Jane Austen's Works

I recently came across some lovely watercolor paintings done by C.E. Brock, which he painted for many of Jane Austen's books. You can find a lovely collection of watercolor paintings for just about all of Jane's books at Solitary-Elegance . I decided to take some pictures from three of Austen's works, Emma, Sense & Sensibility, and Persuasion. and write a short summary about the stories, plus include a little tid-bits about the work. Enjoy~




Emma- 1815

Emma Woodhouse is a self-proclaimed matchmaker.After her success at matching up her governess with Mr. Weston, the village widower, she takes it upon herself to match up her new friend Harriet with an eligible young man. But her intentions are taken wrongly, and the young man whom she hopes to have Harriet marry declares his love for her, not Harriet. Emma is heart-broken over hurting her friend, and declares that she will never enter into matchmaking again.

When Mr. Weston's rich and handsome son Frank Churchill arrives upon the scene, Emma finds herself delighted to be the recipient of his charming ways. She is determined to resist falling in love, but finds herself increasingly drawn to Frank. Everyone assumes that an engagement will form between Emma and Frank, though Emma soon dismisses him as a possible suitor and tries to form a friendship between him and her friend Harriet instead. Emma's close friend and brother-in-law, Mr. Knightly tries to warn her about her meddling ways, but Emma refuses to listen to his wise counsel, which ends in a disastrous picnic outing.


Through a great many twists and turns, intrigue, and mystery, Emma finds, when it is almost too late, that her real feelings are for her long time friend and confidant, Mr. Knightly

Emma, Jane Austen's third to last work, is about the perils of misconstructed romance. When Jane first began Emma, she wrote""I am going to make a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like".








Sense & Sensibility-1811

The novel Sense and Sensibility revolves mainly around two sisters, Elinor and Marianne, the daughters of the late Mr. Dashwood by his second wife. They have a young sister, Margret, and older half-brother, John. Upon their father's death, John becomes the heir of the family estate, and the Dashwood ladies are left nearly penny less. They move to a cottage situated upon some distance relatives land.

There, Marianne meets and falls in love with the dashing John Willoughby, while Elinor, her older sister, is also secretly in love with Edward Ferrars, the brother of her sister-in-law, Fanny. During this time, another man, Colonel Brandon, falls in love with Marianne, though she does not return the feeling because of their age difference.

Colonel Brandon continues to be a loyal and protective friend to the Dashwoods, especially to Elinor, with whom he later confides about John Willoughby's treacherous past.

Throughout the book secrets are revealed, engagements are made, hearts are broken, then mended, and true love is found.

Sense and Sensibility is Jane Austen's first published novel. She wrote it under the pseudonym "A Lady". She originally was going to call it Elinor and Marianne before changing the name to Sense & Sensibility. It still remains one of my favorite Austen films.

Persuasion- 1816

Persuasion follows the story of Anne Elliot, the often overlooked middle child of Sir Walter Elliot. Seven years before the novel's opening, Anne fell in love with a dashing young navel officer named Fredrick Wentworth, who she became engaged to be married. But because of his lack of money and family connections, Anne's family tries to discourage the match.

Finally through the influence of Anne's close confidant, Lady Russell, she is persuaded to break off the engagement.

Now, seven years later, Anne is 27 years old and seemingly destined to spinsterhood when she is suddenly re-acquainted with Captain Wentworth through her sister-in-law. Wentworth, now a captain of a fleet of ships, and very rich, is still unable to forgive Anne for breaking off the engagement, which he plainly shows in his civil, but cold greeting to Anne upon meeting.

It is not until a fateful accident on a family vacation that Captain Wentworth's admiration of Anne begins to blossom again.


Persuasion is the last novel Jane Austen wrote before she died at age 41. While some think Persuasion is dark and depressing, others think it is her most honest and universal work.

If you have ever read both Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, you may notice some similarities. Jane originally had both books bound together before making them into separate works. Both books were later published together.
Both Persuasion and Northanger Abbey are set in Bath, a town Jane was well acquainted with and lived in from 1801-1805.