Jane Austen At 250: Why Her Stories Of Love, Choice And Equality Still Speak To Us |
The world of book lovers is celebrating the 250th birth anniversary of Jane Austen, one of the most influential writers of all time—she was born on December 16, 1775, in Steventon, Hampshire, the seventh of eight children.
There are Jane Austen Festivals and other events worldwide, featuring talks, performances, and exhibitions. Fans and scholars gather to celebrate Austen's life, works, and enduring impact on literature and culture. New publications, adaptations, and scholarly works continue to emerge, ensuring Austen's legacy remains vibrant (according to information on the net). This kind of love and admiration is rare for any writer to receive over two centuries later.
She expressed the thoughts, emotions and rebellions of women at a time when feminism was a blip on a distant horizon. Her reputation rests on six novels—Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1816), Northanger Abbey (1816) and Persuasion (1818)— though she also wrote some more stories. These six were such astute and empathetic portrayals of British society of her time that they resonate with readers till today; and audiences too, if the multiple film, TV, and stage adaptations of her novels are considered too. Not to mention the works of writers like Helen Fielding and Sophie Kinsella, inspired by her.
Austen's writing often explored themes of love, family, and social status, with strong, complex female characters. At a time when women’s social status rested on making a good marriage, with no other opportunities available to them, Austen's novels critiqued the........