Jane Austen - Creativity and Writing
Jane Austen (1775-1817)
English novelist (pictured right).
She lived most of her life in Hampshire, where her father was a Church of England minister.
Her books are seen consistently on film and TV.
Her most famous books are...
Sense and
Sensibility (1811).
Pride and
Prejudice (1813).
Emma (1815).
Persuasion (1818).
Why was she so creative?
1. Inspiration and perspiration
She got moments of inspiration from her:
- daydreaming (e.g. about possible husbands).
But often her writing was hard work, and she wished that her ideas “would flow as fast as the
rain”.
All her great books were re-written and edited several times
Only Emma was written with confident speed.
2. Patience
She spent many years writing before her first novel, Sense and Sensibility, was published in
1811.
It was sold for 75p ($1) in three volumes!
Her best books also took years to be published
Northanger Abbey was published in 1817, 14 years after it was first
sent to a publisher!
3. Determination
She overcame:
- unreasonable criticism of her work (with humour).
- depression (which she fought all her life).
She had the courage to continue writing, even when she was depressed or dying.
4. Happiness
She wrote best, when she was happy, particularly in her family’s first home (pictured right) in a lovely
rural village, Steventon in Hampshire.
It was an ideal place to think and remove herself from reality into the world of her imagination.
Her family’s move to Bath in 1801 and subsequent depression stopped her writing for 10
years until 1809.
5. Originality
Despite critical reviews of her books, she stuck to her own way of writing.
“I must keep to my own style and go on in my own way”, she wrote in 1816.
She didn’t copy anyone else, but used different styles for different books.
6. Reading
From childhood, she:
- got many ideas from books.
The title, Pride and Prejudice, came
from a book she read after the she discovered her first title (First Impressions) had been
used by somebody else.
7. Love of writing
She didn’t make much money from writing, despite the success of Pride and Prejudice.
But she:
- was always totally absorbed in her work.
She said of Sense and
Sensibility:
“I can no more forget it than a mother can forget her sucking child”.
Writing was more important to her than fame (she wrote under the anonymity of a pseudonym).
8. Experience
She wrote of the world she knew in middle class, rural England.
Her heroines often reflected her own character
- Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and
Prejudice, had her wit, intelligence and restless spirit (played by Keira Knightley, pictured
right, in the 2005 film).
- Fanny Price in Mansfield Park had her solemnity
- Emma Woodhouse in Emma had her
pride.
But Anne Elliot in Persuasion came closer to her than anybody else.
9. Leisure
She always made time for the people she loved, particularly her sister, Cassandra (pictured
right).
10. Natural talent
She was only 15 when she wrote her first great book, Love and Friendship.
Key quote on
success
We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend it, than any other can be, Mansfield
Park
Key quotes on
happiness
A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of, Mansfield Park.
Why not seize the pleasure at once? How often happiness is destroyed by preparation, foolish
preparation!, Emma.
Key quotes on
knowledge
The most valuable knowledge we could any of us acquire - the knowledge of ourselves and of our duty,
Mansfield Park.
Where an opinion is general, it is usually correct, Mansfield Park.
Key quote on influencing
people
There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart, Emma.
Key quote on
friendship
Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love, Northanger
Abbey.
Key quote on careers and
work
I am afraid that the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety, Sense and
Sensibility.
Key quote on men
If there is anything disagreeable going on, men are always sure to get out of it,
Persuasion.
|