History Extra Podcast: "Becoming Jane Austen"

Host: Lauren Good
Guest: Dr. Lizzie Rogers (Historian of the 18th and early 19th centuries)
Release Date: December 14, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode marks the beginning of a four-part series diving into the life, context, and early works of Jane Austen. Host Lauren Good and historian Dr. Lizzie Rogers explore Austen’s upbringing, family dynamics, education, and the remarkable creativity that characterized her formative years. Their discussion uncovers the unique environment that fostered Austen’s literary ambition and the early clues to the novelist she would become.

Main Themes and Purpose

• To illuminate Jane Austen’s early life within her family and social context
• To discuss how her upbringing and experiences influenced her writing
• To investigate her earliest writings (juvenilia) and what they reveal about her development and wit
• To tease the themes that will unfold across the podcast series

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Jane Austen Remains Fascinating

• Despite her fame, Austen left behind "comparatively so little writing," requiring "detective work to piece together" her life (03:16).
• Her life involved varied experiences and travels, enriching what might seem a provincial existence.

2. Austen Family Background and Dynamics

• Born in Steventon, Hampshire in 1775, Jane was the seventh of eight children in a lively, creative home (03:44).
• Family included six brothers and a very close bond with her only sister, Cassandra.
• Siblings' careers ranged from clergy to the navy, with various adventures and an emphasis on creativity, such as family theatrical performances in the rectory barn (05:11).
• Early participation in home theatricals may have inspired later novelistic scenes.
• "They were quite proud of these [aristocratic] connections, but they themselves sat in what a lot of historians call the pseudo gentry." (07:57).

3. Social Standing

• The Austens occupied the fringes of the gentry: respected due to her father's role as rector, but not wealthy (07:57).
• Austen’s position afforded her a unique "insight into upper classes and genteel society"—she was "allowed to look in… great observer of everything" (08:48).

4. Education: Formal and Creative

• Jane had only about two years of formal education, disrupted by illness (09:12).
• At home, the family library was open to her and Cassandra, "a rarity" for young women of the period (10:37 - 11:49).
• "I always like to think of the Austen family as not financially rich, but culturally rich." (10:37)
• Father supplemented family income by tutoring local boys, which further enriched the intellectual home environment.
• Male siblings had access to university and Grand Tours—opportunities not open to Jane and Cassandra.
• Despite these limitations, Jane benefited from her father’s library and voraciously read a wide range of material.

5. Ambition, Gender, and Family Expectations

• Jane's brothers could travel and attend university—the girls could not, despite intellectual potential, due to social norms and resources (12:39).
• The family supported Jane’s writing: "She can write away, her family are receiving it really well. They encourage her," and her father bought her a writing desk and notebooks (27:09).

6. Jane's Early Writing: The Juvenilia

• Began writing in earnest after returning from school at age 11; copied work into three notebooks, with her juvenilia spanning from age 11-18 (16:19).
• Early works include wild, comedic stories, experiments with form, and parodies of contemporary genres and historical accounts.
  • Example: "History of England, by a partial, prejudiced, and ignorant historian," illustrated by Cassandra (16:19).
  • "The Beautiful Cassandra": “Madam, you are a phoenix” (19:01).
• She dedicated these little works to siblings, blurring family entertainment and serious literary ambition.
• Austen experimented with the "novel in letters" form popular at the time.

7. Development of Signature Themes

• Early works (like "Love and Friendship" and "Lady Susan") already show the satirical wit and exploration of women’s relationships and social ambitions seen in mature novels (20:32).
• Lady Susan described as “deliciously wicked… a fortune hunter and…comical…showing her awareness and satirizing this need to marry well for security” (20:32).

8. Worldliness and Influence

• Though geographically provincial, Austen was "connected to the wider world" by family ties (e.g., naval brothers, a cousin born in India, visits to London and elsewhere) (21:47).
• Exposure to stories, family news, books, and correspondence offset the apparent rural isolation.

9. Unusual Ambition for Her Gender

• Austen’s ambition was clearly out of the ordinary: her careful copying, dedications, and family feedback indicate "she was quite special…something from an early age that she wanted to do something with writing" (23:24).

10. Lack of Early Personal Writings

• Earliest surviving letters begin when Jane is 20; little exists to document her private thoughts or personality as a child or teenager (25:47).

11. Summary of Jane's Early Character

• "Brimming with creativity…almost like she's ready to explode like a firework" (27:09).
• Family support, encouragement, and access to books left her "poised to think, oh, writing's my thing and I'm gonna keep pursuing it for the rest of my life" (27:09).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Austen’s creative environment:
  “It was a very busy household, I imagine a very noisy household and a very creative household too.” – Dr. Lizzie Rogers (04:02)

• On Jane and Cassandra’s relationship:
  “They really were each other's lifelong companions.” – Dr. Lizzie Rogers (04:41)

• On girls’ access to knowledge:
  “I always like to think of the Austen family as not financially rich, but culturally rich.” – Dr. Lizzie Rogers (10:37)

• On Jane’s wit and parody:
  “[History of England] by a partial, prejudiced and ignorant historian, which I think is great.” – Dr. Lizzie Rogers (16:19)

• On 'The Beautiful Cassandra':
  “It’s almost the 18th century equivalent of Ferris Bueller's Day Off … She can't pay for [the pastry], so she punches the pastry cook and leaves the cafe … It's very quick reading, but very fun reading.” – Dr. Lizzie Rogers (18:22)

• On familial encouragement:
  “Her family … encourage her. They don't view it as something, you know, they buy her these notebooks to copy these things into. Her father later buys her a writing desk.” – Dr. Lizzie Rogers (27:09)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Jane’s early family background: 03:44–05:11
• Family theatrics and creativity: 05:11–07:08
• Social standing and ‘pseudo gentry’: 07:57–08:48
• Austen’s education and influence of father’s library: 09:12–11:49
• Different expectations and ambitions for sons and daughters: 12:29–13:55
• On Juvenilia and early writing: 16:19–21:32
• Worldliness despite rural life: 21:47–23:09
• Ambition for women writers: 23:24–24:53
• Lack of personal diaries/letters from childhood: 25:47
• Closing summary of Jane’s early years: 27:09

Flow & Tone

The conversation is warm and engaging, punctuated by Dr. Rogers’ enthusiasm and humor. Anecdotes about the Austen family home, Jane and Cassandra’s bond, and the absurdities of early stories bring the episode to life. There’s a blend of scholarly insight with accessible, vivid storytelling—making the life of the young Jane Austen as relatable as it is remarkable.

Summary: Why Listen?

This episode delivers a multifaceted glimpse into Jane Austen’s world—her bustling, supportive family, her rare access to education, the wit and ambition visible from childhood, and the seedbed for her later literary genius. Whether you’re an Austen aficionado or new to her story, “Becoming Jane Austen” opens a window onto the foundation that shaped one of literature’s most beloved voices.

Next episode: Jane at age 20, turning toward adulthood, romance, and her earliest surviving letters—and the elusive Tom Lefroy.