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DawgEnglish Wednesday, September 09, 1998Author Essay: Jane Austen- Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen was one of the most remarkable authors to ever lead such an unremarkable life. In her entire life, she stayed within a 150-mile radius of her place of birth. She was never even published under her own name during her life, and when she died, she was not ever considered to be great. Why, then, is she one of the most ubiquitously read authors in all of history? A look at her life and how her surroundings developed offers some explanation. Austen was born on December 16, 1775. She had four brothers and a sister. Jane attended the Abbey School in Reading, England. She was attached to her sister, Cassandra, with whom she attended the school. In fact, Jane’s mother is reported to have said that Jane was way too young to benefit at all from her schooling in Reading, and that she was only there because Cassandra was. This education was, in fact, the only tutoring she had from anyone outside of her family. Jane got most of her education from reading, and she had plenty of opportunities to read. She said once in a letter that her father had over 500 volumes to dispose of. The novels she read were mostly pre-Victorian, and much of this shows in the fact that much of what goes on in Pride and Prejudice would be considered very scandalous during the Victorian era. As a teen, Austen was published in magazines in the form of short satires. This writing was done purely for her own enjoyment, as was most of her work. Between 1795 and 1798, she wrote the original versions of Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice. Pride and Prejudice was originally published under the name First Impressions. It was most likely written in an 18th century type of writing that was called the epistolary novel. The epistolary form is a book that is sent as a letter. Austen’s father submitted First Impressions to a publisher in 1797, but the publisher refused to even look at the manuscript. Finally, Jane finished and got Pride and Prejudice published in 1813, 16 years after she started writing it.

Many symbols of Jane Austen’s time are evident in Pride and Prejudice. The letter was the most popular form of communication for her time. The characters in the novel are constantly communicating by letter with each other. In fact, etiquette stated that, if one were to receive a letter, it would be a definite error in judgement not to send a letter back in return. Austen was never known to be anything greater than ordinary. However, the themes in her works are timeless and powerful. Even the title, Pride and Prejudice, compels an image of two very distinct feelings that could conjure up vivid pictures in readers’ minds. Now, her works have been published in countless languages, and she is on many top ten authors lists. Austen died unknown on July 18, 1817. Her last words were, God grant me patience. Pray for me, oh pray for me. The first time that she was ever recognized as an author was in her obituary. Still, her work lives on and is still remaining very popular. Hopefully, her timeless classics will remain forever.