Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius

Synopsis

This documentary mini-series is a tale of ambition, struggle, and tragedy, exploring the life and times of one of history’s greatest writers, Jane Austen. Featuring reenactments, film clips, voiceover narration, and insights from a range of contributors including authors, actors and historians, each episode looks at a different period of Austen’s life, her written works with themes around class, romance, family, and community, and how these interact with each other.

Episode One (59 mins): 1793: King George III is on the throne and it is a time of slavery, trade, and empire in Britain, where your position at birth dictates the shape of your life – but this is slowly set to change. Jane Austen is 17 living in Hampshire with her father, six brothers and older sister, Cassandra, as she develops a passion for writing. Inspired by the lives of her family and by the many books in their library – including a new form of literature: the novel – she sets about writing her early works: ‘Lady Susan’ (adapted into the film ‘Love & Friendship’), ‘Northanger Abbey’, and ‘Pride & Prejudice’.

Episode Two (59 mins): 1803: Jane Austen is 27 and it’s been six years since she initially sent ‘Northanger Abbey’ to her publisher, but it’s still yet to appear in print. Frustrated, she returns to a piece of work that she had started writing years before - ‘Sense and Sensibility’ – and gets it published elsewhere. It becomes an immediate hit, with the Prince Regent among its many fans in high society, leading to another of her works being released: ‘Pride & Prejudice’. Her lifestyle changes and she is invited to lavish parties and plays but can’t help notice the vast wealth and social inequality all around her as so many still live in poverty. She decides to speak out against it in her most political work yet, ‘Mansfield Park’, though it does not receive the same positive reception as her previous works.

Episode Three (58 mins): At the age of 38, Jane Austen has now had three works published with varying levels of success. As she attempts to balance her wish for a positive response from readers with her desire to reflect the inequality of modern society within her work, she sets about writing ‘Emma’. This text features a heroine who is wealthy and has power, unlike most of her other protagonists, and is an early example of an unreliable narrator. This time she goes to the most fashionable bookseller in London and negotiates her own contract, refusing to sell all of her rights and taking the risk of the printing herself. The result is a huge success. ‘Persuasion’ follows, before Austen becomes very ill and must reconcile with her own mortality and legacy.