Jane Austen: The Woman Behind the Novels

Romantic novelist = Romantic life
Right? Well… You be the judge.

It turns out, Jane Austen never was married. In fact, her life was a little like most of her novels… minus the happy ending. At twenty years old she met, and fell in love with, of all things, a poor man. The relationship ended suddenly however when both sets of parents saw the seriousness of the couple and, recognizing a bad match, sent the young man away, dooming the young lovers never to see each other again. Sounding familiar yet? But wait, it gets better; or worse, depending on how you look at it…

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

As the famously satirical opening line of her novel, Pride and Prejudice, so clearly states, a man of good fortune must be looking for a wife. So what events do you suppose unfolded next in the novelist’s life? You guessed it! A gentleman of good fortune began to come calling. He, in fact, proposed. I’m sure all of you Austen fanatics are drawing a parallel to the scene in Pride and Prejudice when the obnoxious Mr. Collins asks for Miss Lizzy’s hand in marriage. However, instead of flatly refusing like her character, Elizabeth, Austen accepted the offer from the man that she was completely indifferent to, and then decided the next day that she could not go through with a loveless marriage no matter how advantageous it would be for her family.

Jane died of an illness in 1817. She was 42 years old, and still single. Although Jane only published a few works during her short life, every one of them is treasured by millions. From her sensational arrangement of the english language to her vivacious use of humor, her novels will always be loved and cherished.


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