Her Childhood and Later Life

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 in Hampshire, England. She was raised with seven other siblings, and was the third youngest in her family. Jane's brothers and sisters whom she was close to were later used as inspiriation in her writings. Eduacation and creativity were extremely important in the Austen family, and Jane always spent the most time in the family library reading anything she could get her hands on. For creativity, the Austen family would write plays and reenact them. Their father always supplied writing supplies for his family to express their creativity as well. Jane grew up in a well-raised family and got along with everybody in her family. In December of 1795, Jane met a man named Tom Lefroy. The pair spent many time together and Jane admitted to being in love with him to her sister Cassandra. Eventually, however, Tom was sent away by his family to finish his school and they never saw each other again. In December of 1802, Harris Bigg-Wither proposes to Jane and she accepts. She feels no love or emotion for him, however she marries into him to make sure her family is provided for and taken care of. Jane Austen creates many of her characters and storylines through her experiences and people whom she grew up around. In 1805, Jane's father dies and she is hit hard as a toll. In 1816, Jane Austen began to grow ill over time, but tried not to pay attention to it so that she could finish her works. At age 42 she was confined to bed rest for being so ill. Sometime before her death, Jane was taken to Winchester by her siblings to seek help for her illness. On July 18th, 1817, Austen's ailing health finally took over and she took her last breath.

MLA Citations:

"Jane Austen Biography." JaneAusten.org. N.p., 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2010. http://www.janeausten.org/jane-austen-biography.asp.

"Biogrpahy: Life (1775-1817) and Family." Pemberley. The Republice of Pemberley, 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2010. .