The biggest myth about Jane Austen's writing life

As the beloved writer turns 250 (!) this year, it's time to let this one go

Let the celebrations begin — Jane Austen is turning 250 later this year! Yes, she was born in 1775, and her work is as alive and fresh as ever. In today’s Literary Ladies Lite Sunday edition, let’s bust the biggest myth about Jane and her writing life — that she was somehow ashamed of her work, and considered it a hobby. So untrue! And a prime example of how easy it is to cloak women’s talents and ambitions in erasure.

Another aspect to the mythology about Jane Austen's writing life was that she hid her manuscripts as she worked on them. This is also patently untrue, which we'll see in the evidence to the contrary.

Can we ever have enough of Jane Austen? Her legacy has continued for generations: the search for the modern Mr. Darcy; the appropriation of her iconic narratives (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies); fan-fiction sequels (so many of them); and using the books themselves as a device for telling a contemporary story (The Jane Austen Book Club). There seems to be no such thing as Too Much Jane.

I’ll have to make sure to get to the exhibit at the Morgan Library and Museum in NYC for the exhibit “A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250.” It’s up through mid-September. I always think I have all the time in the world to see the wonderfully nerdy exhibits at the Morgan and then I somehow miss a lot of them.

Jane very much wanted to be published and read

Jane was the youngest of seven children. Her talent was recognized early on and taken seriously by her entire family. Jane longed to see her work in print; whether it would gain her fame or fortune was out of her hands, but getting it published was important to her, and she did want to make money for her efforts.

An avid reader, she was aware of contemporary authors, and took for role models Maria Edgeworth, Charlotte Lennox, and Fanny Burney.