What did Jane Austen really look like?
Jane Austen is a renowned English novelist, known for her wit, social commentary, and portrayal of the English Regency period. Jane Austen's early years were spent in a lively, affectionate family, where she was encouraged to read and write, and to develop her love for literature. She began writing stories and plays at a young age, and these early works show her developing talent as a writer. During her lifetime, Jane would produce what are now absolute classics of English literature, such as Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Persuasion, Emma, and more.
Despite her literary success, Jane Austen remained relatively unknown during her lifetime. She published her novels anonymously, and her work was not widely read until after her death. She lived a quiet, unremarkable life, and her main source of pleasure came from her family and her writing.
What did Jane Austen really look like?
It’s a harder question to answer than you might think.
In terms of her appearance, there are few reliable descriptions and portraits of Jane. Her sister Cassandra was an amateur artist, and she created two authenticated portraits of Jane. However, one doesn’t show her face, and the other is an amateur-looking sketch.
Images of Jane Austen created by her older sister, Cassandra Austen.
Jane’s appearance is such a curiosity to Austen lovers that actual forensic attempts have been made to try to recreate her, including a forensic painting and wax figure created by artist Melissa Dreng for the Jane Austen Centre. These are rather controversial to lovers of Jane Austen, so I’m curious what you think.
Forensic images attempting to create Jane’s “True Likeness.” Both the painting and wax figure were created by artist Melissa Dreng for the Jane Austen Centre.
Descriptions of Jane agree she had dark, curling hair around her face and bright hazel eyes. She had a rather doll-like face with rosy cheeks, and a clear complexion with a small nose and mouth. Overall, Jane Austen's appearance remains something of a mystery, but it is clear that her intelligence, wit, and charm were far more important than her physical attributes.
There seem to be many more modern attempts at beautifying Jane - these subsequent portraits, made using Cassandra’s sketch as a starting point, clearly smooth her out. One even shows her wearing a wedding ring - she famously never married, so it’s clear accuracy wasn’t their main goal here. In the decades after her death, her works remained popular, and it seems that publishing books by a prettier author was a winning marketing strategy.
