Jane Austen (1775-1817) was an English novelist whose seminal works, inspired by her own upbringing as well as in the landed gentry, have influenced successive generations. She was the seventh child-out of eight-and second daughter of Cassandra (née Leigh) and the Reverend George Austen. She was bor...

Jane Austen (1775-1817) was an English novelist whose seminal works, inspired by her own upbringing as well as in the landed gentry, have influenced successive generations. She was the seventh child-out of eight-and second daughter of Cassandra (née Leigh) and the Reverend George Austen. She was born on December 16, 1775, in Steventon, Hampshire, England. Her parents were well-respected middle-class community members. Her father was the local Anglican clergyman and supplemented the family income by taking private pupils in the family home and parsonage. Her mother, Cassandra Leigh Austen, came from an aristocratic family and influenced Jane's sense of social class and self-worth. When they were young, Jane and her six brothers and sister were encouraged to read from their father's extensive library. With a romantic vein, but nevertheless a realist-known for her style and ironic humor as well as for her fascinating depiction of women's domestic roles of the early nineteenth century-Austen wrote "Sense and Sensibility" (1811), "Pride and Prejudice" (1813), "Mansfield Park" (1814), "Emma" (1815), "Northanger Abbey" (1817), and "Persuasion" (1818), all of which replete with memorable protagonists-as is Elizabeth Bennet, in "Pride and Prejudice."