Jane Austen
Born in Hampshire, December 1775 to the local reverend and his wife, Jane was the 7th of 8 children. Most of her education was done at home and she learned to play piano and draw and write. Acceptable womanly pursuits at the time, though when it came to publishing her novels, all her works were published anonymously. She never married though many of her fans believe 'Persuasion' is based on a tragic love affair from her late teens. Her health began to decline early in 1817 and she died in July of that year in the arms of her beloved older sister, Cassandra at just 41 years of age. Her humourous and intelligent insights into Georgian life are as popular today, if not more so, than they were more than 200 years ago when first penned. The only known image of Jane is from a sketch by Cassandra, pictured right.
"I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal." - Jane Austen
Love and Friendship (2016)
Director: Whit Stillman
Starring: Chloe Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Fry, Xavier Samuel
Beautiful young widow Lady Susan Vernon visits the estate of her in-laws to wait out the colourful rumours about her dalliances circulating through po... Read more
Love and Friendship ( Blu-ray ) (2016)
Director: Whit Stillman
Starring: Chloe Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Fry, Xavier Samuel
Beautiful young widow Lady Susan Vernon visits the estate of her in-laws to wait out the colourful rumours about her dalliances circulating through po... Read more
Emma (BBC) (2009)
6.7/10
Director: Jim O'Hanlon
Starring: Jodhi May, Jonny Lee Miller, Michael Gambon, Tamsin Greig, Romola Garai
The Jane Austen comedic classic is given new life in this sunny BBC production, which follows young, pretty 19th-century heroine Emma Woodhouse (Romol... Read more
Sense and Sensibility (BBC) (2008)
7.7/10
Director: John Alexander
Starring: Hattie Morahan, Charity Wakefield, Janet McTeer, David Morrissey, Dan Stevens, D...
A compelling and exciting new BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel. Newcomers Hattie Morahan and Charity Wakefield play the two temperamental... Read more
The Jane Austen Collection: Emma / Northanger Abbey / Mansfield Park (2007)
Director: Diarmuid Lawrence, Jon Jones, Iain B MacDonald
Starring: Bernard Hepton, Kate Beckinsale, Mark Strong, Prunella Scales, Samantha Morton,...
English production house ITV presents three adaptations of Austen classics. In 'Mansfield Park', poverty-stricken Fanny Price (Billie Piper) is sent a... Read more
Persuasion (2007)
7.6/10
Director: Adrian Shergold
Starring: Sally Hawkins, Rupert Penry-Jones, Alice Krige, Julia Davis, Amanda Hale, Tobias...
Anne fell deeply in love with handsome young naval officer Frederick Wentworth at the age of nineteen. But with neither fortune nor rank to recommend... Read more
The Jane Austen Book Club (2007)
6.8/10
Director: Robin Swicord
Starring: Kathy Baker, Maria Bello, Amy Brenneman, Hugh Dancy, Maggie Grace, Jimmy Smits,...
The lines separating fiction and reality become blurred for six California residents when they form a book club to study the novels of Jane Austen and... Read more
Becoming Jane (2007)
7.1/10
Director: Julian Jarrold
Starring: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell, Maggie Smith, Joe An...
A romantic historical drama that speculates on events from Jane Austen's life and suggests there was a man in her life that may have been an inspriati... Read more
Jane Austen's Works (2005)
Though she hasn't written a word in 190 years, Jane Austen is one of the world's most famous authors and her works are still hugely popular today, bot... Read more
Pride and Prejudice (2005)
7.9/10
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland, Jena Malone, Judi Dench, Tom Hollander, Keira...
A polished and well-acted version of Jane Austen's perennially popular tale of love in the upper classes. Brenda Blethyn and Donald Sutherland are th... Read more