It’s hard to believe that well over 200 years after their first publication, the six novels written by Jane Austen are probably more popular now than they ever were. And it’s not just because they are on the school curriculum or that they are perfect for transposing on to the big screen.

What makes her novels so popular is Jane’s wit, sparkling dialogue and keen observation of ordinary life. Whether it’s describing the dresses ladies wore to a ball, or who danced with whom and for how long, she could capture the ordinary and make it extraordinary.

Fiction Imitating Life

Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775, the youngest of a large family. Her father George was a rector. He and his sisters had been orphaned when they were children and had to depend on the support of relatives to make their way in life. When Jane’s father died suddenly in 1805, she, her sister Cassandra and mother, were at the mercy of her brothers for financial support and somewhere to live.

This uncertainty and dependence on relatives for basic survival surely shaped the memorable characters that leap from the pages of her novels. Characters such as Mr Collins, the rector who is dependent on Lady Catherine de Bourgh for his position in life, or his wife Charlotte Lucas, who was prepared to “settle” for Mr Collins because ,being no beauty, she thought him her only chance of marriage and having a home of her own.

In Pride & Prejudice, Jane and Elizabeth Bennet’s greatest hope is that they will marry for love and not because of financial necessity. Meanwhile, their mother is prepared to accept any approach so long as it means getting one of her five daughters settled. Time is running out because as soon as her husband dies, the family will lose everything. And this is a case of fiction imitating life as it is exactly what happened to Jane, her sister and their mother.

Position Of Women

This cruelty of life, especially towards women, is possibly best illustrated by the Dashwood women in Sense & Sensibility. Upon the death of Mrs Dashwood’s husband, her stepson inherits everything and he reneges on a promise to support her and her three daughters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret. They end up living in a cottage that’s owned by relatives with barely enough money to feed themselves. It’s only through making good marriages that they can escape this life of dependence and poverty. Contrast these concerns and uncertainties with the situation of Mr Bingley in Pride & Prejudice, who can rent out houses, host balls and live a delightful life on £5,000 a year. Or the options open to Georgina Darcy or Emma Woodhouse because of the huge dowries they would bring to a marriage. It’s no wonder Jane Austen was reputed to say “a large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of”.

Brief Fling

While Jane never married, she did have what might be termed a summer fling with a man from Limerick when she was 20. Tom Lefroy was the son of an army general and he was a month older than Jane. Alas, he, too, needed to marry for money and Jane just didn’t fit the bill.

Jane Austen left behind six novels and although she and her family found it tough to get them published initially, since 1833 they have never been out of print. She did not become wealthy from her writing but it did give her some financial independence.

Jane first became ill in 1816 and took no notice of it, but by the following spring she was seriously ill, possibly suffering from Addison’s disease. She died in the care of her devoted sister, Cassandra, and brother, Henry, on 18 July 1817. As to her legacy, well it has to be a wonderful array of characters that people continue to love and identify with 200 years after her death. CL