Research Project on JANE AUSTEN, by Paula Bote Andrada #crosscurricular #alqareading

Research Project on JANE AUSTEN, by Paula Bote Andrada

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” 

–Pride and Prejudice, 1913

Pride and Prejudice’s opening line is one of the best book starters in English literature. While it is simple and short at first glance, it tells the reader everything that there is to know about the story that they are about to experience; a tale of marriage and wealth. It was written by Jane Austen, one of the greatest and most widely known novelists of British literature, whose brilliance has captivated millions of people across time and space.

The beloved Jane Austen was born on December 16th 1775 in Stevenson, a small town in the county of Hampshire with no more than 250 inhabitants, as the seventh of eight children. Her father, George Austen, worked as a rector in the village’s church and descendent from a wool manufacturer. What is more, the Austen family was part of the gentry, wealthy upper class landowners who lived in rural areas. After having her first part of education at different schools, at age 11 she started studying at home, where her father granted her a similar tutoring as her brothers; a privilege very few women had at the time.

Ever since she was born, Austen and her family enrolled in theatre productions within their own community, which sparked Jane’s interest towards literature and inspired her to start writing plays from a really young age. During her childhood and teenage years, she invented a collection of short stories and poems called Juvenilia. Furthermore, she wrote 6 main novels during her lifetime; Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815), Northanger Abbey and Persuasion (both written in 1817 and released posthumously). Jane published them anonymously, as being a female writer was not viewed favourably by society at the time and the major role of women was getting married for the sake of economic factors and having offsprings.

The time of history in which the author lived was the Georgian period in England (1714-1837), named after the reigns in which kings George I, George II, George III and George IV ruled the country. British colonies in America were lost and there was a big uncertainty about the French Revolution, but the Industrial Revolution was arguably its paramount event. During this period, machinery started being utilised for industry, which made product manufacturing quicker and more effective. Workers for these new factories required to be very skilled and, consequently, they were paid a higher salary than other types of workers. Before this time, there were only 2 social classes; the upper and lower classes, but due to the workers’ income, the middle class emerged. 

All of Jane Austen’s novels featured characters that were both from upper and middle class families, as well as witty female protagonists and a characteristic style defined by the frequent use of sarcasm, humour and satire as a critic of society at the time and sentimental novels. Her books reflected how she perceived the kinds of people and actions she saw in her environment, especially the economic interests that were inside marriages and how dependent women were of them and men. However, this did not prevent her from writing love stories in the unions of her characters, which is by no means a reflection of what always happened in real life, as this quote suggests: “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.” –Pride and Prejudice, 1813.

Jane Austen passed away on 17th July 1817, at the young age of 41, due to Addison’s Disease and, contrary to what her novels may suggest, she never got married.

All in all, Jane Austen’s work has been substantially influential for literature and her books are a timeless portrayal of what people were like at the time. That is the reason why, even today, her words are still alive inside of the minds and hearts of many people and why she is still read; the feelings of love that she talks about are still relatable to modern day readers and her messages understood in spite of time. 

Sources

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. 1813.

“Best Jane Austen quotes.” Penguin Books, https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2019/07/15-best-jane-austen-quotes. 

“Georgian England | 18th-century History & Culture.” Britain Express, https://www.britainexpress.com/History/Georgian_index.htm. 

“Georgian society in Jane Austen's novels.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_society_in_Jane_Austen%27s_novels#Women's_occupations. 

Gillespie, Iseult. The wicked wit of Jane Austen. TED-Ed, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSL55lOwznU&ab_channel=TED-Ed. Youtube.

“History - Jane Austen.” BBC, https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/austen_jane.shtml.

“An Introduction to Georgian England.” English Heritage, https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/georgians/. 

“Jane Austen » JASNA.” Jane Austen Society of North America, https://jasna.org/austen/. 

The Jane Austen Society UK. “The Jane Austen Society UK.” The Jane Austen Society UK, https://janeaustensociety.org.uk/. 

Mayo Clinic. “Addison's disease - Symptoms and causes.” Mayo Clinic, 24 November 2020, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/addisons-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20350293. 

Tomalin, Claire, and Jane Austen. “Jane Austen.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen. 

White, Matthew. “Georgian society.” The British Library, https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/themes/georgian-society. 

Drummond, Jane. History 4. Santillana Educación, 2016.