Jane Austen

 Jane Austen

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 to George and Cassandra Austen. She was born in Hampshire, England. She had six brothers -- James, George, Edward, Henry, Francis, and Charles—and one sister—Cassandra. After only a few months at home after Austen was born, her mother sent her to Elizabeth Littlewood, who nursed and raised her for a little over a year.

In 1783, Jane and her sister, Cassandra, were sent to Oxford to be educated by Mrs. Ann Cawley. Both girls then caught typhus, which is a very deadly disease, and moved back home when they were healed. They were then educated at home until Jane and her sister left for boarding school in 1785. By December in 1786, they had to come home because their parents couldn’t afford to send them to school anymore. The rest of their education was acquired by reading books guided by their father and brothers. By 1787, she began writing poems, short stories, and plays for her family’s amusement.

In 1793, Austen began writing a play entitled Sir Charles Grandison: A comedy in 6 Acts. She abandoned the play and later completed it in 1800. Between 1793 and 1795, Austen wrote a novel called Lady Susan, which is usually described as her most ambitious and sophisticated early work. After publishing Lady Susan, Austen attempted her first full-length novel—Elinor and Marianne, which was later published in 1811 as Sense and Sensibility, one of Austen’s most famous works. Austen began work on a second novel called First Impressions in 1796. First Impressions later became known as Pride and Prejudice. In 1798, Austen began writing a third novel called Susan—later called Northanger Abbey. She completed the novel a year later.

In 1800, Mr. Austen, Jane’s father, decided to retire and move the family to Bath. Shocked from leaving the only home she had ever known, Austen started writing yet another novel called The Watsons, but this one she quickly abandoned. In 1802,...