Henry. Austen apparently had unfettered access both to her father's library and that of her uncle, Warren Hastings, a wealthy opium trader. Together these collections amounted to a large and varied library. Her father was also tolerant of Austen's sometimes risqué experiments in writing, and provided both sisters with expensive paper and other materials for their writing and drawing.
According to assorted evidences Jane Austen had started writing poems, stories, and plays for her own and her family's amusement by 1787. Much later Jane took time to bring out a compilation of 29 of her earliest works (which were produced into three bound notebooks) which are presently known as “Juvenilia”. She made fair copies of all her works which were originally known to have been written between 1787 and 1793. Evidences suggest that Jane worked on these pieces till late 1809–11 which were further added with other works of hers by her niece
and nephew, Anna and James in 1814. Jane had reportedly written (which had been added to the compilation) a satirical novel in letters titled “Love and Friendship” which had been intentionally written like that as she had mocked popular novels of sensibility. Other works like ?The History of England?, a manuscript of 34 pages accompanied by 13 watercolor miniatures by her sister Cassandra also formed a part of “Juvenilia”. For parodied writing, Austen earned the names, “boisterous” and “anarchic” from scholar Richard Jenkyns.
In 1793 Jane started on a play which she soon abandoned. It was later titled, “Sir Charles Grandison or the happy Man, a comedy in 6 acts” which she restarted and completed around 1800. In the period between 1793 and 1795, Jane wrote ?Lady Susan?, a short epistolary novel which was considered by Jane as one of her greatest and most ambitious works.
After completing Lady Susan, Jane started writing on her first full-length novel “Elinor and Marianne” (There is no evidence to confirm as to how much original text was maintained and reproduced in the novel published in 1811 as “Sense and Sensibility”). According to her sister Cassandra, Jane had read out her novel before 1796. Tom Lefroy, a neighbor?s nephew had made a visit to Steventon from December 1795 to January 1796 and Jane was just 20 years old at this time. Lefroy got introduced to Jane at a ball and according to Austen?s letters to Cassandra, Jane shared great times with Lefroy. Due to young age and no money the