Sunday 16 December 2012

December 16

Birthdays


Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her realism and biting social commentary have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics.

Austen lived her entire life as part of a close-knit family located on the lower fringes of the English landed gentry. She was educated primarily by her father and older brothers as well as through her own reading. The steadfast support of her family was critical to her development as a professional writer. Her artistic apprenticeship lasted from her teenage years into her thirties. During this period, she experimented with various literary forms, including the epistolary novel which she then abandoned, and wrote and extensively revised three major novels and began a fourth. From 1811 until 1816, with the release of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816), she achieved success as a published writer. She wrote two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818, and began a third, which was eventually titled Sanditon, but died before completing it.

Major works: 
  • Sense and Sensibility (1811)
  • Pride and Prejudice (1813)
  • Mansfield Park (1814)
  • Emma (1815)
  • Northanger Abbey (1818, posthumous)
  • Persuasion (1818, posthumous)

5 comments:

  1. Jane Austin is one of my favorite authors because of her style and themes such as feminism and high morality. Her books are very simple to read but at the same time they possess a deep sense and sincerity.

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  2. Pride and Prejudice was my pleasure reading in V term and I liked it so much! The main character Elizabeth Bennet became my favorite heroine in the book. Austen wrote really interesting book which did not lose its importance even in the 21 centure.

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  3. Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about youthful hubris and the perils of misconstrued romance. The novel was first published in December 1815. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England; she also creates a lively comedy of manners among her characters.

    Before she began the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like."[1] In the very first sentence she introduces the title character as "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich." Emma, however, is also rather spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfied; she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities; she is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people's lives, and her imagination and perceptions often lead her astray

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  4. Robert Francis George (born 16 December 1945) is an English darts player and presenter. He is widely recognised as one of the game's biggest personalities, known for his flamboyant entrances in which the "King of Darts" makes his way to the stage bedecked in jewellery, wearing a crown and cloak and holding a candelabra to the sound of Queen's "We Are the Champions".
    George won several leading darts tournaments, appeared in two World Championship finals and was the first full time exhibition player. Since 1998, he has also worked for the BBC as a co-presenter and promoter of the sport during their coverage of various darts tournaments.

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  5. Jane Austen died 18 July 1817 at Winchester and was buried in Winchester Cathedral. Her death notice reads:

    "At Winchester, Miss Jane Austen, youngest daughter of Rev. George Austen, Rector of Steventon, Hants, authoress of "Emma", "Mansfield Park", "Pride and Prejudice", and "Sense and Sensibility."'

    The opinion that Jane’s fatal illness was Addison’s Disease, was originally put forward in an article by Zachary Cope in the British Medical Journal of 18 July 1964, (pp 182-83), which uses Jane’s own letters to find the symptoms. The article sees as conclusive Jane’s reference to ‘black and white’ patches on her skin – evidently characteristic of Addison’s. The Journal also printed F A Bevan’s response to Cope, on 8 August 1964, p394, which makes a case for Jane’s illness being Hodgkins Disease.

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