The Charming Author's Life Story & Face Revealed | Royalty Now
256,022
Published 2023-04-21
Narration & Art: Becca Segovia
Writing, Editing & Music Direction: Andre Segovia
Timestamps:
0:00 Early Life & First Writings
3:28 First Love
5:22 Prolific Period
7:25 Time in Bath
10:58 Time in Chawton
13:24 Jane’s #1 Fan
14:42 Later Life & Death
17:51 What did Jane Look Like
20:00 Re-Creations Revealed
She began writing stories and plays at a young age, and these early works show her developing talent as a writer.
In 1801, the family moved to Bath, a fashionable city where they hoped to make connections and improve their social standing. Jane disliked Bath, finding it artificial and superficial, and her lack of writing during the beginning of this period reflects this. However, her time in Bath provided inspiration for two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.
After her father's death in 1805, Jane moved with her mother and sister to a small cottage in Chawton, Hampshire, where she spent the rest of her life. It was during this period that she wrote the majority of her novels, including Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma. These works are now considered classics of English literature, and are admired for their insight into human nature, their social commentary, and their witty dialogue.
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.
Jane Austen's legacy has endured long after her death. Her novels have been adapted for film, television, and stage, and continue to be read and studied around the world.
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.
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.
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.
So, in summary, I’ve created my re-creation directly from the Cassandra sketch, deeming it the most reliable.
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All Comments (21)
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The best portrayal of Jane Austen ever. She looks just as intelligent and lively as I had always imagined.
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What a wonderful recreation. I think you really did her justice by combining her sisters sketch with descriptions of her. The closest we could get with out her skull as far as I'm concerned <3
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Yes! You have captured her essence. That glimmer in the eyes - it’s like Jane is laughing across the centuries at our wish to know what she really looked like. To me, yours is the most accurate portrayal. Thank you!
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I love it! I am such a huge Jane Austen fan. When the reveal came, it brought tears to my eyes - like I was finally meeting a friend I have been longing to meet for many years. She looks exactly as I thought she would look! Thank you for your loving effort to capture her wit and spirit.
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I’ve written a dissertation on her and there were so many fun facts about her (like a distant French relative) but my favourite fact was that she really enjoyed and engaged in all kinds of art forms around her.
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When her sister's sketch faded into your recreation, I got physical chills.
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I am a huge Jane Austen fan... and your recreation brought tears to my eyes. It was as if i was actually seeing her and for a moment she saw me too.
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She looks exactly like I always imagined her to look. And you captured a wonderful air of intelligence and wit about her too. Thank you for this beautiful work of a woman whose works mean so much to so many people.
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Very interesting to me. It makes me think that Jane was century's ahead of her time in the way she looked at story worth material.
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I think you did a fantastic job capturing how she looked from contemporary descriptions and the amateur painting by her sister. I think you nailed it! The image you created perfectly matches what firsthand people describe! ❤
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This is hands-down my favorite video of yours yet. It warmed my heart to learn about how closely-knit and loving the family was. I cried at the part where you told us Henry had her last two books published--something I'm sure was difficult given their financial situation--and revealed his sister's identity. And her likeness I feel in my heart was spot on. Job well done. I loved this so much.
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There was a print of this portrait on the wall of my local library through the 80s and 90s. I grew up seeing this picture every thursday morning and I know it so well. It is amazing to see it brought to life like this, and hands down the most plausible reconstruction ever.
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OH YES ! Your depiction of Jane is THE best! I have seen many but those never captured her humor the way yours does. She looks like someone your could share a good joke with. I have also seen many stories about her life but you included tid bits I had never known. It's a shame she did not live long enough to see how famous she would become.
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This is a beautiful tribute to Jane Austen. ❤
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I think you may have made her nose look nicer ☺️ to know that Jane was truly in love at one point and he was sent away is heartbreaking! Pride and prejudice is one of my all time favorite books❤
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I feel like from the descriptions of Jane herself, it sounds like she almost became one of her own characters. In her demeanour and beauty she is a mix of Lizzie Bennet and Emma. Both mischievous, bright, very inquisitive and intelligent. And you certainly bring it all together beautifully ❤ Like another commenter said, you can see the spark of life in her eyes. Your recreations never disappoint 🥰
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Well, now I know it’s Becca and Andre behind these wonderful recreations. I appreciate and enjoy your channel so much. I am a huge Jane Austen fan. Sense and Sensibility being my favourite. Sad the story behind where she drew inspiration for the two main female characters. Very precarious times for women, having to depend on the males in their life. I’m sure, in her wildest dreams, Jane could never have imagined her works would be praised, adored and adapted centuries later. ❤
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Bravo! I think you captured the essence of her sister’s painting, the descriptions of her appearance, and her personality from her writings to result in someone who is beautiful from the inside and outside. Plus, maintaining the look that she’s lively, humorous with childlike mischief. I sincerely love her work. And seeing Jane Austen brought to life, I see her and want to be her friend. ❤
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My heart swells with emotion every time I watch (and listen to) these videos. The writing, the narration, the music, the illustrations... and of course the talented facial recreations... there have been times when I've been moved to tears. I can only imagine how honored the subjects of your videos and recreations would have been to know how much care and attention their life stories had been given. I truly hope that your regular viewers (and anyone who stumbles onto this channel) have the same admiration and respect for the work that you and Andre put into each of these magnificent tributes. ~ Best always and continued success, Allen
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I did not know much about Jane before watching this video. I learned so much! She had a wonderfully supportive family. And your recreation is masterfully done. I love how everything is grounded in impeccable research to provide us the most accurate portrayal. May your version become the standard!
