Jane Austen's Classic Novels

As has happened with many of history’s greatest writers, Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) did not earn the credit she was due until well after her death. Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, has earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature over the last 150 years. 

Austen’s romantic fiction was an interesting genre that belied the fact her writing was laden with realism and a scathing critique on society and the role women played in it during her life. Austen tried several different types of literary styles before settling on writing novels from 1811-1817, releasing Sense and Sensibility (1811), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). The novels highlighted the dependence of women on marrying high to reach a better social status and financial security.  

Austen achieved some success from these works, but her most famous work is Pride and Prejudice, which follows Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage among the gentry of early 19th century England. The story is still extremely popular today, making it one of the most popular novels in Western literature, and one that is often imitated by other novels or turned into screenplays.

Austen’s first published novel, and possibly the most romantic, is Sense and Sensibility. The story revolves around the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. The former is a sensible, rational girl, but Marianne is wildly romantic, which Austen both satirizes and empathizes with in the book. The novel depicts their different love lifes, and though it seems as though more of the focus is on Marianne’s tumultuous love life, the end of the book makes clear that Austen favored Elinor, who combined sense and sensibility. 

None of Austen’s novels belabor Austen’s point about society’s flaws more than Emma, her 1816 novel. The title character, Emma Woodhouse has such a high opinion of her own worth that it blinds her to the opinions of others. The story revolves around a comedy of errors involving Emma’s friendships and love life.

This edition of Jane Austen’s Classic Novels is specially formatted with a Table of Contents covering every novel and images of Austen.