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Reading Comprehension - Jane Austen

Jane Austen (1775-1817) was a prominent English novelist whose works are considered classics of Western literature. She lived most of her life in rural Hampshire with her family, including her sister Cassandra. Though she never married, she drew inspiration from her observations of society and social interactions to write novels such as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma. These novels are praised for their wit and commentary on the predicament of unmarried women of the upper classes in early 19th century England. Austen's works have only grown in reputation since her time and she is now considered one of the greatest English novelists.

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348 views4 pages

Reading Comprehension - Jane Austen

Jane Austen (1775-1817) was a prominent English novelist whose works are considered classics of Western literature. She lived most of her life in rural Hampshire with her family, including her sister Cassandra. Though she never married, she drew inspiration from her observations of society and social interactions to write novels such as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma. These novels are praised for their wit and commentary on the predicament of unmarried women of the upper classes in early 19th century England. Austen's works have only grown in reputation since her time and she is now considered one of the greatest English novelists.

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© © All Rights Reserved
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Jane Austen

Jane Austen (December 16, 1775–July 18, 1817) was a prominent English novelist

whose work is considered part of the Western canon. She stands as a model of the

writer whose apparently sheltered life did nothing to reduce the stature and

drama of her fiction.

She was born at the rectory in Steventon, Hampshire, her father being a

clergyman, and lived for most of her life in the area. She had six brothers, and an

elder sister, Cassandra, to whom she was very close. The only undisputed portrait

of Jane Austen is a coloured sketch done by Cassandra which resides in the

National Portrait Gallery in London. However, a full-length painting owned by a

family member, traditionally held to be of Jane as a teenager, is now increasingly

considered authentic by authorities.

Her brothers Frank and Charles went to sea, eventually becoming admirals. In 1801

the family moved to Bath; after the death of her father in 1805, Jane, her sister

and her mother lived with Frank and his family for several years until they moved

in 1809 to Chawton. Here her wealthy brother Edward had an estate with a

cottage, which he turned over to his mother and sisters. (Their house today is open

to the public.)

Jane never married; she was once engaged to a younger man, Harris Bigg-Wither,

but changed her mind. Having established herself as a novelist, she continued to

live in relative seclusion, and began to suffer ill-health. It is now thought she may

have suffered from Addison's Disease, the cause of which was then unknown. She

travelled to Winchester to seek a cure, but died there and was buried in the
cathedral. While her first novel, the posthumously published Northanger Abbey,

pokes fun at the Gothic novels of Ann Radcliffe, Austen is most famous for her

later works, which took the form of socially conscious comedies of errors. These,

especially Emma, are often cited for their perfection of form, while modern critics

continue to unearth new perspectives on Austen's keen commentary regarding the

predicament of young, unmarried, upper-class English women in the early 1800s.

The order in which she began and completed her novels is different from that of

their publication. Her novels were fairly well received when they were published,

with Sir Walter Scott in particular praising her work. Her reputation has only

increased since, and she is now considered one of the greatest English novelists.

Austen's chief gift was to be a close observer of human society and social

interaction. It should be noted, however, that almost every scene in her novels

features women, purportedly because she did not know how men spoke when not

in the presence of women.

Some contemporary readers may find the world she describes, in which people's

chief concern is obtaining socially prominent marriages, to be unliberated and

disquieting; however one should bear in mind that a "good marriage" was then the

only available form of social security other than degrading work as governess, or

living as hanger-on in a relative's household.

Her most famous novels are: Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice

(1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1815).

Questions about the text

1. Jane Austen's father was a clergyman.


True.

False.

We don't know.

2. Cassandra was older than Jane.

True.

False.

We don't know.

3. Jane's house in Chawton may be visited by the public.

True.

False.

We don't know.

4. Most of the characters in her novels are women.

True.

False.

We don't know.

5. In the world that she describes, marriage is not very important.

True.
False.

We don't know.

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