fbpx

KidsKonnect

Jane Austen Facts & Worksheets

Jane Austen was an English novelist, popular for her six major novels at the end of the 18th Century. Her novels serve as critiques to the British Landed Gentry, a social class that is mostly comprised of landowners.

Search for Worksheets

Worksheets /People /Authors /Jane Austen Facts & Worksheets

Premium
Jane Austen Worksheets
Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version   Download sample

Jane Austen was an English novelist, popular for her six major novels at the end of the 18th Century. Her novels serve as critiques to the British Landed Gentry, a social class that is mostly comprised of landowners. Jane Austen’s novels feature plots that explore the dependence of women on marriage in order for them to be in favourable conditions in terms of social standing and economic or financial security. Her novels not only criticize a specific social class, but other types of novels, such as sentimental novels, which mostly rely on emotions.

See the fact file below for more information on the Jane Austen or alternatively, you can download our 23-page Jane Austen worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE

  • Jane Austen’s was born on December 16, 1775, in Steventon, Hampshire.
  • Jane Austen’s birth was considered late as her parents expected that she was to be delivered one month earlier.
  • Since the winter of 1776 was harsh, Jane wasn’t baptized until April the following year at a local church, with the single name Jane.
  • Jane’s father, George Austen, was a rector (a cleric who functions as an administrative leader) of the Anglican parishes (Church of England) at Steventon and near Deane.
  • George came from a well-known and respected family of wool merchants.
  • As children, George and his two sisters were orphaned and were taken in by relatives.
  • George met his wife, Jane’s mother, Cassandra Leigh, when he entered St. John’s College, Oxford.
  • Cassandra Leigh came from the wealthy Leigh family; her ancestry roots from Sir Thomas Leigh who created the hereditary title Baron Leigh.
  • Jane’s family moved to Steventon in 1768.
  • Jane had one sister, Cassandra, and six brothers: Henry, Francis, George, Charles, Edward, and James.
  • Henry was the first child but was sent to be fostered as soon he showed signs of being developmentally disabled.
  • Henry was followed by the birth of Cassandra in 1773, Francis in 1774, and Jane in 1775.
  • The Austens’ home, was a home where ideas were freely discussed.
  • Jane and Cassandra were sent to Oxford University in 1783.
  • Both were educated by Mrs. Ann Cawley, who also took them with her to Southampton when she moved there.
  • Jane and Cassandra caught typhus fever in the autumn and were sent back home.
  • Jane nearly died, so she was homeschooled after that.
  • In 1875, she and Cassandra attended boarding school in Reading University at the Reading Abbey Girls’ School.
  • They were taught by Mrs. La Tournelle whose passion was theater.
  • The school curriculum included spelling, drama, French, needlework, dancing, and music.
  • The sisters was forced to return home as the school fees were considered too high for them in 1786.
  • Jane developed her passion for reading as she had access to her father’s library and a library from family friend, Warren Hastings.
  • Historian Irene Collins states that Jane “used some of the same books as the boys.”
  • Jane’s father was very supportive to her passion for writing, and he was tolerant of Jane’s writing experiments.
  • George even bought her expensive paper for writing and drawing.
  • At the age of 12, Jane tried dramatic writing; she wrote three short plays during her teenage years.

EARLY WORKS

  • When she was young, Jane Austen wrote mostly for her family’s amusement.
  • The stories she wrote exaggerated the details of daily life. Common plot devices were parodied.
  • Academic Writer Janet Todd described Austen’s stories as “full of anarchic fantasies of female power, licence, illicit behaviour, and general high spirits.”
  • These early works (29 in total) were compiled by Jane into three notebooks. Jane’s work written between 1787 and 1793 is now referred to as Juvenilia.
  • A notable piece in this collection was Love and Friendship, a novel in letters that poked fun at popular sentimental novels.

AS A PUBLISHED AUTHOR

  • Jane Austen published four well-received novels, including Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, during her stay in Chawton.
  • Unknown to Austen, her novels were translated into French and published in cheaply produced, pirated editions in France.
  • Six major novels of Austen are Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion, and Northanger Abby.
  • Genre and Style
    • Critics refer to Jane Austen’s work as a critique of sentimental novels.

ILLNESS AND DEATH

  • Jane Austen was believed to suffer from Addison’s Disease, a long-term disease that made her lack in producing steroid hormones.
  • The disease that caused Jane Austen’s death was believed to be Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a type of cancer in the blood.
  • Austen died in Winchester on July 18, 1817, at the age of 41.

Jane Austen Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Jane Austen across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Jane Austen worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Jane Austen who was an English novelist, popular for her six major novels at the end of the 18th Century. Her novels serve as critiques to the British Landed Gentry, a social class that is mostly comprised of landowners. Jane Austen’s novels feature plots that explore the dependence of women on marriage in order for them to be in favourable conditions in terms of social standing and economic or financial security. Her novels not only criticize a specific social class, but other types of novels, such as sentimental novels, which mostly rely on emotions.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Jane Austen Facts
  • Not-So-Plain Jane
  • Austen Family Tree
  • Passion for Reading
  • Jane’s Best Qualities
  • Match the Novel
  • Classifying Characters
  • Georgian Society
  • Female Authors
  • Designing Covers
  • Plot of My Novel

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as Jane Austen Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, August 20, 2019

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

Related Resources