Austen, Jane - Life and Works

Jane Austen

She was born in 1775 and was educated at home. She loved reading but she was rather indifferent to Romantic poets. Her life was quite and she loved the English countryside.

She was a great novelist of manners, who lived in the romantic age without sharing its problems and characteristics.

Novels

Her best works were “Sense and sensibility” which portrays the striking contrast between two sisters, Pride and Prejudice, a faithful description of life and manners of the upper middle-class in the English countryside; Emma, the story of a young woman, representative of the rich rural gentry.
Other novels are Mansfiled Park, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.

She is a realistic writer.

All novels are set in the provincial world of England and characters come up from the middle class.

The novels are focused on everyday and real domestic life, and we seldom can find author’s comments.

Jane Austen is not sentimental, as a matter of fact she doesn’t like a marriage founded only on a violent passion; a good marriage is to be based on mutual understanding.
(The main element is the love, but not passionate and tragic love, but a polite exchanges between the two sexes.)

The dialogues are witty and simple, and she often uses the irony. She also gives great importance to moral rules: good manners, sense of duty, generosity.

Pride and Prejudice

The main themes are the love and the marriage. Austen satirezed the love because she told about the disperate research of husband at all costs. (whatever the cost)

It deals with the Bennet family living in a small village. The five doughters have no dowry and so it is difficult for them to make good marriage.

Elizabeth and her sister Jane met Darcy and Bingley, two rich noblemen. Bingley falls in love with Jane, but Darcy persuades his friend that a marriage based on enequal positions would not be advisable.

Mr. Darcy is attracked by Elizabeth, though he considers her family inferior in rank. But Elzabeth has prejudices against him, as she thinks that he is responsible for her sister’s unhappiness.

So, when Darcy makes a propose of marriage to Elizabeth, his words are so proud and offensive that she refuses him.

Then, Darcy thinks that his prejudice against Elizabeth is unjustifiable and overcomes his pride, as she has overcome her prejudice changing her judgments and feelings towards Darcy. So she finally accepts the proposal of marriage.

In the meantime, Bingley meets Jane again and, against all opposition, they get married.