Jane Austen Biography and Works.

Jane Austen (December 16, 1775 – July 18, 1817) 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 and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.

She was educated primarily by her father and elder brothers as well as through her own reading. The steadfast support of her family was critical to her development as a professional writer.

Her artistic apprenticeship lasted from her teenage years, until she was about 35 years old. During this period, she experimented with various literary forms, including the epistolary novel which she tried, then abandoned and wrote, and extensively revised three major novels. She also began a fourth one.

From 1811 until 1816, many of her books were released including Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816), she achieved success as a great writer.

She wrote two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818, and began a third, which was eventually titled Sanditon, but died before completing it.

Trivia

Biographical information concerning Jane Austen is famously scarce, according to one biographer. Only some personal and family letters remain as her sister, Cassandra, burnt ‘the greater part of the ones she kept and censored those she did not destroy.