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250 (& More) Reasons We Love Jane Austen

Austen at 250 logo with fireworks in background



Born on December 16, 1775, Jane Austen turns 250 this year. Help us celebrate! 

Everyone has their own reason for adoring Jane Austen, and we would all love to hear yours. Whether it's as simple as "Mrs. Bennet's nerves," a favorite witty line, or a heartfelt toast, we're gathering a joyful collection of 250—and more!—reasons you, her readers and fans, appreciate her. Join us in celebrating the incomparable Jane!

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Comments

  • Kathie Wunderlich Aug 18, 2025, 11:00 AM (69 mins ago)

    Her timeless, sardonic wit that makes me laugh every time, as well as her characters who exemplify those traits-one can just SEE them! Captain Wentworth's letter: the most true, heartfelt, evidence of longing that I have ever read.

  • Sue Rose Aug 18, 2025, 10:22 AM (107 mins ago)

    There's a reason why Jane Austen has inspired hundreds of fan fiction variations. She created complete and deeply nuanced worlds offering so much opportunity for others' to work their imaginations. What if one Austen character changed in a particular way, or the chronology shifted a bit? What if we delved more deeply into historical detail or women's roles at the time. It's a gift to be able to spend time in the worlds Austen has created and inspired.

  • Michaela Aug 18, 2025, 10:15 AM (115 mins ago)

    What to say about Jane... she is timeless, she is a master of society, she was beloved by people she was mocking, and she is a bada$$ for her time for defying the expectations she wrote about.

    However the reason I love her and all variations of her work is because I connect with the characters. All the characters. She has examples of every type of person we still encounter today. She made her novels so relatable that 250 years later we can still see our friends, partners, and family in her characters. She knew human nature in a way very few authors ever have. Which is why she will continue to be relevant forever.

  • Elyse Welles Aug 18, 2025, 10:03 AM (2 hours ago)

    Jane Austen’s novels provide the most apt, socio-anthropological approach to romance I’ve ever found. Her characters, even on the fringe of the story, fulfill in all ways the archetypes people inhabit when it comes to love. These archetypes - from the deeply in love and equitably married Crofts in Persuasion, to the Mrs. Jenkins archetype of nosy yet well-meaning matchmaking - have provided a framework for my own way of living in the world. Austen reminds us that at the core of self is how we show up for love, and through her characters, helps us understand how people do or do not honor love in their lives.

  • Gretchen S Aug 18, 2025, 9:49 AM (2 hours ago)

    My loving interest in Jane ( and JASNA ) has improved the quality of my life. And for this reason-
    "Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love."

  • Christina Jennings Aug 18, 2025, 9:21 AM (3 hours ago)

    Of tremendous enjoyment to me are these two inventions of Jane Austen:

    The scene in Mansfield Park where Sir Thomas Bertram completely unexpectedly comes upon John Yates loudly practicing his sword-fighting scene on a stage that was formerly Sir Thomas’s study, and each man has to dig deeply to behave with decorum to the other. Why Yates was tone deaf enough to continue to rehearse on his own when he was acutely aware that Sir Thomas did not approve of his children acting is another reason on an infinite list of why Jane makes us laugh.

    And another passage that finds Mrs Jennings in Sense and Sensibility misunderstanding a conversation she barely hears between Elinor and Colonel Brandon. Mrs Jennings thinks the colonel has just proposed, which he hasn’t, and the ensuing dialogs that go on for quite a bit of time between the two women make me chortle aloud, even after reading it innumerable times.

  • Tracey Boyle Aug 18, 2025, 8:31 AM (4 hours ago)

    Her novels transport me to a place and time that soothes me.

  • Alice Moore Aug 18, 2025, 8:28 AM (4 hours ago)

    I love her because she persevered when options were limited and expectations low for women. She knew her worth. And she makes me want to be a better sister and aunt.

  • Amanda Scheetz Aug 18, 2025, 7:56 AM (4 hours ago)

    Jane Austen’s novels are timeless. They transcend time and speak to all of us who admire her through the many decades since they were written. She had an understanding of people and relationships that was spot on! She lives on for all of us through her writing.

  • Judy Mellow Aug 18, 2025, 7:50 AM (4 hours ago)

    Her wit and concision enthraills me. My favorite line is this: The strangeness of Mr. Collins' making two offers of marriage within three days was nothing in comparison of his being now accepted.

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