Jane Austen: The Woman Who Wrote the Heart

Her Literary Career, From Juvenilia to Masterpieces Jane’s major novels were published anonymously. Her first significant success was with Sense and Sensibility (1811), which was followed by Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). Then two additional novels — Northanger Abbey and Persuasion — were published posthumously.

Each book features clever but strong-willed women in conflicting stations of life, pulled between duty and desire. Her characters are seldom exceptional — they are average people with real-life problems. And the result is timelessness and a universality of appeal.

Her career was brief. Apparently, Addison’s disease or Hodgkin’s lymphoma shortened her life. But in only six finished novels, Austen transformed the literary landscape.

Specifically,there is no dramatic action in her works. Instead, these are dramas of small gestures, of the dialogue and social dynamics between the characters. Subtley, he turned into an art form.

Notably, her works lack dramatic action. Instead, the drama lies in small gestures, dialogue, and social dynamics. Subtlety, he elevated to an art form.