E X T E N S I O N JANE AUSTEN S TIMES Jane Austen lived her adult life in England during a period which is known as the Regency era. Such a name was given to the time when George IV reigned in the place of his mad father, King George III, from 1811 to 1820, before he himself became king. However, the name is more generally used to indicate the first three decades of the 19th century, before Queen Victoria came to the throne. It was a period rich in changes and developments. George IV favoured1 the arts and the sciences and during Jane Austen s life there was a significant expansion of literacy2 and print culture: at the beginning of the century almost everyone in the middle classes and above could read, and books became smaller, less expensive, easier to get thanks to circulating libraries, and more enjoyable. Novels became the main form of literature, though mainly among women. Jane Austen also saw the beginning of industrialisation, with its economic advantages but also its devastating effects on the poorest part of the population, one third of which lived close to the limit of starvation3. Moreover, her society was characterised by a constant fear of war with France or an invasion by Napoleon, and that s why in Austen s works troops of soldiers and regiments are always present, though in the background. This period also saw the development of the new social class called the gentry , a large group of society that included both those who 1. favoured: supported and helped development of. 2. literacy: ability to read and write. 3. starvation: state of suffering and death caused by having no food. the 20