Jane Austen was born in 1775 in the town of Steventon in the county of Hampshire. She came from a large family with eight children of which she was the 7th. Her father was a rector, a position in society which allowed them to cross over the boundaries from upper to middle to lower class worlds. They lived comfortably in Hampshire until Jane was 25 years of age and Jane, like many of her characters was encouraged to read, think, express her views and write. Her education took place mainly in the home with tutors and the guidance of her father. She did attend school on a sporadic basis. This was a learning environment which was not common for most women of her age. At 25 her father retired and the family moved to Bath. As a child she began to write small notes and letters for her sisters to read and was somewhat gossipy in the presentation of the information contained within these works. She talked about fashion, relationships and people.  Austen's father played a central role in her development as a writer and her belief that she could become an accomplished writer. He attempted to get a publisher for her works but in 1805 he died. Austen remained with her sister and mother after his death and had a few suitors for her hand but never married. Her life was centred around her family as is that of the main character in her novels. She wrote about what she new best and her works are a delightful commentary

  of the social scene of her time. In 1809 they moved to Chawton and acquired a large cottage. In 1797 at the age of 20, Austen had begun work on a novel she called 'Elinor and Marianne'. At Chawton the name was changed to 'Sense and Sensibility and the format of the work changed from an exchange of letters to a narrative. The book was about the Dashwood sisters who had certain expectations and hopes of marrying for love and potentially position.  

The battle in their quest for a good and proper marriage struggles through the competition between emotions, desire, thoughtful analysis and misperception of personalities. This plot becomes the blueprint for Austen's novels which present slightly different circumstances and developments but maintain an objective of getting the heroine and her sisters married properly. 'Pride and Prejudice' was actually completed in 1797 under the title 'First Impressions'. This was one of her most popular works and was reprinted twice while Austen was alive.

Mansfield Park was produced in 1814 and in 1815 she completed her next novel 'Emma' which was the story of a snobbish young women who spends her time arranging matches for her friends, rather then her sisters as with the previous works. Although she was living through the period of the Napoleonic wars, she barely touches on it, rather concerning herself with the love relationships she meticulously builds from chapter to chapter. Her production continued with Northanger Abbey in 1817 and Persuasion in 1818 which was the last of her major works. Due to the difficulty of publishing novels, as a women, during that age, four of her novels were issued anonymously during her lifetime. She also fought an ongoing battle with her publisher who wanted to tone down some of the references in the relationships but Austen stuck to her guns and the works remained as written. Her original manuscripts show an uninterrupted flow of thought with few

 corrections or changes. She probably worked out in detail the plot and storyline before attempting to put the entire work to paper. Austen died at the age of 41 while writing her last work Sandton, which remained unfinished. Her burial in Winchester Cathedral was appropriate in that she very much admired the building according to her sister. Her brother Henry announced her authorship of the works after her death which seemed to make the fact that she had been a women a little more acceptable.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." - Pride and Prejudice