Jane Austen: Her Life: The Definitive Portrait of Jane Austen: Her Life, Her Art, Her Family, Her World

Park Honan's 1987 " Jane Austen: Her Life" is a long (400 pages) and in many respects an impressive biography of English novelist Jane Austen. Honan has done his extensive research, especially into the various Austen family archives that were available at the time of publication. He succeeds in firmly grounding Miss Jane Austen's life in the rough and ready context of her times. To his credit, he also largely resists re-interpreting Austen's life from a 20th century perspective. Honan is an aggressive biographer. His challenge is that of every Jane Austen biographer, to turn the very limited surviving material on her life into a rounded portrait. His willingness to push those limited biographical materials to the limits of interpretation will fascinate some readers and may infuriate others. Honan willingly dissects, among other topics, Jane Austen's youthful flirtation with Tom LeFroy, her short-lived relationship with an unnamed young man at a seashore resort in 1802, and her abortive engagement to Harris Bigg-Withers. His interpretation in each case is plausible but inevitably speculative to some degree. For example, this reviewer found Honan's explanation for her refusal of Harris Bigg-Withers to be insightful but dependent on assumptions about her state of mind and her sense of her obligations to her family that may be unprovable at this distance of time. Honan's chronological approach includes the continuing influence of Jane Austen's family on her life and her development as a writer. He mixes friendly literary criticism with an account of the production of her juvenile works and her finished novels. If "Pride and Prejudice" gets rather much attention, Honan does due diligence for "Mansfield Park" and the other novels, keeping each heroine in focus. He explores Jane Austen's complex relationship with her older sister Cassandra and her dependence on her brothers and their fortunes in life. His account of her final illness and death makes for very nearly heartbreaking reading. "Jane Austen: Her Life" is highly recommended to fans of Jane Austen. The casual reader will be deterred by its length, and it may not be quite the definitive account promised by the book cover, but it is an interesting, even fascinating biography well worth the effort.

This book claims to cover a great deal of new material, although I would have to say that it doesn't seem to me to add much to other biographies. I would guess that a lot of the new material relates to Frank Austen, since the biography begins, somewhat surprisingly, with a several page account of his entry into the Navy. I would therefore recommend it to Janeites, who will want all the details, but those who have already read a biography and are not terribly interested probably won't find that this rewards the additional reading. (I am among those who just love details, although this is a bit much even for me.) Previous biographers, such as Elizabeth Jenkins (Jane Austen: A Biography), have portrayed the Austens as a loving and harmonious family. Recent biographers have challenged this view, sometimes even arguing for serious tension between Jane and her sister Cassandra. Honan argues for a relatively harmonious group, with some normal dissensions. I give somewhat mixed marks to the writing. I find statements such as "The deepest purpose of her burlesques was always to ensure her freedom within the loving group of the Austens ... " (p.70) as unverifiable verbiage that adds little to the reading experience. I don't think that we needed several pages on the actual events of the Battle of Trafalger, although of course it adds to the general historical detail. On the other hand, Honan's reconstruction of JA's possible thoughts as she agonized over withdrawing from her engagement to Bigg-Withers are quite affecting, even if speculative. I don't think that I have ever read a more moving account of her courage during her last illness. The bibliographic citations are frustratingly uneven and incomplete. Previous biographers have pilloried Edward Austen (Knight) for his failure to offer his mother and sisters a home immediately after his father's death. Honan claims in passing that he did make such an offer and they declined it. There is no citation for this startling, and in understanding the interactions of the Austens, important statement! Honan also agrees with Valerie Grosvenor Myers (Jane Austen, Obstinate Heart: A Biography) in stating that Mrs. Cassandra Austen (JA's mother) was reluctant to get married, but neither cites a source! This claim suggests a number of interesting possibilities regarding the mother-daughter relationship and JA's own decisions regarding marriage, and is certainly important enough to require substantiation. One of the reviewers has mentioned that there are numerous errors in the book. I can't say that I was struck by them, unless the reviewer is speaking of difference in interpretation, but I can't claim to be any expert, either. Honan includes several family trees and the notes, such as they are, are arranged so as to be easy to find. There is an index, not as detailed as it might be. There is a useful review of materials and previous writings on Austen and related topics. Honan does not like

Park Honan (professor of English and American Literature at the Universiy of Leeds in England) wrote "Jane Austen: Her Life" in the late 1980's. At the time he wrote his book, he had access to much new material including a treasure trove of letters written by various folks who knew Ms. Austen. Mr. Honan has included an impressive bibliography in his book which should keep one reading for years to come. Honan says Ms. Austen understood the current affairs of her time and he provides ample documentation to substantiate this assertion. He also suggests her knowledge of current events is reflected in her writing, albeit thinly disguised. Although Austen lead a somewhat sheltered life as the daughter of an English vicar, she lived in exciting times. Napolean was at his height, the Revolution in France and subsequent 'Reign of Terror' kept English on pins and needles, thirteen of England's 23 American colonies had revolted and created a new nation that had sided with the French, and the aristocracy was in turmoil over scandels surrounding the monarcy. Austen was kept abreast of these activities in a variety of ways including letters from her naval brother Frank. Historians have uncovered over 500 letters Frank wrote to family members, and he kept meticulous journals of his time in the navy. Although he probably did not tell Jane everything, he did share many newsworthy events such as the difficulties on his ship the 'London' when six men were hanged and some others "lashed for insolence, mutiny and an 'unnatural crime of Sodomy." Honan says Austen refers to this incident in "Mansfield Park" when she has the character Mary Crawford who is living next door with her adulterous admiral uncle say, "Of Rears and Vices, I saw enough."Honan says Austen was influenced by the writings of Mme. de Sevigne, whom Ms. Austen's father considered too much of a feminist. Jane Austen was very concerned about the plight of women and considered adultry and divorce a scourge on women. She was aware of the Regent Prince's attempt to put aside his wife Queen Charlotte on "trumped up" charges of adultry. She sympathized with the Queen, unaware that the Queen was a fan of her books. Influenced by works such as the third Earl of Shaftesbury's "Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times" she enjoined her readers to have the 'sense' "to control one's emotions through observation, reason and moral understanding" and the sensibility to have an "accurate perception of other people and their feelings."There are plenty of examples throughout Honan's book of the effect of external events on Ms. Austen's writing and thinking, not only her books, but in the letters that did survive and journals kept by Ms. Austen and others.This is an informative an excellent book for anyone who wants to know more about Ms. Austen's life and works.