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Jane Mysten's Literary Characters Of Jane Austen

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Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 in the rural village of Steventon, England as the seventh of eight children to Reverend George and Cassandra Austen. Her father, Rev. George Austen of the Steventon Anglican parish, was an educated member of the clergy and the descendant of a family in the business of wool manufacturing. Cassandra, Austen’s mother, was a scion of great social status, whose ancestors founded St. John’s College at Oxford. Although they were people of modest means, the Austen family was socially well connected, and was considered to be one among several of the local elite families due to George’s status in the church. The Austen children grew up extremely close to one another. In particular, Jane was extremely close to her only sister Cassandra, who was two years her senior. A classic Austen family story by the two girls’ mother included the line that “if Cassandra were to have her head chopped off, Jane would demand that privilege too” (Concise Dictionary of British Literary Biography 3). Growing up, the two girls were roommates and best friends. Many scholars and historians conclude that Austen’s literary themes between sisters in her novels parallel her own relationship with her sister Cassandra. At the age of seven, Jane and her sister Cassandra left to attend Mrs. Cawley’s boarding school in Oxford. On a trip that the girls took with Mrs. Cawley to Southampton, Mrs. Cawley, and the girls became extremely ill from typhoid fever. Jane and

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