Ministerul Educaiei Naionale

Colegiul Naional I.L. Caragiale

LUCRARE DE ATESTAT LA LIMBA ENGLEZ

CANDIDAT: Hodine AnaMaria

PROFESOR: Matei Mirandolina

MAI 2017
 Ministerul Educaiei Naionale

Colegiul Naional I.L. Caragiale

JANE AUSTEN One of the British Legends

MAI 2017
TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Argument________________________________________________________________4
2. Introduction______________________________________________________________5
3. Life and family ___________________________________________________________6
3.1. Family tree_________________________________________________________7
3.2. Seventon __________________________________________________________7
3.3. First steps__________________________________________________________8
3.4. Tom Lefroy ________________________________________________________9
4. Literary works ____________________________________________________________9
4.1. List of works_______________________________________________________10
5. Five interesting facts about Jane Austen _______________________________________11
6. Death and Legacy_________________________________________________________12
7. Final thoughts____________________________________________________________13
8. Bibliography_____________________________________________________________14
 1. ARGUMENT

Jane Austen wasnt known during her days. But now, in this century, you will hear about her
everywhere. When I was assigned to do this paperwork she was the first to cross my mind even though I
was a little insecure because I knew there wasnt a lot of information to present about her and her life but,
somehow, I managed to get this through and finish it. In the next pages youll see that I presented her life,
education, events that put a mark on her existence and what defined her.

She was an artist who expressed herself through writing, who gave her readers amazing
stories to think about and analyze. She was caught in her novels, poems and stories and even though she
had the chance to escape, she didnt want to. She was in love with her work and nothing else mattered.

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 2. INTRODUCTION

Jane Austen is a name that crossed, at least once, a persons mind. She was born on
December 16th, 1775 in Seventon, Hampshire, England. She wasnt very known during her time, but after
1869, her love novels gained popularity also her reputation skyrocketed in the 20th century.

The biographical information about Jane Austens life is little, but exceptions are made by a
few letters who survived and the biographical notes that her family members wrote. Also, during her
lifetime she wrote approximately 3.000 letters, but about 160 still exist. A big part of those letters were
written to Cassandra, Janes older sister. Cassandra burned a great part of the letters or cut pieces out of
some of them in 1863 because she didnt want the letters to fall in the hands of the relatives, giving the
fact that Jane had some forthright comments about the neighbors or family members.

Also, the situation was compounded because the next generation of Austens expunged
details about Janes biography.

Figure 1, 1 Letter from Jane to Cassandra

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 3. LIFE AND FAMILY

Jane Austen was the daughter of Reverend George Austen of the Seventon rectory and
Cassandra Austen of the Leigh family. She had six brothers and just one sister, named Cassandra whom
she was very close with along with Henry which played the part of Janes literary agent in the later stage
of her writing.

Her parents were well-respected community members. Her father served as the Oxford-
education rector for a nearby American parish. He came from an old, respected and wealthy family of
wool merchants. Over the centuries as each generation of eldest sons received their inheritances, Georges
branch of the family fell into poverty. He and his two sisters were orphaned as children and had to be
taken in by relatives. One of the two sisters, Philadelphia, went to India to find a husband and George
entered St Johns College, Oxford on a fellowship, where he met Cassandra Leigh (1739-1827). She came
from the prominent Leigh family; her father was rector at the All Souls College, Oxford, where she grew
up among the aristocracy. Her eldest brother, James, inherited a fortune and a large estate from his great-
aunt Perrot, with the condition to change his name to Leigh-Perrot.

Around 1763, George and Cassandra were probably engaged and so, George received the
living for the Seventon territory from the husband of his second cousin, Tomas Knight, who owned
Seventon and all the associated farms, one of which the Austens rented to live in. They married two
months after Cassandras father died, on 26 April 1764 at St. Swithins Church in Bath, in a simple
ceremony and they left for Hampshire the same day.

Their income was modest. While living in their first temporary residence, at Deane, Cassandra
gave birth to: James in 1765, George in 1766 and Edward in 1767. She kept her infants home for several
months and after that, placed them with Elizabeth Littlewood, a woman who nursed and raised children
from twelve to eighteen months. Also, Henry, Cassandra, Jane, Francis, Charles and Eliza were borned
but, in Seventon. Henry was a banker and later an Anglican clergyman besides being his sisters literary
agent. George was sent to live with a local family at a young age because he had mental problems and it
also was believed he may have been deaf and mute. Charles and Frank served the navy, becoming
admirals and Edward was adopted by his fourth cousin, Thomas Knight.

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 3.1. Family tree

Figure 2, 2.1 Austens family tree

Figure 3, 2.1 Jane Austens nephews and nieces

3.2. Seventon

In 1768, the Austen family finally moved in the residence in Seventon. Three years after
that, in 1771, Henry was born, followed by Cassandra in 1773, Francis in 1774 and Jane in 1775.
According to Park Honan, an American academic and author, the atmosphere in the house was open,
amused, easy intellectual (Honan, 1987, 211-212). The family had many visits from their family
members or neighbors. In the summer of 1770, Cassandra spent time with Georges sister, Philadelphia,
and her daughter, Eliza along with his other sister, Mrs. Walter and her daughter.

Between 1770 and 1780, Thomas Leigh visited them pretty often, inviting young Cassandra
to visit them in Bath in 1781. And from 1773 to 1796, George enhanced his profit by farming and
teaching four boys who entered his house.

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Figure 4, 2.1. Seventon Rectory

3.3. First steps

In 1783, at the age of 8, Jane and her sister, Cassandra, were sent off to boarding school, at
Oxford and they were cultivated by Mrs. Ann Cawley, who took them with her to Southampton, but, in
the autumn, both girls were sent home because they caught typhus, and Jane almost died. In their time
spent with Mrs. Cawley, the girls studied a foreign language (mainly French), music and dancing. After
their return, Janes education varied from home schooling to boarding school (which she did not continue
because the school fees were too high). Returning home, Janes education had in center her father and
brothers knowledge and, also, her fathers library where she and Cassandra would spend a lot of time
developing their creative side.

At the age of 11, or earlier, Jane started writing poems for her family in which she parodied
daily life. She later brought together 29 of her early works, containing her work between 1789-1793,
putting them into three notebooks entitled: Volume the First, Volume the Second and Volume the
Third. Among the works written there is Love and Freindship [sic], whom she wrote in 1790, at the
age of 14 where she mocked very known novels of sensibility. After writing the story, Jane decided she
wanted to write for profit, to make stories her central effort" (Honan, 1987, 93), meaning she wanted to
become a professional writer and right after that she started writing more long and sophisticated novels.

The first step into becoming a professional writer was made a year later. She wrote a parody
named The History of England which included illustrations drawn by Cassandra, and now, all the
writings (plays, poems, notebooks, short stories) from her adolescence are referred to as Juvenilia.
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 3.4. Tom Lefroy

Thomas Langlois Lefroy was a politician and a judge. He was born in Limerick, Ireland and
he had an outstanding academic record at Trinity College in Dublin. He visited Seventon during
December 1795 and January 1796 and he met Jane at a ball or at a neighborhood gathering and, from her
letter to Cassandra, it seems that the two of them spent some considerable time together: I am almost
afraid to tell you how my Irish friend and I behaved. Imagine to yourself everything most profligate and
shocking in the way of dancing and sitting down together. (La Faye, 2004, 92). Unfortunately, the
Lefroy family faced their relationship and sent Thomas away at the end of January. The two of them had
an impossible relationship giving the fact that marriage was impossible and, financially, Lefroy depended
on his great-uncle to invest in his education and career. He was kept away from the Austens and he and
Jane never saw each other again.

Even though, in November 1798, Lefroy was still crossing Janes mind, giving the fact that
she wrote letters about him to her sister, and she had tea with one of his relatives, she couldnt ask
anything about him.

4. LITERARY WORKS

After completing their formal education at the boarding school, Jane and Cassandra returned
home permanently and Jane started writing First Impressions. This writing, nowadays, carries the name
of Pride and Prejudice, one of the most popular novels. The first version was completed around 1799.

George Austen was always a supportive father and he wanted to publish Janes work through
Thomas Cadell, a publisher that lived in London. Unfortunately, Cadell immediately rejected the work. It
still remains unknown whether Jane knew about her fathers tentative of publishing her writings or not.

By 1798, she also completed the revisions on Elinor and Marianne by removing the
epistolary point of view and adding the third-person storytelling. After that, she continued to write but in a
more ambitious way and Lady Susan followed the new pattern that Austen created: a story about a
manipulative woman that used others to achieve her ideals.

Philarte Chasles was the first French critic that took Austen into sight but he discharged her
as a writer, calling her boring and imitative. Besides Chasles, Jane was ignored in France until 1878. In
the 19th century Austen had many admirers who considered themselves part of the literary elite and some
of them even compared her to Shakespeare.
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 4.1. List of works

Novels: Juvenilia Volume the Second:

Sense and Sensibility Love and Friendship [sic]

Pride and Prejudice Lesley Castle
Mansfield Park The History of England
Emma A collection of Letters
Northanger Abbey (posthumous The female philosopher
publication) The first Act of Comedy
Persuasion (posthumous publication) A Letter from a Young lady
Lady Susan (posthumous publication) A Tour through Wales
A Tale
Juvenilia Volume the First:
Juvenilia Volume the Third:
Frederic and Elfrida
Edgar and Emma Evelyn
Jack and Alice Catherine, or The Bower
Henry and Eliza
Other works:
The Adventures of Mr. Harley
Sir William Mountague Sir Charles Grandison (adapted play)
Memoirs of Mr. Clifford Plan of a Novel
Amelia Webster Poems
The Beautifull Cassandra [sic] Prayers
The visit Letters
The Mystery Unfinished fiction:
The Three Sisters
The Watsons
A beautiful description
Sanditon
The generous Curate
Ode to Pity

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 4. FIVE INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT JANE AUSTEN

1. She was engaged for one night, even though she never married

Harris Bigg-Whiter popped the question on December 2, 1802, when Jane and her sister
were visiting longtime friends, Alethea and Catherine Bigg at Manydown Park. He was five-and-
a-half years younger than Jane and he was described as very plain in person-awkward.
Austen changed her mind overnight, refusing the proposal the next morning and leaving
Manydown immediately. She chose to remain single and concentrate on her first love: writing.

2. She imagined her characters lives continuing after finishing a novel

Some of the most interesting revelations related to Emma, Mr., Woodhouse surviving
Emmas marriage to Mr. Knightly, but he kept his daughter and son-in-law at Hartfield for two
years. Also, her nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh confessed in A memoir of Jane Austen
that if she was asked she would tell precious details about her characters after the end of the
writing.

3. The surnames of some of the Austens characters can be found within the Wentworth family

Austen used Wentworth genealogy tree to inspire for some of her characters names while
writing Pride and Prejudice. Also, Jane used Wentworth family name in the novel Emma:
Robert Wentworth married a rich heiress Also, the Wentworth family crossed Janes family
tree. Her mother, Cassandra Austen was the great grandniece of Cassandra Willoughby and the
first Duke of Chandos.

4. She had an active life

On the outside, her life seemed simple, boring and quiet. In reality, she had a very active life in
which she traveled and met a lot of people and made social contacts of any type.

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 5. Austen took her writing very seriously

She began writing plays, stories and poetry when she was 12 years old and as she grew up
she contoured her writing technique. Austens family members performed plays for each other,
plus the comments that her family made about them, made Jane learn more about writing.
From the letters sent to her sister and other family members, its clearly that Jane was
proud of her work, enjoying discussions about her latest work or a novels progress.

5. DEATH AND LEGACY

At the age of 41, in 1816, Jane started having symptoms of what some say it might have
been Addison disease but she ignored the signs. As her illness progressed, she couldnt walk and she had
a massive lack of energy. She struggled to continue her writing in a normal place, editing older works and
starting a new one, The Brothers, published under the name of Sanditon. She got into the point where
she couldnt write anymore, putting down the pen on 18th March 1817. Jane Austen died on July 18, 1817,
in Winchester, Hampshire, England.

Figure 5, 5. House in Winchester in which Jane spent her last days and died

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 6. FINAL THOUGHTS

Jane Austen is now considered one of the greatest writers in English literature history. Her
transformation began back in 1920, when scholars began to recognize her works as masterpieces, this way
growing her popularity.

From my point of view, Jane Austen is, indeed, a masterpiece, she and all her writings and its
a shame that there is no more information about her life. But from what I know about her I can say that
she was happy and I think this is all that matters in a human beings life: happiness. She brought us
happiness with her novels and made us dream about them and what happened before they ended and she
was happy about it. She was happy with all her heart. She didnt need a marriage to feel complete; she had
literature, vision and stories to tell. Thats why she will remain one of the greatest British writers of all
time.

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 7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. http://www.biography.com/people/jane-austen-9192819
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen#Biographical_sources
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen#Steventon
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen#Education
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen#Tom_Lefroy
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen#Published_author
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen#Reception
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen#List_of_works
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen#Citations
10.http://www.janeausten.org/jane-austen-biography.asp
11.http://www.biography.com/news/jane-austen-biography-facts
12.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen%27s_family_and_ancestry#
13.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Jane_Austen
14.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Langlois_Lefroy
15.http://www.historyextra.com/article/bbc-history-magazine/real-reason-why-jane-
austen-never-married
16.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen#cite_note-31
17.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen#cite_note-Honan.2C_93-56

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