She was educated primarily by her father and older brothers as well as
through her own reading. The steadfast support of her family was
critical to Austen's development as a professional writer.From 1811
until 1815, with the release of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and
Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1815), she achieved
success as a published writer. She wrote two additional novels,
Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published after her death in 1817.
Austen had many admiring readers in the nineteenth century who
considered themselves part of a literary elite: they viewed their
appreciation of Austen's works as a mark of their cultural taste. The
publication of James Edward Austen-Leigh's A Memoir of Jane Austen in
1869 introduced Austen to a wider public as "dear aunt Jane", the respectable maiden aunt. Publication of the Memoir spurred the reissue of Austen's novels—the first popular editions were released in 1883 and fancy illustrated editions and collectors' sets quickly followed.
During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the first books of
criticism on Austen were published. In fact, after the publication of
the Memoir, more criticism was published on Austen in two years than
had appeared in the previous fifty. Author and critic Leslie Stephen
described the popular mania that started to develop for Austen in the
1880s as "Austenolatry".Around the turn of the century, members of the literary elite reacted against the popularization of Austen. They referred to themselves as Janeites in order to distinguish themselves from the masses who did not properly understand her works.Sequels, prequels, and adaptations of almost every sort have been based on the novels of Jane Austen, from soft-core pornography to fantasy. Beginning in the middle of the nineteenth century, Austen family members published conclusions to her incomplete novels, and by 2000 there were over 100 printed adaptations.
Early in 1816, Jane Austen began to feel unwell. She ignored her illness at first and continued to work and to participate in the usual round of family activities. By the middle of that year, her decline was unmistakable to Austen and to her family, and Austen's physical condition began a long, slow, and irregular deterioration culminating in her death the following year. |