Jane Austen（1775—1817）

      Jane Austen, (born December 16, 1775, Steventon, Hampshire, England—died July 18, 1817, Winchester, Hampshire), English writer who first gave the novel its distinctly modern character through her treatment of ordinary people in everyday life. She published four novels during her lifetime: Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815). In these and in Persuasion and Northanger Abbey (published together posthumously, 1817), she vividly depicted English middle-class life during the early 19th century. Her novels defined the era’s novel of manners, but they also became timeless classics that remained critical and popular successes two centuries after her death.

    Jane Austen was born in the Hampshire village of Steventon, where her father, the Reverend George Austen, was rector. She was the second daughter and seventh child in a family of eight—six boys and two girls. Her closest companion throughout her life was her elder sister, Cassandra; neither Jane nor Cassandra married. Their father was a scholar who encouraged the love of learning in his children. His wife, Cassandra (née Leigh), was a woman of ready wit, famed for her impromptu verses and stories. The great family amusement was acting.

    Jane Austen’s lively and affectionate family circle provided a stimulating context for her writing. Moreover, her experience was carried far beyond Steventon rectory by an extensive network of relationships by blood and friendship. It was this world—of the minor landed gentry and the country clergy, in the village, the neighbourhood, and the country town, with occasional visits to Bath and to London—that she was to use in the settings, characters, and subject matter of her novels.

  简·奥斯汀（Jane Austen，1775年12月16日—1817年7月18日），英国女小说家，主要作品有《傲慢与偏见》、《理智与情感》等。

  简·奥斯汀21岁时写成她的第一部小说，题名《最初的印象》，她与出版商联系出版，没有结果。就在这一年，她又开始写《埃莉诺与玛丽安》，以后她又写《诺桑觉寺》，于1799年写完。十几年后，《最初的印象》经过改写，换名为《傲慢与偏见》，《埃莉诺与玛丽安》经过改写，换名为《理智与情感》，分别得到出版。至于《诺桑觉寺》，作者生前没有出书。以上这三部是奥斯汀前期作品，写于她的故乡史蒂文顿。她的后期作品同样也是三部：《曼斯菲尔德庄园》、《爱玛》和《劝导》，都是作者迁居乔顿以后所作。前两部先后出版，只有1816年完成的《劝导》，因为作者对原来的结局不满意，要重写，没有出版过。她病逝以后，哥哥亨利·奥斯汀负责出版了《诺桑觉寺》和《劝导》，并且第一次用了简·奥斯汀这个真名。

  1796年，20岁的简·奥斯汀遇到勒弗罗伊。  

  情窦初开的她对这个聪明狡黠的爱尔兰年轻律师一见钟情。然而，奥斯汀的牧师家庭希望未来女婿拥有经济实力，而偏偏那时的勒弗罗伊还是个穷小子。而拥有6个孩子的勒弗罗伊家也执意与富贵之家联姻，因此要求勒弗罗伊返回爱尔兰。从此两人便再没有相见。当年，奥斯汀在致姐姐卡桑德拉的信中表达了无奈伤心：“终于，这一天还是到来了，我将与汤姆·勒弗罗伊告别。而当你收到这封信时，一切都已结束。一想到这些，我不禁泪流。”后来，勒弗罗伊如家人所愿地娶了个大家闺秀，还成为爱尔兰最高法院首席法官。直至晚年，他才向侄子坦言，曾与一位作家有过一段“少年之爱”。

  初恋以被迫分手告终，奥斯汀选择终身不嫁，而将所有未了的情感注入文学创作。

  奥斯汀笔下的人物虽然都是虚构的，但却都体现了奥斯汀本人的婚恋观。奥斯汀生活的时代，社会、经济和政治的变化已经影响了各个阶层，当时的乡村贵族、地主青年在婚恋问题上也反映了文艺复兴运动兴起以后，资产阶级关于人性和人道的一些思想观。例如《傲慢与偏见》中的伊丽莎白充分体现了奥斯汀所向往的婚恋模式，伊丽莎白在和达西的交往当中，崇尚男女平等的原则，摒弃了传统的男尊女卑观点，并且认为高尚的情感是人们的正常需要。同时，奥斯汀笔下的理想婚姻除了平等、尊重以外，还有自由和理解，她希望以此来帮助人们摆脱传统思想的束缚，从而找到自我，实现自我。

Pride and Prejudice

     First published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has consistently been Jane Austen's most popular novel. It portrays life in the genteel rural society of the day, and tells of the initial misunderstandings and later mutual enlightenment between Elizabeth Bennet (whose liveliness and quick wit have often attracted readers) and the haughty Darcy. The title Pride and Prejudice refers (among other things) to the ways in which Elizabeth and Darcy first view each other. The original version of the novel was written in 1796-1797 under the title First Impressions, and was probably in the form of an exchange of letters.

      Jane Austen's own tongue-in-cheek opinion of her work, in a letter to her sister Cassandra immediately after its publication, was: "Upon the whole... I am well satisfied enough. The work is rather too light, and bright, and sparkling; it wants [i.e. needs] shade; it wants to be stretched out here and there with a long chapter of sense, if it could be had; if not, of solemn specious nonsense, about something unconnected with the story: an essay on writing, a critique on Walter Scott, or the history of Buonaparté, or anything that would form a contrast and bring the reader with increased delight to the playfulness and general epigrammatism of the general style".

《傲慢与偏见》（Pride and Prejudice）是英国女小说家简·奥斯汀的创作的长篇小说。

小说描写了小乡绅班纳特五个待字闺中的千金，主角是二女儿伊丽莎白。她在舞会上认识了达西，但是耳闻他为人傲慢，一直对他心生排斥，经历一番周折，伊丽莎白解除了对达西的偏见，达西也放下傲慢，有情人终成眷属。 

这部作品以日常生活为素材，一反当时社会上流行的感伤小说的内容和矫揉造作的写作方法，生动地反映了18世纪末到19世纪初处于保守和闭塞状态下的英国乡镇生活和世态人情。并多次被改编成电影和电视剧。