03 Mar Jane Austen’s enduring legacy

She was born 250 years ago and died aged just 41, but Jane Austen’s work is treasured around the world – and her brand is worth hundreds of millions of dollars today.

Her six novels are studied in schools, critiqued by academics, dramatised by filmmakers and adored by fans, fascinated by love and society in Regency England. There have been more than 80 film and TV adaptations of her work. Her face is on the ten pound note. There are multiple clubs of “Janeites”. Her Facebook fan club has more than 100,000 followers.

How has Jane Austen’s legacy endured? Far more than “balls and bonnets” in this case. 

I had the pleasure of learning about this global community of ardent Austen readers when I talked to Sophie Reynolds, Head of Collections, Interpretation and Engagement at Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, in the southern English county of Hampshire. Listen to How to Build a Village podcast here.

Film and TV adaptations of Austen’s novels have increased interest in the author’s life and works, and each new release generates a spike in tourists, says Sophie. But Austen’s appeal is enduring because of the quality of her storytelling and characters, and because many of the themes still resonate – love and marriage, social hierarchy, etiquette and morals, the role of women and the quest for money. Austen was writing in an era when women could achieve financial security only through marriage. 

“She simply is an extraordinary writer,” says Sophie. “Her characterization is so deft, so relatable, even though these novels were written 200 years ago, the characters still live and breathe. They are all people that you think ‘Oh, I know someone like that.’”

The Jane Austen community is also built around her house, shown in the above photo, a beautifully-maintained cottage in a rural village, with rooms decorated and furnished as they would have been in the early 19th Century. This is where Austen wrote her novels, in modest surroundings at a small desk by a window looking out onto the village street. And visitors come from all over the world to pay homage and picture the artist at work. Book ahead because numbers are limited at any given time to make the experience intimate.

Austen was not famous when she died. Yet she told stories that have stood up for two and a half centuries. People around the world actively search for content related to the author and her work. “I have a Google alert for “Jane Austen” every time she’s mentioned in what Google calls news … I get at least 10 results every single day,” says Sophie.

I’d love to know your thoughts on Jane Austen. If you’re a fan, why are her stories special to you?