Summary and Analysis of The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things: Based on the Book by Paula Byrne
By Worth Books
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This short summary and analysis of The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things includes:
- Historical context
- Chapter-by-chapter overviews
- Detailed timeline of key events
- Profiles of the main characters
- Important quotes
- Fascinating trivia
- Glossary of terms
- Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work
The Real Jane Austen forgoes the style of a conventional biography, and uses personal mementos as jumping-off points to explore the life of the celebrated author of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and other classics of the British literary canon. The objects—a cocked hat, a vellum notebook, and a royalty check—illuminate various compelling aspects of Jane Austen’s life and personality.
Although early biographies suggest she led a quiet, uneventful life, Austen was aware of the realities of the French Revolution, the slave trade in the West Indies, and the Napoleonic Wars, and she was influenced by the people and events of her day. Whether traveling throughout England or writing in the comfort of her home, the real Jane Austen was a complex and driven woman whose work has been loved for generations.
The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
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Summary and Analysis of The Real Jane Austen - Worth Books
Contents
Context
Overview
Summary
Timeline
Cast of Characters
Direct Quotes and Analysis
Trivia
What’s That Word?
Critical Response
About Paula Byrne
For Your Information
Bibliography
Copyright
Context
In 2013, Jane Austen fans celebrated the two hundred-year publication anniversary of Pride and Prejudice. The Jane Austen Society of North America invited literary scholars to share fresh insights into the novel and hosted a ball in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Paula Byrne, the author of Jane Austen and the Theatre, marked the anniversary with a new biography.
Since Austen has always been a popular subject for scholars, she didn’t attempt another womb to tomb
retelling of her life. She decided to begin each chapter using drawings of Georgian artifacts that were significant to Austen. The objects—including an ivory miniature, an East Indian shawl, and a royalty check—served as starting points for each of Byrne’s essays.
After Austen’s death in 1817, her brother Henry wrote a Biographical Notice of the Author
in Northanger Abbey and Persuasion that set the tone for future biographies. Henry, a clergyman by this time, focused on Austen’s piety and usefulness. He claimed that her life had been uneventful. For Byrne, the artifacts embodied another Jane Austen. Although she never left England, Austen was worldly and linked to important events like the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars through her family. According to this biography, the real Jane Austen was a keen observer of human behavior who had a passionate desire to write for a living.
Overview
Jane Austen knew she wanted to be a writer when she was just twelve. She kept vellum notebooks with stories satirizing the popular Gothic and sentimental novels of the Georgian period. Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa and Pamela were among her favorites. She was also deeply influenced by contemporary woman writer Fanny Burney. The author of Cecilia challenged readers—who expected female protagonists to be beautiful and flawless—with imperfect heroines.
Although Austen’s brother Henry characterized her life as uneventful, she traveled extensively throughout England. It wasn’t possible for Austen to go to Europe because of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, but she had brothers in the Royal Navy and the Oxfordshire Militia who kept her informed.
Austen never married, but she did not lack suitors. Since she never kept a diary or wrote a memoir, it’s impossible to tell who, if anyone, was the great love of her life. Some critics think an Irishman named Tom Lefroy broke her heart, but she wasn’t passionate about him in her letters to Cassandra. According to a niece, Austen was supposedly in love with a clergyman who died unexpectedly. After her sister Cassandra’s fiancé died in the West Indies, Austen seemed less motivated to find a husband. She was deeply