Influence On Jane Austen's Life

Jane Austen was not known for her interesting or memorable life. Many label her life as “uneventful” or “dull.” The stories she creates in her novels seem as if they couldn’t be any more different from her own life. Jane Austen’s novels are exciting and full of romance and adventure. Jane Austen never married, but she did yearn for a husband, someone for her to love. At first glance Jane Austen’s life had no similarities to her novels, but her experiences did influence her writing. Jane Austen was born in a town called Steventon on December 16, 1776 (Craik 187). Her parents were George Austen and Cassandra Leigh Austen. She had six older brothers, one younger brother, and one sister only a year older. The Austen was a family of the “lesser gentry”; they weren’t rich but the family had many connections that put them at the same level of their richer neighbors (Shields 15). In 1801 there was an upset to Jane Austen’s peaceful life in Steventon. Her parents decided to move them to the city of Bath (Shields 98). It is suspected …show more content…
It is also very likely that she had no sexual relationships besides a kiss or two. Jane Austen does show that she has knowledge about sexual relationships in her writing though (Shields 195). When Jane Austen was 20 years old, she fell in love with a man named Tom Lefroy (Shields 57). They met a few times and bonded over books (Shields 58). Tom’s family wouldn 't allow them to be together, though. His family thought that Jane Austen wasn 't a good marriage prospect because she was unemployed and didn’t have a fortune behind her (Shields 59). Jane Austen 's most well know book, Pride and Prejudice (“Austen, Jane”), came from a period of unhappiness in Jane Austen 's life; it was written right after she was separated from Tom Lefroy (Shields 85). Pride and Prejudice has the ending Jane Austen wanted with Tom Lefory (Shields