Who_is_Jane_Austen_in_the_novel?

=Jane Austen Biography=

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 in Steventon, Hampshire, England. She was the seventh out of eight children, and had one sister and six brothers. Jane had a mother and a father; her father was a reverend. The Austen family had a good amount of money, but they were not considerably wealthy. [1]

Jane's closest friend was her older sister, Cassandra. Cassandra and Jane were the best of friends and each others' lifelong friend and confidant. [4] They were inseparable; when their parents wanted to send Cassandra to the Abbey boarding school in Reading (1785-1786), they sent Jane along with her even though she was too young. [1] The girls were only taught at this school outside of their house for one year. Because their father taught live-in pupils, Jane and her sister received most of their education at home. [2] Despite this fact, Jane had a much broader education and sense of reality than most of her peers. Especially because of her father's extensive library, Jane took to reading a lot in her spare time. [1] This caused Jane to start writing short stories and poems for her family for their amusement. Her earliest known writings are dated from around 1787. [3]

Another reason that Jane was much more aware of the world around her than most of her friends was the fact that her brothers informed the rest of the family about what was going on where they were. Frank and Charles were officers in the Royal Navy, and Henry, Austen's favorite brother, was an officer in the militia as well as a banker. Austen visited Henry in London many times, and she was able to go to the theater, art exhibitions, and other social events. She also took her time in London to correct drafts of her novels. [2]

Back at home, Jane enjoyed attending dances and other such parties. There is little evidence of serious relationships that Jane has had with any men, however she was known to have had "mutual flirtations" with some men. One of which, Thomas Lefroy, couldn't afford to marry Jane; this being the reason why their relationship didn't last. Another man who had been in love with Jane had supposedly parted with her, planning on seeking her again, but then died. This incidence was revealed by Cassandra Austen years after Jane's death, and it is not known how Jane was affected by this. [1]

Early in 1805, Jane's father died, and the amount of money passed on to his wife and two daughters was small because he made most of his money through "clerical livings," which disappeared with his death. After this, Jane, her sister, and her mother moved to Chawton, where Jane continued her literary endeavors. She had to stop writing in 1817, however, when she became ill and had to go to the hospital for medical treatment. [1]

Jane died on July 18 (Youstina's birthday, haha), 1817 at the age of forty-one in Winchester, where she had been living since July of 1809. [3] The cause of her death was not known at the time, but it is believed to have been Addison's disease. [1]

Although Jane was read widely throughout her lifetime, she published all of her works anonymously! She published most of her works through the pseudonym of "The Grey Lady." Her authorship was made public after her death by her brother Henry. [3]

=Who is Jane Austen in __Pride and Prejudice__?= In the novel __Pride and Prejudice__, Jane Austen doesn't seem to resemble just one character. In fact, Jane Austen possesses characteristics of herself and her life that appear in some way through mainly four out of the five Bennet daughters. Furthermore, there are some qualities of Austen's family that are similar to the Bennet family in the novel. Actually, it is known that Jane took most of her plotlines from her life experiences and used her family, her sister, especially, as inspiration for her novels. Her heroines are focused, or thrust upon, courtship and marriage and their importance in a woman's life; Jane knew this importance also.

//"'Oh! single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls'"// (6). [6]

Mrs. Bennet, for example, is a character through which Austen expresses the ideas of the influence of money and wealth on marriage, rather than true love. This can be seen through the quote above. Mrs. Bennet continually presses Jane, Elizabeth and her other daughters into marriage and enforces the idea that marriage is the end-all-be-all of their womanly lives. Both Austen and her character Elizabeth realize that this is not true and search for true love, Elizabeth being the only successful one.

//"Mr. Bennet had very often wished, before this period of his life, that, instead of spending his whole income, he had laid by an annual sum, for the better provision of his children, and of his wife, if she survived him"// (292). [6]

Another way that Austen's family is similar to the Bennets is their social class. Growing up, Jane's family's social status was like that of the Bennet's, in that they had money enough for necessities as well as luxuries, but were not among those families considered wealthy. Specifically, the fact that Mr. Austen was not able to leave behind a lot of money to his wife and daughters greatly resembles the situation that the Bennets would be in if Mr. Bennet died (as referred to in the above quote).

Jane Austen never married (unlike our heroine, Elizabeth); neither did her sister Cassandra. Albeit, Jane's social life was active and she enjoyed many suitors and romantic encounters. [3] One romance that got pretty involved was her courtship with Harris Bigg-Wither; he proposed to her and she rejected him at the last minute. [5] This is somewhat similar to Elizabeth's relationship with Mr. Darcy in __Pride and Prejudice__:

//"'In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you...'// '//... In such cases as this, it is, I believe, the established mode to express a sense of obligation for the sentiments avowed, however unequally they may be returned... if I could// feel //gratitude, I would not thank you. But I cannot-- I have never desired your good opinion, and you have certainly bestowed it most unwillingly'"// (185-186). [6]

Mr. Darcy first expresses his love for Elizabeth and he implies his wishes to marry her. Then, Elizabeth rejects him, just as Jane Austen did to her suitor shortly after he asked her to marry him.

Another encounter in __Pride and Prejudice__ that resembles Jane Austen's incidence of rejection again involves Elizabeth and another one of her suitors:

//"'My reasons for marrying are, first, that I think it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances (like myself) to set the example of matrimony in a parish. Secondly, that I am convinced it will ad////d very greatly to my happiness...' 'You are too hasty, Sir. You forget that I have made no answer... I am very sensible of the honour of your proposals, but it is impossible for me to do otherwise than decline them'"// (103-104). [6]

Here, Mr. Collins asks for Elizabeth to marry him and is confident of her acceptance. She, however, rejects his proposal because she knows that she has no feelings whatsoever for Mr. Collins. Although this situation, as well as the previous one, don't quite coincide with Jane Austen's (because she did have feelings for her suitor), they show that there is a similarity between Austen and her character Elizabeth in that they have both rejected men who want to marry them.

//"'What say you, Mary? for you are a young lady of deep reflection I know, and read great books, and make extracts'"// (9). [6] //"Mary was the only daughter who remained at home"// (365). [6]

As revealed above, Mary is the one Bennet daughter who is book smart and deep thinking. Additionally, she is the only Bennet daughter who is not married off. These two qualities clearly reflect Jane Austen because Jane spent her life reading books as well as creating her own. Austen, too, was never married.

//"'[Lydia's] character will be fixed, and she will, at sixteen, be the most determined flirt that ever made herself and her family ridiculous'"// (223). [6]

This quote, spoken by Elizabeth, is a general description of Lydia Bennet. Of all the Bennet daughters, Lydia is definitely the most determined to have a suitor (or as many suitors as possible!) and to get married. She bases most of her judgments off of good looks as opposed to affection or wealth. Although Lydia's specific qualities are nothing like Jane Austen's, the two can be considered alike when looking very generally into the text and biography. Simply, Lydia is a quite social girl who engaged in many relationships, just like Jane Austen.

//"When Jane and Elizabeth were alone, the former, who had been cautious in her praise of Mr. Bingley before, expressed to her sister how very much she admired him"// (15). [6]

Jane Austen herself does not seem to closely resemble Jane Bennet. It is more the relationship between Jane Bennet and Elizabeth Bennet that seems to have been inspired by Cassandra Austen and Jane Austen's relationship. The quote above proves the closeness of this relationship. Jane confided in Elizabeth so much that what she did not say in front of the masses, she told Elizabeth in secret. This similarity can be made more clear when comparing Jane and Cassandra Austen with Elizabeth and Jane Bennet, respectively. Jane Austen and Elizabeth Bennet are both the younger of two inseperable sisters; Cassandra Austen and Jane Bennet being the two older.

Jane Austen has often been critcized for not having any worldly affairs in her novels, like the Napoleonic Wars; however, her life was her inspiration and her life was not focused or centered around events like those, but around marriage and social events, like balls and dances.

--Jane Austen
 * "For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn? Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery"**

=References= 1. "Jane Austen’s Biography: Life (1775-1870) and Family." __The Republic of Pemberly__. 2005. The Republic of Pemberly. 23 Oct 2007 <[|http://pemberley.com/janeinfo/janelife.html>] 2. "About Jane Austen." Jane __Austen Society of North America__. 25 Oct 2007. JASNA. 27 Oct 2007 <[|http://jasna.org/info/about_austen.html>.] 3. "Jane Austen (1775-1817)." __Books and Writers__. 2002. 28 Oct 2007 <[|http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/jausten.htm>.] 4. Cody, David. "A Brief Biogrpahy of Jane Austen." __The Victorian Web__. July 2000. 28 Oct 2007 <[|http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/austen/bio.html>.] 5. Merriman, C.D.. "Jane Austen - Briography and Works." __The Literature Network__. 2006. Jalic Inc.. 28 Oct 2007 <[|http://www.online-literature.com/austen/>.] 6. Austen, Jane. __Pride and Prejudice__. New York: Penguin Classics, 1996.