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JaneAusten(1775-1817)Life&LiteraryCareer•BorninSteventon,England,inalocalparish'sfamily.•Educatedprimarilybyherfatherandolderbrothersaswellasthroughherownreading.•BegantowritewhileinherteensandcompletedtheoriginalmanuscriptofPrideandPrejudice,titledFirstImpressions,between1796and1797.•From1811until1816,withthereleaseofSenseandSensibility(1811),PrideandPrejudice(1813),MansfieldPark(1814)andEmma(1816),sheachievedsuccessasapublishedwriter.•Allherworkswerepublishedanonymously.•Diedbecauseofillness,unmarriedforthewholelife.LiteraryFeatures•RealisticStyle•Criticaloftheassumptionsandprejudicesofupper-classEngland.England,underherdescription,isfeaturedbyanestablishedandrigidsocialhierarchy.•Love&matrimonyaretwoimportantthemesinherworks.•Austen'snovelsalsodisplayanambiguityaboutemotionandanappreciationforintelligenceandnaturalbeautythatalignsthemwithRomanticism.Thestyleofherworks•Describetheviewsofthecountryside,anddonotcontainthebigsocialcontradictsinhernovels.•Especiallyfocusonthemarriageandloveandloveaffairsbetweenladiesandgentleman.EarlylifeandeducationAustenwasbornon16December1775atSteventonrectoryandpubliclybaptisedon5April1776.Afterafewmonthsathome,hermotherplacedAustenwithElizabethLittlewood,awomanlivingnearby,whonursedandraisedAustenforayearoreighteenmonths.In1783,accordingtofamilytradition,JaneandCassandraweresenttoOxfordtobeeducatedbyMrs.AnnCawleyandtheymovedwithhertoSouthamptonlaterintheyear.BothgirlscaughttyphusandJanenearlydied.Austenwassubsequentlyeducatedathome,untilleavingforboardingschoolwithhersisterCassandraearlyin1785.TheschoolcurriculumprobablyincludedsomeFrench,spelling,needlework,dancingandmusicand,perhaps,drama.ByDecember1786,JaneandCassandrahadreturnedhomebecausetheAustenscouldnotaffordtosendbothoftheirdaughterstoschool.Austenacquiredtheremainderofhereducationbyreadingbooks,guidedbyherfatherandherbrothersJamesandHenry.EarlynovelsAfterfinishingLadySusan,Austenattemptedherfirstfull-lengthnovel—ElinorandMarianne.HersisterCassandralaterrememberedthatitwasreadtothefamilybefore1796andwastoldthroughaseriesofletters.Withoutsurvivingoriginalmanuscripts,thereisnowaytoknowhowmuchoftheoriginaldraftsurvivedinthenovelpublishedin1811asSenseandSensibility.ThomasLangloisLefroy,LordChiefJusticeofIreland,byW.H.Mote(1855);inoldage,LefroyadmittedtoanephewthathehadbeeninlovewithJaneAusten:Itwasboyishlove.ThomasLangloisLefroy