Why Austen Is A Classic
Jane Austen published four books in her lifetime, with the final two published after her death at the age of 42. Though the books gained a number of wealthy admirers during Jane’s lifetime, she spent much of her life in relative poverty after the death of her father, and the works (a kind of satirical romance) also had their share of critics. Against all the odds, however, they endured as staples of classic literature, even centuries after her death.
Why?
What set these books so far apart? How did Pride and Prejudice become one of the best-known books in the world, translated into multiple languages and with countless media adaptions, with Jane’s other books not far behind? What made them endure when other authors faded into obscurity?
When studied analytically and broken down to their essentials, the books aren’t particularly groundbreaking. There is nothing in them that is actually a new concept. Satirical social commentary and unlikely romance in unrealistic settings were already popular, and had been for centuries.
