Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works are an implicit critique of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her deft use of social commentary, realism and biting irony have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars.
Madame Tussauds is a wax museum founded in London in 1835 by the French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud. One of the early main attractions was the Chamber of Horrors, which appeared in advertising in 1843.
Sir Peter Thomas Blake is an English pop artist. He co-created the sleeve design for the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. His other works include the covers for two of The Who's albums, the cover of the Band Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", and the Live Aid concert poster. Blake also designed the 2012 Brit Award statuette.
Anna Maria "Marie" Tussaud, commonly known as Madame Tussaud, was a French artist known for her wax sculptures and Madame Tussauds, the wax museum she founded in London.
The Beautifull Cassandra [sic] is a short novel from Jane Austen's juvenilia. It is a parody of the melodramatic, sentimental and picaresque novels of the time, and tells the story of a young woman who sets off into the world to make her fortune.
Becoming Jane is a 2007 biographical romantic drama film directed by Julian Jarrold. It depicts the early life of the British author Jane Austen and her lasting love for Thomas Langlois Lefroy. American actress Anne Hathaway stars as the title character, while her romantic interest is played by Scottish actor James McAvoy. Also appearing in the film are Julie Walters, James Cromwell and Maggie Smith. This was Ian Richardson's final film performance before his death in the same year as the film's release. The film was produced in cooperation with several companies, including Ecosse Films and Blueprint Pictures. It also received funding from the Irish Film Board and the UK Film Council Premiere Fund.
Cassandra Willoughby, Duchess of Chandos was an English historian, travel writer and artist. She spent more than a quarter-century overseeing the restoration of the gardens and rebuilding of the family mansion at Wollaton Hall, now in Nottingham, inherited by her father, Francis Willoughby.
Cassandra Elizabeth Austen was an amateur English watercolourist and the elder sister of Jane Austen. The letters between her and Jane form a substantial foundation to scholarly understanding of the life of the novelist.
Persuasion is a 2007 British television film adaptation of Jane Austen's 1817 novel Persuasion. It was directed by Adrian Shergold, and the screenplay was written by Simon Burke. Sally Hawkins stars as the protagonist Anne Elliot, while Rupert Penry-Jones plays Captain Frederick Wentworth. Eight years prior to the film's beginning, Anne was persuaded to reject Wentworth's proposal of marriage. Now 27 and unmarried, Anne re-encounters Wentworth, who has made his fortune in the Napoleonic Wars and is looking for a wife—anyone but Anne, whom he has not forgiven for rejecting him all those years ago.
Paula Jayne Byrne, Lady Bate, is a British biographer, novelist, and literary critic.
Jane Austen's House Museum is a small independent museum in the village of Chawton near Alton in Hampshire. It is a writer's house museum occupying the 17th-century house in which novelist Jane Austen spent the last eight years of her life, during which time she wrote, revised and made ready to be published all six of her novels, and the fragment Sanditon. The museum has been a Grade I listed building since 1963.
A Memoir of Jane Austen is a biography of the novelist Jane Austen (1775–1817) published in 1869 by her nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh. A second edition was published in 1871 which included previously unpublished Jane Austen writings. A family project, the biography was written by James Edward Austen-Leigh but owed much to the recollections of Jane Austen's many relatives. However, it was the decisions of her sister, Cassandra Austen, to destroy many of Jane's letters after her death that shaped the material available for the biography.
"Rejecting Jane" is the title of a 2007 article by British author David Lassman. The article, which was published in Issue 28 of Jane Austen's Regency World magazine, is a critique of the publishing industry through their inadvertent rejection of Jane Austen.
The Rice portrait is believed by the owners and others to be of Jane Austen and painted by Ozias Humphry in 1788 or 1789 when Austen was 13. Experts at the National Portrait Gallery have disputed this, suggesting that the painting dates to the early 19th century and thus cannot be of Austen, or painted by Humphry.
Caroline Emma Criado Perez is a British feminist author, journalist and activist. Her first national campaign, the Women's Room project, aimed to increase the presence of female experts in the media. She opposed the removal of the only woman from British banknotes, leading to the Bank of England's swift announcement that the image of Jane Austen would appear on the £10 note by 2017. That campaign led to sustained harassment on the social networking website Twitter of Criado Perez and other women; as a result, Twitter announced plans to improve its complaint procedures. Her most recent campaign was for a sculpture of a woman in Parliament Square; the statue of Millicent Fawcett was unveiled in April 2018, as part of the centenary celebrations of the winning of women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. Her 2019 book Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men was a Sunday Times bestseller.
The Bank of England £10 note, also known informally as a tenner, is a sterling banknote. It is the second-lowest denomination of banknote issued by the Bank of England. The current polymer notes, first issued on 5 June 2024, bears the images of King Charles III and the late Queen Elizabeth II first issued on 14 September 2017 on the obverse, and the image of author Jane Austen on the reverse. The final cotton paper note featuring a portrait of naturalist Charles Darwin, first issued in 2000, was withdrawn from circulation on 1 March 2018.
Madame Tussauds Blackpool is a wax museum located in Blackpool, United Kingdom. The attraction opened in 2011, replacing the previous Louis Tussauds waxworks. It features over 80 wax figures of celebrities, film and television characters, athletes and musicians. As of April 2024, Alison Hammond is the latest waxwork figure to be added to the museum's collection.
Andrea Galer is a British costume designer who works in film and television. She began her first project with the film Don't Look Now (1973), and has spent much of her career since then working in the genre of period film. These include three films related to Jane Austen, and other productions set in the 19th-century including Firelight (1997), Eroica (2003), and The Way We Live Now (2001).
The Theatre Royal, Southampton was a theatre in Southampton, Hampshire, England. It opened in 1803 and was located near the Medieval Merchant's House on French Street. Jane Austen and her family visited the theatre in 1807. The building was later renovated and expanded, and reopened as New Theatre Royal in 1880. It was destroyed by a fire in 1884.
