Friday, December 16, 2011

Happy 236th Birthday Jane Austen!

Re-posting this here (slightly edited), from my similar post in 2009 (since I can't top, think of anything new or better to write than what I wrote two years ago, lol) for this very special occasion, a birthday tribute post to the lovely, genius and way ahead of her time, beloved English novelist, the one and only Jane Austen.

Remembering and celebrating her birthday today, Jane Austen, the woman who wrote the original Pride and Prejudice novel (which had been made into several TV and Film adaptations including the 2005 film, Pride & Prejudice), which was her first (can you believe unsuccessful?!) submission to a publisher back in 1797 (214 years ago) titled "First Impressions" (later changed to "Pride and Prejudice"). She revised "First Impressions" and published it entitled "Pride and Prejudice" in 1813 (198 years ago!). 

Jane Austen was born on this day back on December 16th, 1775 (she would've been 236 years old!!! today...) to the local rector, Rev. George Austen (1731-1805), and Cassandra Leigh (1739-1827). She was the 7th child amongst 8 children. She had one older sister, Cassandra.

Her only six published novels (Pride and Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey) were all popular (esp. Pride and Prejudice, of course) and made into several TV and film adaptations for over 72 years (since 1938) to this day.

HAPPY 236th BIRTHDAY
JANE AUSTEN!!!

Without her, P&P wouldn't have existed (nor this blog)...we wouldn't have read P&P novel or seen various TV and film adaptations including the Oscar nominated 2005 film version, which is my absolute (and all-time) favorite film adaptation based on this classic novel. So, yeah, JA rocks (and so ahead of her time) deserves to be recognized and remembered today on her birthday.

Here are some interesting Jane Austen trivia (via JA's profile on imdb.com)...

Jane Austen Trivia
  • Listed in "People Weekly"s "Most Intriguing People" list. (December 25, 1995/January 1, 1996 issue)
  • Was fluent in French.
  • The Prince Regent was such a fan of her work that he asked her to dedicate her next book to him, which she did.
  • In July of 2002 a first edition of "Pride and Prejudice" was auctioned and sold for £40,000, nearly doubling the previous record set for an Austen novel in 2001 of £23,500.
  • Her books have never been out of print since they were first published.
  • Between 1900 and 1975, there were more than 60 radio, television and stage productions of Austen novels. The first film adaptation was in 1940.
  • Her brother Edward's descendant married the daughter of Louis Mountbatten (aka Lord Mountbatten; assassinated in 1979 by the IRA), who in turn was a descendant of QueenVictoria.
  • Anne Hathaway portrayed her in Becoming Jane (2007).
  • Seventh generation aunt (through her brother Edward) of actress Anna Chancellor, who appeared in Jane's favored romance "Pride and Prejudice" (1995) mini-series and who also narrates the documentary The Real Jane Austen (2002) (TV).
  • The film Clueless (1995) is based on Austen's novel Emma.
See/read a list of all Jane Austen movies on IMDB!

Jane Austen Related Links of Interest
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