“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” – Northanger Abbey, 1818.
Two centuries ago, there came a woman named Jane Austen who changed the course of literature entirely with just six novels before she died at the young age of 41. Jane Austen is not a new name for those who love literature, she is quite literally worshipped, whilst her books leave one yearning for more; and for those who aren’t readers, know her as one of the most famous authors of all time.
Her works include phenomenal stories like Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park. The true magic in her stories lie in the fact that during 18th century, when women were subject to ridiculous stereotypes, she portrayed her female characters as an ambassador of courage through biting irony and realism that made them equals in social standing.
The writer gained immense fame after her death as most of her work was published anonymously. It was discovered that she had commenced anther book named Sanditon but unfortunately passed away before it could be completed. Fifty-two years after her death, her nephew published “A memoir of Jane Austen” sharing the story of the author’s career and life as a whole. This was received very well by an eager audience who were looking forward to knowing more about Jane Austen.
Her books, were ground-breaking in their use of literary realism and free indirect narrative style—modes that would become so commonplace in fiction that it’s easy to miss how experimental Austen’s books were in their time. Her stories live on even today as literary works of art, as there is a hard-core fan-base that lives in the imaginary world created by Jane Austen.