How Jane Austen's Life Influenced Her Books

#janeaustenjuly
In which I talk about Jane Austen's life and her books . . .
This video I did a while ago, with a brief biography of Jane Austen's life, may also be of interest: • The Life of Jane Auste...
Books Mentioned
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen: tinyurl.com/yc...
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen: tinyurl.com/y7...
Mansfield Park, Jane Austen: tinyurl.com/ya...
Persuasion, Jane Austen: tinyurl.com/yb...
Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen: tinyurl.com/yc...
Emma, Jane Austen: tinyurl.com/y9...
My Novels
The Trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hurst
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The Secrets of Hartwood Hall
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[@user-dt9qf8ux8b]

I am currently reading Jane and Dorothy: A True Tale of Sense and Sensibility by Marian Veevers. The book is a biography of Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth. I am seeing some of the same "themes" that you mention as I read this book. I appreciate your reminder that Jane Austen had a wonderful imagination and an amazing wit that was apparent in her juvenilia. It is truly probable that her life influenced her art in ways that you suggest - but also so important to remember that her talent was there from the get go as you do!! Thank-you for making this video. What a fun way to start my day and my week.

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks very much!

[@clarepotter7584]

Frank Churchill and John Willoughby are interesting characters, in the way that they are trying to please those who hold the purse strings for their future finance.

[@LuminousLibro]

I always think about Jane and Cassandra when I read about the sisters in S&S! Such a close relationship, despite having very different personalities.

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

I think there's a great difference between a reductive assumption that everything in an author's fiction must reveal their life or even their opinions, and enjoying what some knowledge of their life and times can bring to reading their work. Lovely video thank you.

[@katiejlumsden]

Very true :)

[@ExtraT82]

Some great achievements Kat, well done, and really love this reset idea

[@sandrahollins3520]

I enjoyed your video with some really fun ideas! Thank you.

[@larrymilliken288]

Jane Austen’s imagination is mirrored in your own creative mind, which has produced two lovely novels for us to enjoy! Even the premise you proposed in the video was sparked by your own creativity. Surely all of life’s experiences shape and mold everything we do. This was a fun video, Katie, thanks for giving us another angle to consider when reading authors we enjoy.

[@Amelia-vn5yb]

I enjoyed this video. Thank you!!

[@lindseyreads5450]

This was brilliant! ❤

[@mayraviscarroferrer]

Amazing video!❤

[@timgillam7964]

I was surprised to learn when I visited the Jane Austen Centre in Bath last year that she predeceased all of her siblings, many of whom lived into their 70s. I am tempted to imagine an alternate world in which Jane Austen lives into her 70s as well and becomes a Victorian author

[@katiejlumsden]

I know - I think about this a lot, too. One of her brothers even lived to 91!

[@KpopLovingPenguiin]

This is such an interesting und informative idea! I always loved to know more about what influenced her work :)

[@jillellert3319]

I really loved the information you presented, Katie. (and I never think you ramble!)

[@jonathanparks207]

You say Fanny stopped writing thanks to her marriage. However, she did have a niece who picked up the pen mainly thanks to being married and having to provide an income for her family after her husband had to be committed. She even went on to write a complete novel out of Jane's unfinished novel The Watsons. There is no telling what effect marriage might have had on Jane's writing.

[@katiejlumsden]

I meant Anna Austen, later Anna Lefroy? And yes, there is no telling - it's just a pet peeve of mine when people say it's sad that Jane Austen never got married, as though her amazing novels aren't enough of a fantastic thing to produce in life. I made a video about this nearly a whole decade ago! kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3_bhGigmsSIa9U

[@stephenn3727]

Thank you Katie!

[@erika20099]

Hi, Katie, thank to you, I've found out pan mcmillian collectors' library. 😊

[@MLLatUtube]

This was definitely interesting! A lot to think about.

[@lorrainetaylor9852]

This was great! I’m just about to start the Claire Tomalin biography.

[@prairierose1115]

Great video. Thanks!

[@franciscaesteva3930]

Simply lap it up.Love your videos.Thank you

[@KierTheScrivener]

I love finding out about author's personal lives, but I am more interested in the context/influences of their life than the 'this is a secretive fact.' So this is great. I don't know if Katie is a short form, but my mom's name is Kathryn, which is obviously a super common name and it would be weird to spell it that way, but I will use Katherine or Kate/Katie because I don't really associate it with her.

[@jamesduggan7200]

I wonder if many Kates/Katherines name their daughters Bianca?

[@katiejlumsden]

This comment did make me realise that I have definitely used the full lengthened version of my brother's name (which he doesn't really go by) somewhere in my writing 😅. I would probably also not find it weird to call a minor character Catherine/Katherine/some other name related to Katie.

[@LedgerAndLace]

I like what writer/director Nora Ephron said, quoting her writer mother: "Everything is copy." Comedians say, "Everything is material." I think the more exaggerated, embellished or ridiculous you can make it, the funnier. No one can know for sure if Jane Austen based a character or situation on reality, but it's fun to imagine! I definitely have references to people or situations as inside jokes with family and friends. Even in the middle of something awful happening, I can think, "Oooh, THIS is going into the story!"

[@GoldenPickled]

Just got a lot of 30 of the 2003 collectors library Barnes & noble editions. I love them so petite and light. My one gripe is the text bleeds through the pages it’s quite horrid actually.

[@kathleencraine7335]

Very interesting video, bringing up so many good points. I think I knew all these things, but didn't always relate them to particular characters or scenarios in the novels. Well done. Question about class: Where does Sir Thomas Bertram fit in the "class" scheme? Will his son Tom inherit the title as well as the estate?

[@renshiwu305]

Sir Thomas Bertram is a baronet. He is a member of parliament, but in the Commons, not in the House of Lords (also known as the "house of peers" - Sir Thomas is not a peer). Tom Bertram would expect to inherit Mansfield Park and his father's baronetcy. Tom's illness creates a reason for Mary Crawford to renew her interest in Edmund because, should Tom die, then Edmund would inherit Mansfield Park and his father's baronetcy.

[@kathleencraine7335]

Thank you.

[@katiejlumsden]

Yes, Sir Thomas Bertram is a baronet, like Sir Walter Elliot, and Tom will inherit the estate.

[@kathleencraine7335]

Thanks, Katie.

[@novellenovels]

I found this really interesting. I particularly love how her siblings influenced her books

[@katiejlumsden]

Me too.

[@markorr7125]

Jane Austen's parents had nine children. Poor forgotten George.

[@katiejlumsden]

George is one of the eight? James, George, Edward, Henry, Cassandra, Francis, Jane, Charles. Some earlier sources claimed that Jane was one of seven, ignoring George.

[@jonathanparks207]

I would say the closest you get to aristocracy is the dowager viscountess in Persuasion.

[@katiejlumsden]

Quite right - I forgot about her.

[@susanscott8653]

Jane Austen obviously knew the society she was part of and that would have influenced her work. She also sho wed through her characters how women's lives and social situations could change, often because they did or did not marry. Another thing which crops up in at least some of her work, are very young girls being led astray by men who are up to no good. I wonder if something in her life influenced that. 🤔

[@jamesduggan7200]

What is an educated man thinking when he selects 'Cassandra' as a name for his daughter? Perhaps it's a legacy of some sort, idk? On the other hand one hardly never encounters a girl named Pollyanna.

[@susanscott8653]

Cassandra was named after her mother. There were naming patterns to be followed in those days.

[@jamesduggan7200]

@@susanscott8653 Okay, tyvm. I was in fact curious : )

[@MikaelOdqvist]

Damn you speak quickly! its impressive. You need far less time to get across what you need to say. Thanks for the video, very interesting.