Exploring Jane Austen's life, works, and literary style

Jane Austen's early life

Jane Austen was born in Hampshire and spent her life surrounded by her family. She was educated at home by her father, and showed very soon an interest for literature and writing. She wrote:

1. Sense and Sensibiliy (Ragione e Sentimento) (1811)

2. Pride and Prejudice (Orgoglio e Pregiudizio) (1813).

3. Northanger Abbey (1798).

4. Mansfield Park (1814);

5. Emma (1816);

6. Persuasion (1818)

She died in Winchester in 1817 and was buried in the Winchester Cathedral.
Her novels were published anonymously; her identity was revealed by her brother.

Austen's writing style

Jane’s style has to thank 18th century authors, because from them she learnt the deep analysis of the characters’ psychology and the complexity of the ordinary events of life. She uses the technique of the omniscient narrator and she brought her character into life using dialogues. She uses verbal and situational irony, and limited her view of the world to countrymen.

Austen didn’t care about passions but about characters even though she talked about theories about love, and wedding, in fact in her novel we can always find an happy ending.

Her treatment of love, and of sexual attraction agrees with the opinion that says that strong impulses and emotional conditions had to be regulated, controlled and put in order by a private reflection.

Heroine’s reflection after a crisis or a climax is a usual characteristic of her novels because understanding and accepting her feelings let her personal judge establish, and assure her a moral autonomy.

The Jane Auten phenomenon

During the years, Jane Austen passed to be a writer of the Victorian Age to be an icon and that is extraordinary if we think that it all happened in more than two hundred years after her death.
To be fair, a lot of authors, artist and creative spirits lived their life in poverty and misunderstood only to be rediscovered posthumous (let’s think about Van Gogh for example).
On the other hand, what makes the Austen case singular is the fact that not only her literary works were transmitted to the posterity, but also she reached, despite the distance created by the time and the death, to be perceived as figure near to her readers, as a mother, or better, an aunt.

As a matter of fact, readers feel understood by her stories because they talk about love, family, and social life in a sort of modern way. Everyone can be inspired and enriched by Auten’s words, wisdom and witty narration.

Jane Auten’s books have also inspired many films, television series, and modern adaptations with the result that younger generations could constantly exposed to her narrations and romantic tricks.
For example, only Pride and Prejudice was converted in film adaptations in 1940, 1949, 1957 and in 2005 while some miniseries were created in 1952, 1958, 1967, 1980 and 1995.

In addition, fandom enlarges all over the world quite rapidly because readers feel the need to discuss Austen’s literary works among them online or in presence thank also to the events and the festivals organized in her honour.

Since Jane Auten’s novels are considered classics they should also be studied as such in order to deepen our knowledge about her writing and avoid that her works will be twisted or interpreted in a wrong way.
For this reason, organizations like the Jane Austen Society of North America promote studies about her and scholars teach her at universities.