She was born on 16th December in 1775 at Steventon in Hants. She was te seventh child of the reverenden George Austen and Cassandra Leigh. Jane Austen and her sister attended to Abbey School, Reading (1784 -1785).
Jane Austen's father and his religious ideas and the political consecuences, has a very important influence in Jane Austen and her attitude. The ideas of her father were very impotant for her towards religion, politics, morality, and so on.
They never went abroad and they always lived in the same part of England, more concretly in the South East of England. This was very small and private world, the small towns and villages, the idilic countryside and very far from London. This is very important and also when we discuss poetry. The city and the countryside, their differences the relationship between both places. When we talk about city we are talking about London.
This is very important because is going to be a relevant characteristic in her plays. .
Place is very important,but which place? The place has a very powerful symbolism. She lived in this small countyside,when it appears this idilic place to live. Their life is pleasant, many small things happen.
Her family had to move to one place to another because their economic problems, each movement to a new town means a step less of the social class scale. Her family had many economic problems so they had to move to other places, so Jane Austen's childhood was not very happy, this is the only things which happened in the countyside. Although socially speaking nothing important happened, this domestic problems was really meanful for her. Nothing apparently happened but she suffered a lot because of her father's problems, so money is a very important characteristic of her plays.
Importance of the social class: if you have finantial problem you are in a trouble.
She had other problems: she had two brothers, who were admirant, a very dangerous job at that time (remember we are at time of Napoleonic war).