Jane Austen

1. Jane Austen And the politics of gender December 16, 1776 – July 18, 1817

2. Family: Large extended family The seventh of eight children born to the Anglican rector of Steventon Had a very close lifelong friendship with her sister Cassandra and with her cousin Eliza (christened Betsy) Hancock The Leighs (mother) had connections to aristocracy and her mother’s uncle was the master of Balliol, Oxford The Brother’s: George was handicapped and lived within the village, away from the family Edward was adopted by wealthy relations but continued to be educated at Steventon Francis and Charles went into the Navy (Francis ended as Royal Admiral) Henry, Jane’s favorite, had some misadventures (his bank crashed); he went into the church

3. Early Life Steventon was a small country village The children had ponies, the family kept a farm, a cow and ducks Her father was deeply in debt and supplemented their income with sales of produce, and by taking in male pupils The children were all sent into the village to be raised by a nurse for their first few years She and Cassandra were sent away to boarding schools when she was 7, but back home for good in 1786 Nevertheless, the family was close; Jane especially close with her father, who appreciated and encouraged her early writing James had an interest in theater and engaged in elaborate home productions in the barn Relatives often visited for extended stays

4. Further Life and Works At 15, she wrote History of England from the reign of Henry the 4th to the death of Charles I, by a partial, prejudiced and ignorant historian, a satire on Goldsmith’s History, similar in nature to Wollstoncraft’s response to Burke. This is typical of her wit and reflects the gender divide of the family politics: The men largely supporting the current Hanoverian regime while women identified with the Stuarts. Jane’s stated intent however was to exonerate Mary Queen of Scots and basically skewer Elizabeth. By 1789 she writes Love and Friendship (a dark satire), followed by Susan, a novel told through letters In 1795, Jane meets Tom Lefroy, a law student from Ireland. They form an attachment but, being penniless, are separated by his family. She never sees him again and never marries. By 1796 she writes Elinor and Marianne followed by First Impressions which later becomes Pride and Prejudice. 1800 sees the family suddenly moving to Bath, much to Jane’s apparent dismay, who is said to have fainted at the announcement. After this move, there are intermittent periods of unsettlement and family involvements until she is finally settled at Chawton Cottage in 1808 at which time she began revising Sense and Sensibility.

5. List of Published Works 1811 Sense and Sensibility 1813 Pride and Prejudice 1814 Mansfield Park 1815 Emma 1818 Northanger Abbey (posthumous) 1818 Persuasion (posthumous) Other Works 1793, 1800 Sir Charles Grandison(adaptation of an abandoned early play) 1794, 1805 Lady Susan 1804 The Watsons (unfinished) 1815 Plan of a Novel 1817 Sanditon(unfinished) Three volumes of her Juvenilia are also available

6. Reactions Jane’s books were generally well received, although Northanger Abbey was held by the original publisher for ten years before she bought it back, revised it and eventually it was published. Her brother Henry often acted as her agent, and the success of Pride and Prejudice, in particular, gave Jane money that she did not have to thank anyone else for. The Critics The contemporary critics I’ve seen are positive although they gloss over the real actions of her heroines, who are consistently intelligently reviewing their situations and are forthright and often even forceful in their pursuit of their goals. She is lauded for being “genteel” and “Christian”. (Although the review of Emma in Augustan Review of May 1816 took her to task for too much similarity in her heroines). Bronte later took her to task for a perceived lack of passion in her heroines. (!)

7. Some Political Notes Inheritance Throughout Jane Austen’s life and family history, we see the disenfranchisement of women, in particular through the inheritance laws, which left widows and children alike at the whim of the executors of wills. First sons The Glorious Revolution, with it’s compromise of primogeniture for the monarchy occurred while the middle class largely adopted it, and men gained more power in the home. Ruth Perry called this “the great disinheritance”. Jane While Austen is generally seen as distant from the politics of her time (other than her juvenile “History”), a review of the conditions and actions of her heroines I believe place her into the ranks of quiet feminism. (I do not, as most do with Jane, conflate her quiet sensibilities and responsible nature with docility). Anne and Mrs. Croft, as well as Jane the unmarried author herself, are strong enough evidence.