Jane Austen is a bit of a conundrum. Although she and her works are definitely a product of her time, she was also a bit of a renegade. The plotlines of her six novels and various short stories were daring and original for their time. And her heroines were unconventional and rebellious.

Although her style is today considered conventional, it is only because she invented and popularized it. Her influence is still felt around the world and in various literary and cinematic spheres. Although the happy-ending plot found in Austen's novels is commonplace today, it is the way she wrote her stories that makes them memorable.

Although Austen wrote and lived before the Romantic period of the Victorian Age, her work is sometimes classified as either Victorian or Romantic. In fact, though, it is neither. Austen was not influenced by the Victorian sensibilities of her day.

While the Romantics preferred vivid descriptions of nature and scenery, Austen was more austere in her descriptions of scenes and people. Most of Austen's work is filled with dialogue, and her characters are introduced and characterized by the ways they speak and interact with others and the things they say, rather than the scene that surrounds them.

The only time that such detailed descriptions are present in Austen works is when it is essential to the flow and pot of the story, such as when Elizabeth Bennet visits the Darcy estate at Pemberly for the first time. In this scene, the estate and the grounds are described in detail.

This description is important in the novel because it is the visit to Pemberly that helps Elizabeth realize her true feelings about Mr. Darcy, that she is in love with him. The detailed description of Pemberly's beauty reflects Elizabeth's own tender feelings towards Darcy, the man she once regarded as rude and arrogant.

Austen was influenced by several authors of her own day and age, including the satirist Samuel Johnson, who was known for his witty prose. Most of Austen's inspiration, however, came from what she saw around her. She was greatly inspired by her own family and her own life.