“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a large fortune, must be in want of a wife” (Austen, Pride 235). Jane Austen, a fictional writer from right before the Victorian period, integrated this philosophy into many of her popular novels. These novels explore the art of courtship, and how one is able to “secure an amiable companion” (Austen, Pride 305) for themselves. By exploring Austen's personal life, one is better able to understand what inspired her writing.
Jane Austen was born December 16, 1775 in Steventon, England. As the seventh child of eight, the second daughter of two, her parents already had much experience raising children. Austen's parents, George and Cassandra, loved and encouraged her, as well as her sister and five older brothers. Her father, a clergyman, was of lower social standing than their mother, “and only his prestige as a clergyman made the courtship possible” (“Jane Austen” Authors 56). Having only one sister, Cassandra, named after her mother, gave Austen the opportunity to build a friendship as well as a loving sisterly relationship. They got along so well, that “Jane was apparently much closer to Cassandra than she was to her own mother” (Locke 16). They shared a connection of both being engaged at one point, but neither married. Austen's five older brothers had a great impact on her writing, mostly due to their chosen professions. James, the eldest Austen child, “went away to Oxford University at the age of 14 in 1779, and was ordained a clergyman in 1781.” ("Biography: Life (1775-1817) and Family").
George, the second eldest, was mentally ill, and because “abnormal children were generally sent away,” (Locke 15-16) a distant uncle was paid to care of him. The third of six boys, Edward, was adopted by the Knights, distant relatives of the Austens, where he was able to begin “the process of becoming a wealthy gentleman” (Locke 37). Henry, Jane Austen's favorite brother, was bright and amusing, but not always successful. In 1815, after his business went bankrupt, he “eventually ended up a Calvinist-leaning minister” ("Biography: Life (1775-1817) and Family"). The two youngest Austen boys, Frank and Charles, were both sea-faring men. They “both entered the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth at age 12, fought in the British navy during the Napoleonic wars, and both eventually rose to become admirals” ("Biography: Life (1775-1817) and Family"). The six children remaining at home, as well as the parents, never had a need to search for amusement.
One such way the Austen family amused themselves was by presenting miniature plays, using some of Austen's original scripts, as well as popular plays of the day. Education was an important part of Jane Austen's life, especially what she was able to learn in her home. Austen's family instructed her and Cassandra to draw, act, play the piano, and other general arts. One way Austen was able to continue her education herself was through reading “both the writings of published authors and the works they composed for one another's enjoyment” (Locke 22). Austen and her family educated each other with intelligent conversations, as Locke explains, “the Austens feasted on words” (22). In 1783, Austen and Cassandra were sent to Mrs. Cawley, a distant relative, for schooling. But, “they were brought home after an infectious disease broke out in Southampton” ("Biography: Life (1775-1817) and Family"). Two years later, the girls were sent to Abbey boarding school in Reading. Austen was not considered to have been old enough to learn much, but was so attached to Cassandra, that she insisted on joining her. Although, it is not known for sure, Austen may have profited from her time at Abbey Boarding School, for she was able to start writing very young.
Austen started writing around age thirteen to seventeen and finished her first work, the Juvenilia, before she was eighteen. Presumably her most popular novel, Pride and Prejudice, was originally titled First Impressions, and was rejected by a publisher who would not even look at it. Another one of her popular novels, Sense and Sensibility, originally titled Elinor and Marianne, was the first of her novels published. After her death, in 1817, her brother Henry was able to publish two more of her works, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion. With seven books published in about 24 years, one might think of Jane Austen as somewhat solitary, but she was actually quite social.
Jane Austen greatly enjoyed dances and parties; in fact she adored anything social. Mrs. Mitford once stated that Austen was “the prettiest, silliest, most affected, husband-hunting butterfly she ever remembers” (Mitford, qtd. in "Biography: Life (1775-1817) and Family"). To support Mitford's statement, Kunitz states that “in her youth at Steventon she is described as having been something of a flirt” (Kunitz, Stanley J. British 22). Although she may have been hunting for a husband, her relationships were never quite ideal.
